Premier League - The life and times of Joey Barton

Eurosport - Tue, 05 May 11:59:00 2009

A look at the turbulent career of Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton.

FOOTBALL Newcastle United Joey Barton leaves FA hearing - 0

April 2004 - Storms out of Eastlands before kick-off after being axed from the Manchester City side to face Southampton.

July 2004 - Sparks a mass brawl in a pre-season 'friendly' against Doncaster.

December 2004 - A Christmas bash for Manchester City players sees him stub a lit cigar into the eye of young team-mate Jamie Tandy. He is fined six weeks' wages by City.

May 2005 - Breaks the leg of a 35-year-old pedestrian while driving his car at 2am in Liverpool city centre.

June 2005 - Involved in a spat with a 15-year-old Everton fan at City's team hotel in Bangkok. Again he is fined by City.

October 2006 - The bad blood with Everton fans continues in 2006 when he drops his shorts in the direction of home fans at Goodison Park. He is fined and warned by the FA for his conduct.

December 2006 - Blasts England players releasing autobiographies after an unsuccessful World Cup campaign. "England did nothing in the World Cup, so why are they bringing books out? 'We got beat in the quarter-finals, I played like s***, here's my book'. Who wants to read that? I don't," he says.

February 2007 - Makes his England debut against Spain, replacing Frank Lampard, one of the players he was thought to have aimed his earlier criticism at.

March 2007 - Arrested on suspicion of assault and criminal damage in an incident involving a taxi driver. He is alleged to have ripped out the cabbie's radio because he would not wait at a McDonald's drive-through while Barton got food.

May 2007 - Involved in a training ground incident with Manchester City team-mate Ousmane Dabo.

June 2007 - Sold by City to Newcastle Utd for £5.8 million. Aims parting shot at City boss Stuart Pearce, blaming his departure on a "relationship breakdown" between the pair.

November 2007 - The press reacts furiously to a studs-up challenge on Sunderland's Dickson Etuhu during the Tyne-Wear derby. "Ban him" screams the News of the World headline. He escapes FA sanction.

December 2007 - Hits the headlines again as he brings into question Newcastle fans' commitment to the cause.

December 2007 - Sits out Newcastle's Boxing Day game through injury, but goes drinking in Liverpool city centre afterwards. In the early hours of December 27 he gets into a row in a McDonald's and violence again breaks out. Drunk, Barton straddles his victim, punching him repeatedly in the face.

December 2007 - Refused bail and is forced to spend the New Year behind bars.

May 2008 - Admits assault and affray and is jailed for six months.

May 2008 - Found not guilty of vandalising the taxi during the incident in March 2007. His cousin, Joshua Wilson, 19, admitted doing the damage.

June 2008 - Pleads guilty to assaulting Dabo in May 2007.

July 2008 - Given a four-month suspended sentence for the Dabo assault.

July 2008 - Released from Strangeways prison after serving 74 days of six-month sentence.

July 2008 - Newcastle announce the club will retain his services.

September 2008 - Banned for six matches, with a further six suspended, after admitting FA charge of violent conduct relating to Dabo incident.

November 2008 - Escapes FA action after an on-pitch incident involving Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor. Media reports claim Barton made a racial slur but Agbonlahor decides not to pursue disciplinary action.

November 2008 - Sidelined for eight weeks with knee injury, then for a further three months with a foot injury.

May 2009 - Sent off on first game back against Liverpool for a wild tackle on Xabi Alonso. Suspended by club following claims of a dressing-room row with manager Alan Shearer.

