JUST over two years before Harvey Barnes was born, his father, Paul, was achieving footballing immortality with York City. Leading the line for the Minstermen at Old Trafford, Paul scored twice as York pulled off one of the greatest League Cup giant-killing acts of all time, beating Manchester United 3-0. He would have had a hat-trick had another effort not been controversially ruled out for offside.

Now 56, Paul enjoyed a successful career that took in spells at the likes of Birmingham City, Burnley and Huddersfield Town as well as a four-year spell at York that saw him score 85 goals in 179 appearances to establish himself as a club legend. Harvey is not yet 27, yet he has already surpassed his dad to become the most successful footballer in the family.

“There are probably certain things you can only understand at a deeper level when you’ve actually been there and done it,” said the Newcastle United midfielder of his relationship with his footballing father. “Of course, the game’s changed since he was playing, but the principles are still the same so there was so much – especially when I was younger – that I could learn from him growing up.

“That transition from the academy and the boys’ side of things to becoming a man and dealing with that side of the game – he definitely had a big help in that.

“He’s been through the highs and lows of football and he understands that, for me, there’s going to be highs and lows too, so he’s got a good understanding of how I’m feeling at certain times. He’ll tell me both sides of it, which I think as a player is important. You don’t always want to hear the good stuff – it’s the bad stuff as well.”

The Northern Echo: Paul Barnes, playing for York City against Manchester UnitedPaul Barnes, playing for York City against Manchester United (Image: The Northern Echo)

Not that there has been a lot of bad in Barnes’ career to date. Having joined Leicester’s academy at the age of nine, Burnley-born Barnes was still in the youth ranks when the Foxes claimed the unlikeliest of Premier League titles in 2016.

Their success opened a number of doors, though, and meant that when Barnes was ready to make his senior debut, it didn’t come in a nondescript League Cup first-round tie against lower-league opposition. Instead, it was as a substitute in a Champions League game against Porto in the Estadio do Dragao.

“It was crazy really,” said Barnes, in an interview with Newcastle’s matchday magazine, United. “I wasn’t involved with the first team (for their title win). I was too young, but I was just a fan. I grew up in Leicester and it was amazing. I was playing for the youth team, but just a mad Leicester fan, really, watching it all unfold.

“Being around the training ground and seeing it up close was crazy. On the back of that, the year after, being involved a bit and making my debut, it was like, ‘Wow – this team won the league last year, and now you’re involved’. It was some experience, just being around it all.”

Barnes made 187 senior appearances for Leicester, but while there were plenty of high points at the King Power Stadium, his time with the Foxes ended with the crushing blow of relegation in the 2022-23 campaign.

A summer switch to Newcastle followed, but while he started in black-and-white with a bang, scoring on the opening day of the season as the Magpies thrashed Aston Villa 5-1, a major obstacle was to present itself when he injured his foot during September’s 8-0 thrashing of Sheffield United.

Initially, it was hoped the problem, which involved a tear of the ligaments underneath his foot and toe, would not be too serious. Actually, it turned out to be anything but.

“Asking around, no one’s really dealt with this injury,” explained Barnes. “We were almost going into other sports to find out how they’ve rehabbed it. It was really unusual. And even more so for a player. It’s like, ‘How has that happened?’

“No injury is good, but it’s not your common hamstring where you can go, ‘Right, I can understand why that’s happened’. This is just like, ‘How on earth has this happened? What are the chances of this happening?’”

Barnes was sidelined for more than four months, only returning to action when he came off the bench to score Newcastle’s equaliser in last month’s chaotic 4-4 draw with Luton.

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He has played in every one of the Magpies’ matches since, and is determined to make up for lost time in the remaining two-and-a-half months of the season.

“I’ve been biting at the bit to get back,” he said. “To get back fit and help the boys out. That’s what I want to do in the second half of the season.”

European qualification via the league would be nice, or maybe a run to the FA Cup final, with Newcastle preparing for a quarter-final clash with Manchester City. Beyond that, while a place in the England squad for this summer’s European Championships is probably unlikely, Barnes would dearly love to add to the solitary cap he gained when he played against Wales in 2020.

“I’m fully aware of the quality they have,” he said. “So, I think it takes a real good run or form or something special to get yourself into that squad.

“For me as a player, of course the start I’ve had here hasn’t been good, with the injury or what not, but I think this is the perfect platform for any player to hit the highest level – to go and perform at the highest level individually and as a club, to get yourself in there.

“There’s no reason why, if I get back to having a good run of games and hit my best form, I can’t be back involved in the squad. That’s my dream, to be back involved in there and get myself more caps – that would be amazing.”