John Barnes – Goal Digger
By Miniboro • Illustrations • 21 Apr 2012
This illustration was originally done to accompany a written piece that appeared on the quite excellent Lovely Left Foot. Originally I wanted to try and work Barnes nickname ‘Digger’ into the main illustration itself.
However, after various illustrations of JCB’s (John Charles Barnes) and caterpillar tracks churning up the touchline I felt that a minimal approach would probably be the better option. So instead I opted for a play on words as part of the title and a traditional portrait of the man himself.
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Tags: England, John Barnes, Liverpool
3 Responses
John Barnes was the reason I started supporting Liverpool. I went to a Boarding school run by the Christian Brothers in the hills of North India. At the start of the football season, us kids carefully unwrapped and put up these posters of football players on our gymnasium walls. Old mouldy, posters of the likes of Sir Stanley Mathews, Beckenbauer, Pele, Maradona, Cryuff but the one player that almost leapt out of the poster was Barnes. I played as the left winger in my school team and would often invite the ire of my team mates by trying to replicate (mostly unsuccessfully) feints and dribbles that I’d seen Digger make on the pitch (courtesy VHS tapes my Aunt would bring back from the UK. I started hero-worshipping him when I was 11 and I’m still doing it at the age of 32. Those effortless runs down the left wing, that beatific smile. Thanks for the memories, Digger… and thanks for the excellent illustration, Miniboro.
Just the kind of thing im after Matt i.e. personal memories etc, really enjoyed reading that, great bit about Taylor btw
Love the image. Would have been better in a yellow shirt…
One memory I have of him is when Watford played Oldham at Vicarage Road in 1981. Barnes came off the bench for his debut. I was an eight year old obsessive,astonished that it was possible for a player to appear in the team that I had never heard of; this was a new experience. My Dad’s response to the obvious question was “Some kid we’ve just signed”.
Wow. Some kid.
Another memory was at Vicarage Road against league champions Liverpool in December 1986. Barnes scored a wonderful goal, one of those where he slipped through tackles like a skier on a slalom. Legend has it that at the end of that season – with Everton league champions – Liverpool’s squad were asked to identify the players that had caused them most problems that season as transfer targets. Little wonder that Barnes came up; he was scoring goals like that in red the following autumn.
Finally, in the build up to Italia 90 Graham Taylor, soon to be England manager, was employed as a TV pundit. In discussing the “enigma” that was John Barnes at international level, the 1984 goal in Brazil at the Maracana was shown. Taylor’s verdict: “Ah, well, you see, this was when he was a Watford player. I’ve always maintained that he’s not been the same player since he joined Liverpool….”. Parochial. Very much tongue in cheek. Marvellous.