How old is John Barnes, what has the Liverpool legend said about Liam Neeson’s race row and when was he on Celebrity Big Brother?
The Watford and Liverpool legend is one of England's most famous footballers
JOHN Barnes has defended Liam Neeson after he was accused of racism, saying the actor “deserves a medal”.
The former England and Liverpool star and Celebrity Big Brother 2018 contestant backed Neeson after the actor said once set out to find a “black b*****d” to kill when his friend was raped.
Who is John Barnes and how old is he?
John Charles Bryan Barnes was born in Jamaica on November 7, 1963.
He moved to London with his family when he was 12 years old and soon showed his footballing skills, signing for Watford at the age of 17.
Barnes went onto to enjoy a long and successful career as a player, earning 79 caps playing for England.
At the time his international career was beginning, FIFA's rules allowed British passport holders to represent one of the British teams if they had no blood ties to the United Kingdom.
Known as "Digger" Barns to fans (after the character in Dallas), he had a few brief stints in management following his retirement from the game.
Twice in his career, Barnes was voted Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year and he also won the PFA Players' Player of the Year.
He was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2005.
John has been married twice and has six children.
What has he said about the Liam Neeson race row?
Barnes applauded Neeson for “coming out and telling the truth”.
The former footballer, who suffered racist abuse during his playing career, highlighted that Neeson said he was "horrified" and "ashamed" by the way he felt.
He told Sky News: “I believe that Liam Neeson deserves a medal and I’ll tell you why.
“I’ve listened to the transcript, and he was talking about how revenge doesn’t do anyone any good.
“If you listen to everything he’s talking about, he’s saying that in the moment, and you can’t blame him for thinking what he feels, this is what society has wrongly shown him that black people do.
“He said for a week he was going around looking to kill a black person, or a black b*****, and he did do it in quotation marks.”
When did John Barnes play for Liverpool?
Barnes signed for Liverpool from Watford in 1987 in a £900,000 deal.
He was an instant hit alongside Peter Beardsley, Ray Houghton, John Aldridge and Ian Rush and in his first season he scored 15 league goals on the way to winning the League title.
In his early years at Liverpool, Barnes had to deal with racist abuse from opposing supporters and players - at the time he was the first black player to regularly play for the team.
The footballing legend went on to win FA Cup medals as well as League Cup and Premiership titles and he later moved into a pivotal midfield role.
He left Liverpool on a free transfer in 1997 after 10 years at the club, with 407 appearances, 108 goals and four major trophies.
What has Barnes done since he retired from football?
John Barnes enjoyed a career in punditry following his retirement from the game, appearing on ITV, ESPN and Five as well as the LFC TV channel.
He has worked as an ambassador for Save The Children and also appeared in the fifth series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2007.
In 2008 along with fellow former footballers Les Ferdinand and Luther Blisset he founded Team48 Motorsport, a team aiming to promote racing drivers of Afro-Caribbean backgrounds.
John has appeared on several panel shows and soccer specials and even made an appearance as himself in an episode of the BBC drama Waterloo Road.
In 2012 Barnes traced his background in the BBC programme Who Do You Think You Are?
John was the first housemate announced for Celebrity Big Brother 2018 but was evicted by his fellow housemates in a back-door eviction.
What are the lyrics to his rap song 'World in Motion'?
Football is not Barnes' only talent - he's had success in music too.
He performed and wrote the rap section of World In Motion by New Order and also appeared on the Liverpool FA Cup Final songs, Anfield Rap and Pass & Move (It's The Liverpool Groove).
World In Motion made it to Number 1 in the charts and spent 18 weeks in the UK top 75, the lyrics are:
You've got to hold and give
But do it at the right time
You can be slow or fast
But you must get to the line
They'll always hit you and hurt you
Defend and attack
There's only one way to beat them
Get round the back
Catch me if you can
'Cause I'm the England man
And what you're looking at
Is the master plan
We ain't no hooligans
This ain't a football song
Three lions on my chest
I know we can't go wrong