I started at St Marylebone Grammar School in 1976, at the age of 12, after coming to England from Jamaica with my parents and two sisters.

In Jamaica, I grew up playing football, but St Marylebone Grammar School was a real rugby school. We didn’t play football at all - only rugby. It was a bit of a culture shock because I had never seen rugby before in my life.

My PE teacher and rugby coach was Mr Bosley, a tall, powerfully built Welshman in his sixties. He taught me from the first year until the fifth year.

Mr Bosley was very strict because he wanted you to play well and win. He was very scary for the first year or two; he would shout at you in his deep voice if you turned up late for training or didn’t support your teammates. It was only as I became more of an adult, at 14 or 15, that I developed more of a relationship with him and saw that he had empathy and really cared. So even when he encouraged you by shouting, you knew why he was doing it.

All the teachers at St Marylebone Grammar School were encouraging, but Mr Bosley was my favourite because he reminded me of my dad. Like my dad, he was someone who believed that whatever you do, you should do it properly, with discipline and dedication.

Mr Bosley was the rugby coach for the school, as well as the county. I played rugby for the school and because I was a good athlete who could run and catch, I went on to South of England trials. Outside of school, I played football for a club and had a football coach. I played first for Stowe Boys Club and then for Sudbury Court.

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I loved school, but I didn’t do much work. I liked running around at school, so PE was my favourite subject. I remember liking history as well as PE because it tells you about life and RE was very interesting to me because Jesus Christ Superstar was my favourite musical.

I left St Marylebone with about four O levels and started three A levels, including English, at Haverstock School in Camden. I had to leave St Marylebone, as it was going to close down. At the time, grammar schools were being abolished and turned into comprehensive schools. My school, which was hundreds of years old [established 1792], refused to cooperate with the authorities and that’s why it was closed in 1981. It is now an office block on Marylebone Road.

St Marylebone wasn’t a typical grammar school, elitist and full of middle-class children. All my friends were working-class kids from council estates in Great Portland Street and Camden Town, but they bought into the ethos of the school in terms of education and discipline.

I wasn’t considering a career in rugby or football at St Marylebone, but when I was 17 and studying A levels at Haverstock School, a taxi driver saw me playing for Sudbury Court and recommended me to a Watford scout. So I left school, started playing for Watford and the rest is history.

Mr Bosley could easily have been Graham Taylor, my first coach at Watford, because of the lessons I learnt from him: teamwork and determination. The last time I saw Mr Bosley, I was 20 and playing for Watford and England. We sat down and had a pint. I can’t remember how the conversation went, but I know he was proud of my achievements.

John Barnes was talking to Adeline Iziren. John is lending his support to the charity OnSide Youth Zones, as an ambassador for The Hive, the Wirral’s Youth Zone. Find out more at onsideyouthzones.org