Former England and Liverpool football star John Charles Bryan Barnes has been declared bankrupt following a High Court order made on September 23, 2025. The order comes after HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) successfully petitioned for bankruptcy, citing debts of over £1.5 million linked to Barnes’s media business.
The bankruptcy notice, published in the London Gazette, names Barnes’s now-liquidated company, John Barnes Media Limited, as the vehicle through which much of the debt was accrued.
According to the most recent liquidator’s report, the liabilities include £776,878 owed to HMRC in unpaid VAT, National Insurance and PAYE; £461,849 owed to unsecured creditors; a £226,000 director’s loan; and £56,535 in liquidators’ costs.
This proceedings mark the latest chapter in a long-running financial struggle for Barnes, a once-celebrated figure in English football. He has reportedly been making monthly payments of £10,000 to HMRC over the past eight years in an attempt to chip away at his liability. Speaking publicly, he admitted his finances were under “ongoing pressure” and described the new bankruptcy order as “a bit of a blow.”
Barnes has never shied away from acknowledging his role in the crisis. On the *All Things Business* podcast, he remarked, “I was making a lot of money … Like a lot of elite sportspeople, I got burned because I trusted people, I got caught out a couple of times and ended up losing between £1 million and £1.5 million over four years.” He further explained that part of his ongoing strategy involved negotiating directly with HMRC, seeking to maintain payments rather than default entirely.
Barnes has also tried to manage public perception of his plight. On the same podcast, he said, “Apart from a few sleepless nights it hasn’t had a major impact on me … As long as I’m able to work and pay … as much the work I’m doing is to get money to pay off (the taxman), … I’m paying £10,000 a month.”
He has emphasized that he no longer holds assets, having sold whatever he could to satisfy his obligations: “I don’t have any assets. I’ve already sold everything.”
This is not Barnes’s first encounter with bankruptcy threats or petitions. His company, John Barnes Media Limited, has been under scrutiny for years. In 2024, he was banned from serving as a company director for three and a half years after an investigation revealed the company had failed to pay more than £190,000 in corporation tax and VAT between 2018 and 2020 despite reporting turnover in excess of £400,000.
The ban prevents him from acting in the formation, direction, or management of any company without court permission.
Throughout his post-playing career, Barnes cultivated media, punditry, and representation engagements, and set up John Barnes Media Limited in September 2012. The company ceased trading in January 2020, after which it fell into liquidation.
The troubles for Barnes date further back. In 2009, a bankruptcy order was issued against him, which he later described as a “tax oversight” and successfully had rescinded. During his playing days, Barnes had been one of England’s highest-paid footballers, reputedly the first to command a £10,000-a-week salary.
He later took up coaching and management roles, including stints at Tranmere Rovers, Celtic, and as manager of the Jamaica national team.
In interviews over recent months, Barnes has pushed back on what he views as unfair coverage of his finances. He has expressed concern about public misunderstanding, noting, “I don’t want hard-working people thinking I’ve got all this money and I won’t pay tax.” He insisted that despite his difficulties, he continues to seek income through speaking engagements and media work, and has not retreated from trying to meet his liabilities.