Barnes made his Football League debut at a time when racism was still rife in English football, and black players had only recently become a regular feature in the game. When he signed for Liverpool in 1987, he was only the second black player to appear for Liverpool, after Howard Gayle, who had made a few appearances for the club at the beginning of the 1980s. He was frequently subjected to racial abuse by supporters and even players of opposition teams during the 1980s and to a lesser degree during the 1990s.