Sport.co.uk caught up with Liverpool and England legend John Barnes (and as of this morning ex-Tramere manager) to discuss the Smokefree United campaign for which he is a key champion and figurehead…
So tell us about Smokefree United…
JB: It’s an NHS campaign to try and encourage people to stop smoking which is supported by the Premier League, myself, Ian Wright and Gianfranco Zola and, if you sign up on the website ( www.smokefree.nhs.uk/united ), you get weekly emails from Ian Wright to encourage you to stop smoking. The first 1000 people to sign up will win a football, and you can enter a competition to go to the Premier League club of your choice and be coached by those legends. So we know the incentives that are there to give up smoking, because Smokefree United are a football team that came together from smokers who wanted to quit. And now they’re doing very well. So that’s what it’s all about and that’s what the campaign is for.
As a manager, what would you do if you caught one of your players smoking?
JB: (Laughs) Well, of course, with it being Smokefree United, we are there to encourage people to stop smoking. If one of your players was smoking, then you’d have to make them aware of the benefits of not smoking. I couldn’t stop one of my players from going and smoking of course, and fining them wouldn’t be the answer, but let them know the benefits of not smoking, such as increasing lung capacity by 10 per cent, less risk of heart disease and fatigue, and improved recovery. You couldn’t just slap them on the wrist and tell them not to, but my players don’t smoke so that’s a bit of a hypothetical question!
Did you ever have team-mates who were smokers?
JB: When I played, a lot of the European players smoked. More recently, you could name Zinedine Zidane and David Ginola. In my day, David James was one who did smoke, but you didn’t get many English players smoking.
You should get Alan Stubbs on the campaign. Then you could have a poster of him extinguishing a cigarette with the caption ‘Alan Stubbs it out – will you?’…
JB: That’s a possibility!
Would you ever consider doing an anti-smoking rap?
JB: Well, if someone would write one, then why not? If someone writes one then maybe I’ll consider it.
Are you optimistic at Tranmere about turning it around this season?*
JB: Yes. Obviously the fans aren’t happy at the moment, but neither am I and neither are the players because things aren’t going well. But we will try and work together to see if we can turn things around. We have to remain optimistic; we know that things can change quickly in football as long as we have the right attitude, commitment, desire, togetherness and spirit, and that’s what we’re aiming for.
*John Barnes was this morning sacked as the manager of Tranmere.
John Barnes was speaking to sport.co.uk as an ambassador for Smokefree United. To learn more about the campaign and to get help kicking the smoking habit, click here.