Former Liverpool star Craig Johnston co-wrote New Order song World in Motion, a World Cup classic

But very few know that he co-wrote the iconic New Order song World in Motion.

The track, which included several of England's football players, was released for the 1990 World Cup.

With the 2022 World Cup set to start on Monday, we asked Johnston how he came to be involved with the New Order song.

"The funny thing is that rap was just new to England. One of the first raps was the Anfield Rap," he said.

It was released ahead of the 1988 FA Cup, which was Johnston's last game for Liverpool. The track hit a high of number three on the UK singles charts on May 22, 1988.

A couple of years later, Johnston was living in London when he received a call from former Liverpool teammate John Barnes, who was in the Anfield Rap.

"He could really rap," Johnston said.

Barnes was in London with New Order and some of his England teammates, trying to record a song for the World Cup.

"Barnes said he needed my help, so I dropped what I was doing and went up there."

When he arrived, he found New Order and England players including Barnes, Peter Beardsley and Chris Waddle looking a bit gloomy.

The band and Barnes told Johnston they were struggling to record the track.

"They said the players can't sing or hold a tune. I said, 'How do you expect them to? They're footballers?'

"They laughed and said 'what's the answer?' I said write a rap section in the middle of it. The players can do the rap and join in the chorus."

Johnston grabbed a pen and piece of paper, sat down with a cup of coffee and wrote the rap section for Barnes in about 20 minutes.

"Barnes immediately got the beat."

The track hit number one in the UK singles charts when the World Cup began in June 1990.

Johnston's involvement in the track was credited on the record.

"I listened to a lot of Run DMC. To me, the rap was easy to write. Easier than playing football," he said.

World in Motion became a cultural phenomenon that's revived at every World Cup.

When Johnston was back in England a few weeks ago, he met his old mate Barnes.

Barnes has become an authority on racism. He released a book last year, titled The Uncomfortable Truth About Racism.

"He signed the book and gave it to me while I was in Liverpool," Johnston said.

"He gave me one of my first lessons on racism. I was in the England squad at the time, rooming with him. We were playing somewhere in Europe."

Barnes was a great footballer and he's a great man too, shining a light on prejudice.

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