Under the microscope

FORMER international footballer and club manager John Barnes, 54, answers our quiz.

CAN YOU RUN UP THE STAIRS?

NO. I am not fit at all because I ruptured a tendon in my left knee and dislocated my shoulder in July while playing volleyball at my son’s wedding. I’ve had surgery, but I am still having physiotherapy. I usually swim a couple of times a week to stay in shape.

GET YOUR FIVE-A-DAY?

I TRY to eat healthily, but when you have young children, you have their half-eaten burgers.

POP ANY PILLS?

MY WIFE gives me vitamins. I’m not sure what they are — I just take them.

EVER DIETED?

I PREFER to say that I’ve tried to eat sensibly. I’m 5 ft 11 in and, when I was playing football, I was about 12 ½ st. I’m now 16 st and would like to lose weight. In the 1980s, we didn’t have advice on diet — we ate what we wanted. When you’re training every day, a KFC or McDonald’s isn’t a problem. At Liverpool, we won the European Cup three times eating fillet steak.

ANY VICES?

I HARDLY drink. I might have three glasses of wine a week. I also don’t have a sweet tooth.

MOST SERIOUS ACCIDENT?

I RUPTURED my Achilles tendon when I was 28 in an England match against Finland. I felt a really sharp pain, then numbness and was out of action for six months.

ANY FAMILY AILMENTS?

MY DAD had prostate cancer and died in his 70s. I am getting checked and everything is OK. My mum is 82. She qualified as a barrister at 69 and now practises in Jamaica.

COPE WITH PAIN?

I’M OK. When I ruptured my knee I thought: ‘Oh, no,’ and that was all.

TRIED ALTERNATIVE REMEDIES?

I HAD regular massages as a footballer to loosen up muscles before a match.

EVER BEEN DEPRESSED?

NO. There are ups and downs in football, but compared to the rest of the world, it is a very fortunate life.

WHAT KEEPS YOU AWAKE?

I SLEEP five or six hours at most. I’m disturbed by the slightest noise and wake at 5am most mornings. I travel a lot — I’ve taken 280 flights in the past two years as an ambassador for Liverpool FC — and I think it has messed up my body clock.

ANY PHOBIAS?

SHARKS, because I saw Jaws as a youngster.