A Diamond Called Ross Barkley Trivia Quiz

Answer: Nigeria

Barkley's father is Nigerian, making him eligible to play for the Super Eagles. Although his father's name is Peter Effanga, Barkley - like Ryan Giggs before him - took his mother's maiden name, as his parents are estranged and he was brought up by his mother.

Answer: Queens Park Rangers

Barkley joined the senior Everton squad on a pre-season tour of the USA, but missed a game against Philadelphia Union due to a strained ankle. Although he featured in friendlies against Birmingham City and DC United, it was against Queen's Park Rangers that he made his Premier League debut. Although Everton lost the match 1-0, Barkley was nominated as Everton's Man of the Match.

Answer: Sheffield Wednesday

Wednesday's then boss Dave Jones stated that he was happy to have Barkley at the club, as they had been chasing him for some time. Barkley's time at Sheffield Wednesday was brief, as his loan was extended but Everton recalled him. Wednesday lost 3-0 to Brighton & Hove Albion on Barkley's debut match for them, and he scored a penalty for them against Bolton Wanderers (though Wednesday ended up losing 2-1).

He also had a loan period at Leeds United in January 2013.

Answer: Attacking midfielder

As an Everton chant goes: 'We've got a diamond called Ross Barkley/A Toffee who comes from Wavertree/He plays on the wing with James McCarthy/Together for Everton FC.' ('The Toffees' is Everton's nickname, due to the association with sweet shops near the ground which sold Everton mints, in the early days of the club.) Barkley wore the number 20 shirt for Everton during most of his time there, and the number 8 shirt for Chelsea. Everton manager Roberto Martinez compared Barkley's playing style to both Michael Ballack and Paul Gascoigne, while Frank Lampard compared him to Wayne Rooney.

Answer: Yes

Barkley received his first call-up for the England U16s in 2008, and captained England to victory in the Montaigu Tournament the following year. England manager Roy Hodgson was said to be impressed by Barkley's goal in Everton's 3-2 defeat against Manchester City in 2014, and Barkley was called up for the 2014 World Cup along with team mates John Stones, Phil Jagielka and Leighton Baines.

He earned his first senior cap as a substitute for Jack Wilshere against Moldova in the qualifiers, and was benched for the Italy match in the group stage - although he came on as a substitute for Danny Welbeck - but started against Costa Rica.

Although he and Stones were called up for the Euro 2016 England squad (Baines and Jagielka being left out, much to Jagielka's annoyance), and he scored his first England goal in a 6-0 victory against San Marino during the qualifiers, neither player was used.

Answer: Double leg break

Barkley suffered a double fracture of his leg during a European Championship qualifier against Belgium, after colliding with Andre Wisdom, and missed most of Everton's 2010-11 season as a result. It was so bad that a Belgian doctor told him he would never play again, though he did eventually recover. Coaches who worked with Barkley noticed a change in his behaviour when playing, as he did not launch himself at the ball as enthusiastically as before.

Answer: 3

To be specific: David Moyes, Roberto Martinez and Ronald Koeman (not counting caretaker manager David Unsworth, who took over for the last few games of the 2015-16 season after Martinez was sacked). All three managers had different approaches to Barkley. Moyes often benched him, while he was a regular starter under Martinez, and Martinez regularly praised Barkley's talent. Koeman, on the other hand, received criticism from some fans for what they felt was harsh treatment towards Barkley, publicly criticising him in the press and threatening to leave him out of the team if he did not sign a new contract.

Answer: Kelvin MacKenzie wrote an offensive piece about Barkley, comparing him to a gorilla

'Sun' columnist Kelvin MacKenzie had previously upset Liverpool supporters with a front page headlined 'The Truth', which claimed Liverpool supporters at Hillsborough urinated on the dead and stole from them, and also laid the blame for the disaster on Liverpool supporters.

As a show of solidarity, many Everton supporters joined Liverpool supporters in boycotting 'The Sun' for many years. In April 2017, a week before the anniversary of Hillsborough, MacKenzie wrote a thinkpiece in 'The Sun' about Barkley being assaulted in a Liverpool nightclub, comparing him to a gorilla. Because of Barkley's Nigerian heritage, MacKenzie's article was criticised for being racist. Everton responded by banning 'The Sun' and its reporters from Goodison Park and all other areas of the club's operation, and MacKenzie's contract with the tabloid was subsequently terminated.

Answer: FA Cup

Antonio Conte's Chelsea beat Jose Mourinho's Manchester United 1-0, thanks to an Eden Hazard goal. Although Barkley was on the substitutes' bench, he was unused throughout the match, but joined in the celebrations afterwards nevertheless.

Answer: Southampton

In Barkley's first game for Chelsea, they lost 3-0 to Bournemouth, but he played a vital role in their 3-0 victory away to Southampton. As well as scoring the second goal, he also helped set up the first by passing the ball to Eden Hazard, who opened the scoring. Alvaro Morata scored the third.