John Barnes (born Irvine; c. 1960) is a sports commentator working for
BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland.
It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Ireland. I ...
. He is one of the most respected sports broadcasters in Scotland and has worked on both television and radio, mainly as a
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
commentator on the flagship programmes ''
Sportscene
''Sportscene'' is the name of a range of Scottish sports television programmes produced by BBC Scotland.
History
''Sportscenes predecessors were ''Sports Special from Scotland'' and ''Sportsreel'', which was broadcast every Saturday at around 5 ...
'' and ''
Sportsound
''Sportsound'' is BBC Radio Scotland's main radio sports show. It provides coverage to listeners on medium wave, FM, DAB Digital Radio and via the internet. It is best known for its exclusive live commentary of Scottish Premiership football g ...
''.
He joined the BBC in 1993 after previously having worked in broadcasting for
Radio Clyde
Radio Clyde is a group of two Independent Local Radio stations serving Glasgow and West Central Scotland. Radio Clyde is owned and operated by Bauer, based at studios in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire and forms part of Bauer's Hits Radio and Gr ...
, STV, West Sound Radio and BT Supercall Sport.
Barnes was a writer for the ''
Scottish Daily Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...
'' before joining the BBC.
He commentated for the BBC at the
1998 World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...
Finals in France, the last time Scotland were at the finals of a major tournament.
He was the last Scot to provide radio commentary on a Scottish club in a European final – Uefa Cup Final 2008: Zenit St Petersburg v Glasgow Rangers.
Barnes was famously assaulted during a television interview, by the chairman of Dundee United, Jim McLean, at Tannadice following a match with Hearts in October 2000. McLean resigned following the incident before the football authorities could deal with him.
Former players Gordon Smith, Willie Miller, Billy Dodds, Kevin McGowne and Craig Paterson regularly join Barnes as co-commentator.
Barnes has a close association with
Kilmarnock Football Club
Kilmarnock Football Club, commonly known as Killie, is a Scottish professional football team based in the town of Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire. The team is currently managed by Derek McInnes, who was appointed in January 2022. The club has achie ...
having played with the Ayrshire club's youth team. He also played for the successful Ayrshire Junior football club
Auchinleck Talbot
Auchinleck Talbot Football Club is a Scottish football club based in Auchinleck, East Ayrshire. They currently play in the .
The club is also a member of the Scottish Junior Football Association, and have won the Scottish Junior Cup on a reco ...