 Barnes was born in the Small Heath area of Birmingham , in the shadow of St Andrew 's , the home stadium of Birmingham City . Support for Birmingham City ran in the family ; his uncle played for the club in the 1920s . In 1943 , aged 14 , he began work at the Post Office . He played football for the works team , and quickly received an invitation to play for Moor Green , one of the strongest amateur teams in the area . His performances for Moor Green resulted in interest from Birmingham City , and Barnes became part of their junior team , Birmingham City Colts . Barnes worked at the Post Office during the day , trained with Moor Green in the evening , and played for Birmingham City Colts at the weekend . However , the Colts stopped selecting Barnes after a clash of matches , in which Barnes chose to play for a local team instead of the Colts . Barnes then resumed playing for Moor Green . 
