Here is the first part of our three-part Q and A series with John Barner who played over 400 games for the Reds and was voted by FourFourTwo magazine as Liverpool's best player of all time.

Part One: On the Liverpool Academy in Lismore and what it was like initially signing with Liverpool.

The Liverpool FC International Academy NSW was opened in September this year by former Liverpool star John Barnes.  The Anfield legend helped launch their new Academy operations and assisted in a coaching clinic with local players from Football Far North Coast.

The Academy will combine the facilities, and resources of Southern Cross University with the methodology and philosophy of Liverpool Football Club.

Many overseas clubs have academies in Australia in some form such as AC Milan, River Plate and Barcelona, for a young talented Aussie kid with ambitions to play overseas why would they chose Liverpool over other clubs?

Well if he doesn’t want to play for Liverpool let him stay here!

That’s crazy! Who doesn’t want to come and play for Liverpool coming from Australia? It’s a great opportunity for any kid but more importantly it’s an opportunity to want to better yourself. We are not here to necessarily get every kid from Australia to come and play for Liverpool. But what is happening is that we are hoping to develop them as young people, as young footballers and even if they don’t play for Liverpool and play for a local team and still have those values which are important to be footballers.

The fact is that what Liverpool are spreading is not values that are just for Liverpool or just even for football. It’s about life and giving kids an opportunity to learn, to grow, to develop. If they are fortunate enough to get an opportunity to go and visit Liverpool and have an experience at Liverpool it will be well worth it.

What sets Liverpool Academy apart from the others?

I don’t know what the point of difference is. All I know is about what Liverpool has. I don’t think that Liverpool’s Academy is necessarily different to anybody else’s.  I don’t know what the other academies are doing because in many respects it’s not important. What is important is that there is an opportunity here for kids to develop, to learn, to grow and if a consequence of that is they get to be a professional footballer or even get a chance to go and visit Anfield and play there in the Academy even for a week. I’m sure there will be h future opportunities for Australian kids to go over and visit the Liverpool Academy.

I think it’s good that Liverpool are here and looking at these kids. Going through the process that they are going through with the Liverpool Academy means they have a better opportunity and they may learn faster and they may learn better things. But in terms of the raw product, the quality of the kids and their ability - they are exactly the same here in Australia as they are in Liverpool or AC Milan or anywhere else.

What can you say about how Liverpool develop players from the junior ranks to the senior ranks?

It’s not rocket science what Liverpool is saying. We are not saying that we are the only ones who are talking about discipline and dignity and respect. That is what all clubs are doing, because it’s not a magic formula it’s very simple.

But it’s about getting into the right habits and getting into the repetition and telling these kids and telling them exactly what to do time and time again and that is the recipe for success. Because it’s a very simple way of thinking from Bill Shankly’s time.

On first arriving at Liverpool

How did your time at Watford prepare you for Liverpool?

I had been playing for England for four years. I was an experienced player and back then you didn’t have a young player who was 18 and had one good season and had signed for Liverpool and gotten into the team. So, Peter Beardsley had been playing for England for four years, John Aldridge had played -he was 25/26-year-old. Yes, we were experienced, but it was more to do with the fact that the football went well.

Liverpool didn’t just look for who were the best players and say let’s just get all the best players. They looked for the players that fitted into what they wanted.

So, when I first came I never felt like I was a Liverpool player. I was from Watford who played a different brand of football. But Liverpool saw how I could fit into what they wanted before I saw it.

It was the same with Peter Beardsley. The comfort came from the fact that Liverpool brought us knowing they could enhance what we had rather than thinking they are going to sign us and then we bring our own individuality and start something new at Liverpool.

Play the way for Liverpool that you played for Watford, play the way for Liverpool that you played for Newcastle, play the way for Liverpool that you played for Oxford, no, no no. They knew that we would come and fit into what Liverpool wanted and that we could do that. And that’s where the comfort came from.

What was your first day at training with Liverpool like?

At the time Liverpool was the best team in Europe and had won the European Cup.  On the first day in pre-season training I expected some indoctrination, some goats blood on the head to become a Liverpool player and to play the Liverpool way. And they gave me the bib and they said pass to him, he’s got the same colour bib on as you.

Have respect for your teammates and respect for the fans and respect for the community. There you have it - you are a Liverpool player. So, it’s not rocket science and I’m sure other clubs are maybe doing the same thing. It’s about doing what you think is right and it’s a very simple concept.

How was it adjusting from a small club like Watford to a big club like Liverpool?

Obviously, it was a different level with the quality of the players and the aspiration and expectations. I was very fortunate to have been at a club like Watford, so when I got to Liverpool I had already been taught in that manner and in that respect, that is why Liverpool looked at me.

Because what Liverpool did back then, as I’m sure as they do now, is look at the talent you have and your character. So, a lot of players Liverpool signed back then you would look at and say they didn’t seem to be Liverpool type players. I didn’t think I would be a Liverpool type player. I played for a long ball team at Watford but they looked at the character and they looked at the attitude of players and for me it was a marriage made in heaven. You can see a lot of players with great talent who come to Liverpool and they don’t make it. Not because of their ability but because of their temperament and their character. I think I had a Liverpool type of character before I came.

What was it like going from Watford who were a long ball team to playing with Liverpool who played a different style of football?

I was brought up in the army, my dad was a Colonel and I was brought up in a very disciplined way and I did what people told me to do. So, while I was always a very technical player, when I went to Watford what was demanded of me was to get the ball and go down the line, put crosses in, work hard, not concentrate on possession. Although I was a technical player, that is what I did.

When you play upfront you have more of a chance of being more technical and getting hold of the ball, dribbling and passing. I felt I was going to play upfront for Liverpool when they signed me and they signed me when Ian Rush had gone so I thought I was going to play up front with John Aldridge and of course three days later they signed Peter Beardsley, so it was like where am I going to play? They said to me you’re going to play on the left wing and I thought well Liverpool don’t play the way Watford do so I thought to myself what kind of a left winger am I going to be?

And from the first week in training, just being involved in training with the Liverpool players and what they did in training, I didn’t suddenly become a technical player. I found, and I say this to people all the time, Liverpool see things in you that you don’t see in yourself. So, I found this position, even though I played on the left, I would come in off the line. I would play in behind the front men and I would move around and I would have lots of possession which is not the way I was brought up in Watford. I knew I could always do that and Liverpool just created that environment for me to do that better than even I thought I would be able to do it.

What was it like when you first went to Liverpool in terms of the setup and the professionalism of the club?

I had already played professional football for six years when I was at Watford and I played for England for four years so I didn’t go there as a doh eyed young teenager who didn’t know what football was all about. I was very fortunate to have been at club like Watford who was very similar to Liverpool in terms of the values that they espoused and with a manager like Graham Taylor who talks about humility and determination and the character that is necessary to be a professional footballer which is exactly what Liverpool was all about.