John Barnes has been declared bankrupt after his media company built up £1.5million of debt over a number of years.

The former left winger spent two seasons with Newcastle United in the late 1990s and scored seven goals in 41 games for the club. His biggest success came with Liverpool where he won two league titles, two FA Cups and the League Cup with 107 goals across his 406 appearances for the Reds.

Decades on from his footballing career, an investigation by The Insolvency Service found his firm, John Barnes Media Ltd, failed to pay taxes between 2018 and 2020. An insolvency order was published by the London Gazette on Tuesday, September 30, after a petition was filed by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) in early August. It was issued in the High Court of Justice on September 23.

The report states the ex-footballer owes £776,878 to HMRC in unpaid VAT, National Insurance, and PAYE, as well as £461,849 to unsecured creditors and a £226,000 director’s loan. Barnes was banned from being a company director...