Sporting Life / Eurosport

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  1. hi all.
    I REMEMBER I HAD A BUGGIE CALLED­ JOEY AND HE WAS NUTS,BRING THE DUMMY
    UP TO­ GLASGOW AND WE WILL SEE JUST HOW HARD HE THINKS HE IS,
    ­ WONT LAST TWOmins.
    ­ HIE WEE JOEEE JUST WALK AWAY FROM FOOTBALL
    ­ AS YOU ARE NOT LIKED AND NOW ARE A DANGER TO­ YOURSELF ITS YOUR
    ONLY OPTION AS­ PLAYERS,FANS, OFFICIALS, REFS, ETC CAN AND WILL MAKE
    ­ YOUR LIFE A LIVING HELL.
    ­ P.S.WEE BUGGIE BARTON, DO NOT COME NORTH OF­ THE BORDER

    IT WOULD NOT BE A GOOD IDEA.
    ­ GC. ­ GLASGOW

    From gregor c, on Tue 29 Jul 7:23PM

  2. KEVIN KEEGAN SHOULD BE SACKED AS MANAGER OF NEWCASTLE­ FOR TAKING BARTON BACK WHAT KIND OF MESSAGE DOES THIS­ GIVE THE KIDS BARTON AND HIS WHOLE FAMILY ARE OUT AND­ OUT THUGS THEY ARE DESPISED IN LIVERPOOL HE STRUTS­ AROUND LIKE NO ONE CAN TOUCH HIM AND UNFOURTANTLY KEVIN­ KEEGAN AND THE FA HAVE PROVED HIM RIGHT I URGE ALL TRUE­ FOOTBALL FANS AND DECENT PEOPLE TO GIVE HIM NOT­ NEWCASTLE FANS THE HARDEST TIME POSSIBLE HE IS THE SCUM­ OF THE EARTH

    From jduffet18, on Tue 29 Jul 7:21PM

  3. NUFC need to get relegated.
    Then they need to get rid­ of the inept board of no-hopers, get of clueless KK­ and his pals, get rid the useless so-called footballers­ and kick Wise out on his ar$e.
    NUFC needs a board who­ are NUFC supporters and manager with a good football­ pedigree who bring a team together that can actually­ win something. They also need to work with the fans who­ have paid good money over many seasons/years to watch­ teams who win "NOTHING".
    Bringing Barton back­ to NUFC makes the club look exactly what it is,­ unambitious and a laughing stock in the eyes of world­ football.

    From Bobby Robson A Legend, on Tue 29 Jul 5:11PM

  4. he is a massive @#$% and i hope he ends up playing for­ macclesfield in a couple of years before he gets kicked­ outta there for being such a knacker, scumbag, chav,­ @#$%, @#$%, lowlife, @#$%, mongface or whatever u wanna­ call him

    From Dave S, on Tue 29 Jul 4:58PM

  5. the child is a compleate overated,overpaid @#$%­ head,nuff said

    From jon g, on Tue 29 Jul 4:39PM

  6. you missed the chance to call it 'the life and­ crimes of joey barton' tut tut

    From ivefinished, on Tue 29 Jul 4:28PM

  7. this just sums up our team.. cannot sign anybody so get­ some out of jail.. GOD HELP US THIS SEASON... WHO ELSE­ GOT RELEASED TODAY WE STILL NEED A STRIKER..

    From truffle monster, on Tue 29 Jul 4:20PM

  8. As a Newcastle Utd fan I am appalled that Kevin Keegan­ is to give that person another chance. If this had­ happened to the normal working man, would he have been­ given this chance too? NO, firstly he would have been­ sacked for assaulting a work mate and necessary action­ would have been taken, then again to assault another­ person he would have had the book thrown at him and­ made to serve a heavier sentence in full.
    I am ashamed­ to support a club that seems to want this kind of role­ model for the younger generation.
    THE SOONER WE SELL­ HIM THE BETTER.
    I also think that he should not be­ allowed to play football again for an FA League whether­ it be amature or professional.

    From Annie, on Tue 29 Jul 3:52PM

  9. barton is a lump of @#$% . Flush the toilet asap.

    From M S, on Tue 29 Jul 3:48PM

  10. Joey Barton is just like any other footballer a two­ faced individual who has a crack at established england­ internationals for bringing out their autobiographies­ yet does nothing more than behave like a spoilt child­ who goes as far for an adult to attack a 15 year old­ everton fan and fight with clubbers in a liverpool­ street.

