The Barnesiverse

If you're new to The Barnesiverse, you're probably wondering what on earth "Steve Bruce's murder mystery trilogy" is referring to. Rest assured, this is not a cheese dream. Former Manchester United defender and journeyman manager Steve Bruce really did write a trilogy of crime thrillers, centred around the entirely fictional former Mulcaster United defender, Steve Barnes. Barnes is now the manager of First Division, promotion-chasing Leddersford Town FC, but must deal with a series of mishaps of various seriousness, ranging from murder, through kidnap, to his wife being a bit exasperated with him having to work at Christmas and being late for going shopping.

This page is an attempt to document some of the characters, storylines and timelines within the trilogy. However, to really immerse yourself in the Barnesiverse, there's only one place to start, and that is with the truly peerless Quickly Kevin; will he score? podcast readthroughs of the three books - Striker!, Sweeper!, and Defender!