Barnes Storming

By Kyle Ringo
The Metropolitan

Liam Barnes is the heavy on a field of bantam-weights. When he growls, you realize that you donât want to make him bark. He could do well in football. The thing is, the sport Barnes plays is called soccer.

Barnes, 18, a Metro freshman defender from England, has played in 13 games this season. He has received yellow cards in nine of them.

A yellow card is the refereeâs way of warning a player or coach when he or she is teetering on the fine line of aggressive play versus assault. A red card means you have crossed that line and gets you tossed from the game.

Barnes has been tossed once. It happened during his second game in America when Metro beat Cal Poly Pomona in early September. He came close to leaving  a Sept. 3 game early with Regis as well.

Barnes introduced a Ranger to the turf almost as easily as if he was discarding a chewing gum wrapper. The Regis faithful took to their feet, hissing and sneering at the man from North Yorkshire.

The Rangers encircled him. They pointed and jostled just long enough to realize what it was they were pointing at, a 6-foot-4-inch, 210 pound angry Englishman.

There is no sublime ruse to the way Barnes plays soccer. Itâs contact. Itâs wearing down the opponent like a boxer going to the body. He is physical. And if he gets angry,  he might knock your block off. Opponents can expect that much.

Is it his size or his style that attracts the refereeâs ire, and causes foes to recoil at the sight of him running their way? Barnes believes itâs all about appearances.

ãI look more aggressive because of my size,ä he said in his rich English accent. ãI kind of think that I get called for a lot of fouls that smaller guys donât get called for.

ãBut I never get any fouls called (on opponents) because Iâm so tall.ä

Barnes is a business management major. So you could say he is all business on or off the pitch. And that is exactly why coach Brian Crookham recruited him.

ãOn the field he is pretty competitive,ä Crookham said. ãBut off the field heâs probably one of the quietest guys you will meet.ä

Barnes might be the only Metro player ever to have the opportunity to go pro before going to school. An England soccer club offered him a contract that would have paid him $300 a week. But he decided he might like to see America instead.

In mid-August, Barnes packed up, boarded a jet and came west like so many before him. He likes what he has seen.

ãI like the laid back way of life,ä he said. ãPeople are a lot more friendly and a lot more carefree than in England.ä

Barnes has fond memories of his football games at home, though. He enjoys telling about the time when he played against a former representative of his countryâs national club.

ãI was marking that guy, and someone did a bad tackle on him,ä Barnes said. ãHe went over and tackled this kid. He tackled him bad. This kid jumped up and headbutted him straight away.

ãI was like ÎWhoa, calm down a bit.â That was the most violence Iâve seen on the pitch. The guy just went over and headbutted someone. He got sent off.ä

Some of his English friends came up with a nickname for Barnes. They started calling him Lurch, after the Adamâs Family character, because of his size and soft spoken demeanor.

Barnes keeps in touch with his parents and friends through phone calls, but itâs getting a little pricey. He also has two younger siblings, brother Gavin, 14, and sister Shellie, 16. Gavin appears to be following in his brothers footsteps.

ãThe telephone bill is getting a little bit big now,ä Barnes said. ãIt was like $400 for the month. They werenât very pleased. They were like, ÎI think you need to write a bit more.â ä

Metro is suffering through a disappointing season despite the addition of Barnes and fellow countryman Richard Paylor. It is easily the worst team, record-wise, that Barnes has been a part of.

ãI like to succeed,ä he said. ãIâve always been successful. Iâm just a little bit unhappy about losing all the time.ä

He is willing to try anything to win, including changing up his game a bit.

ãWhen I get aggressive and when I knock somebody down and I showboat a little, it gives the other team something to fight for,ä Barnes said.

So he might save what he gives to the crowd, and he might not be as quick to ragdoll the next player who kicks him in the shin. But Metro fans will have fun for the next three years listening for his growl to become a bark and waiting to see if his bark becomes a bite.