    He seems to portray himself as a hard man but­ going a while back he was pictured in a prison gym­ having a photo taken alongside two beefed up lags with­ him in the middle doing nothing more than offer a­ nervous smile which beneath that exterior is nothing­ more than a scared child when faced with guys twice the­ size and strength of him.

    Maybe had the courts worked­ differently he should be made to serve the armed forces­ with the equivilant of a fixed prison term that way it­ would either make or break him as a individual as those­ who join the armed forces become the men that had been­ sorted from the boys

    From jackflash, on Tue 29 Jul 3:48PM

  11. He should have served the full six months at the­ correctional facility ,then he may have felt the­ effects of the corrections and could have been­ corrected ,,now he has been released early there­ wasn,t much point in sending him there in the first­ place ,, If our system is to work then rules must be­ followed and if people cant do that ,then the law­ should be applied to remove them from society and ­ that person should counselled ,treated ,helped to­ reform his /her ways and when the time is right that­ person will be allowed to take part in society again­ ,hopefully as a completely different person .. As­ for joey he will be exactly the same animal as before­ and will have no respect for our society and he has­ sent a message to all the other psychopaths that they­ can win too ,,don,t want to respect the law then don,t ­ etc etc etc

    From steve, on Tue 29 Jul 5:07AM

  12. SECOND CHANCE - whats he going to become, a role­ model?
    How come he got out of jail after only serving­ 10 weeks of a 6 month sentence?
    Good behaviour?
    He­ reminds me a little of Paul Gasgoigne, but with less­ talent and more aggression.
    The FA protects its own,­ and Keegan is one of theirs.
    Ban him for good. Glenn­ Hoddle had to resign from the England job for his @#$%­ remarks on disabled people (and I recall how they must­ deserve it or something evil along those lines) but we­ let a player who respects seemingly nothing and who­ stubs out cigarettes in a player's eye and beats­ people up in public while pissed and eating @#$% food.­ What are we waiting for, until he kills somebody.

    From Helen Robbins, on Mon 28 Jul 11:15PM

  13. scumbag

    From kev.curran.1968, on Mon 28 Jul 5:51PM

  14. this guy is a beauty!

    From sairam, on Mon 28 Jul 5:41PM

  15. bloody hell if i was a newcastle player (or an everton­ player, for that matter), I would request a transfer­ away from the club as soon as possible. unfortunately­ for dabo, he did't think that he would be assaulted­ by a team-mate on the training ground,but i­ wouldn't want to risk my life to play in the same­ team as this little @#$%

    From Remi J.M, on Mon 28 Jul 5:12PM

  16. people who say he deserves a second chance. literally,­ it wouldn;t be his second chance, count the number in­ the article, it would actually be his 13th chance.

    From Remi J.M, on Mon 28 Jul 5:07PM

  17. He'll never change. This guy is scum, and if my­ team signed him i think i would stop going.

    From Richard C, on Mon 28 Jul 4:41PM

  18. ronroo78: How many of us did wrong things including­ repeatedly punching people in the faces, pulling our­ pants down in front of thousands and aggressing others ­ with lighters into their eyes and??? This guy got his­ 2nd, 3rd and 10th chance. That is what this article­ highlights.. Trying to minimize what this idiot has­ done is like saying Bush only thought Weapons of Mass­ Destruction was a Playstation game..

    From Half A Brain, on Mon 28 Jul 4:02PM
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    c'mon wats all dis rubbish and nonsense u guyz are­ sayin bout joey, all of u ever did something terrible­ and yet u have been pardoned or given another chance.­ Da lads gonna redeem himself and prove to u that he is­ a changed man n all u guyz are talkin PARROT.

    From joseph, on Mon 28 Jul 3:32PM

  20. Kevin Keegan is clueless.....deserves a second chance?­ SECOND chance? how many incidents has he been involved­ in now? he is scum, i will be giving him abuse from the­ stands when NUFC visit, and i urge everyone else to do­ the same

    From benc9, on Mon 28 Jul 1:50PM
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