Liverpool and England football legend, John Barnes, is facing yet another bankruptcy petition from HM Revenue & Customs, according to fresh reports.
In June, Mail Sport revealed that Barnes had amassed debts exceeding £1.5 million through his media company, which led to a three-and-a-half-year ban from serving as a company director.
The Telegraph now reports that HMRC filed the latest petition at the High Court on Friday, placing the former Newcastle and Watford star under renewed threat of financial collapse.
Liquidators’ recent progress documents show that Barnes owes £776,878 in unpaid VAT, National Insurance, and PAYE, alongside £461,849 to unsecured creditors.
He also faces repayment of a £226,000 director’s loan and £56,535 in liquidator’s fees. So far, Barnes has repaid £60,000 towards the director’s loan in agreed instalments.
This is the sixth bankruptcy petition lodged against him since 2010. He narrowly avoided bankruptcy in 2023.
His firm, John Barnes Media Limited, was liquidated two years after failing to settle more than £190,000 in tax liabilities.
Banned from company directorship last April, Barnes cannot participate in promoting, forming, or managing a business without court approval.
The Insolvency Service began investigating his conduct as a director in September 2023, over three years after the company ceased operations in January 2020.
Investigators found that between November 2018 and October 2020, no tax payments were made to HMRC.
The company also failed to pay £78,839 in corporation tax from August 2018 to January 2020 and £115,272 in VAT between February 2019 and 2020.
During that two-year stretch, John Barnes Media generated a turnover of £441,798. Based in West Byfleet, Surrey, the business described itself as a media representation service before shutting down in January 2020.
Last April, Mike Smith, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, stated, “Individuals and businesses not paying the tax they should deprives the Government of the funding it needs to provide vital public services and investment in areas such as schools, hospitals and roads.”