Joey Barton has been handed a ban for start of next season

Joey Barton has been handed a ban for the start of the next season and hit with a £3,000 fine.

The former Manchester City, Newcastle, QPR and Burnley midfielder has never been shy of controversy in both his playing and managerial career.

Barton spent 74 days in prison in 2008 after pleading guilty to common assault and affray, while he also received the second-longest recorded ban in English football history nine years later following a series of betting rules breaches.

He is currently manager of Bristol Rovers in League One and his latest incident has resulted in an improper conduct charge from the FA.

It relates to his conduct following the 2-1 home defeat to Sheffield Wednesday at the Memorial Stadium on 18 April. Fuming with the decision to disallow John Marquis' goal for offside, Barton ended up being sent off for his protests.

Afterwards, he admitted to using improper, abusive, insulting and improper words to an official both in the tunnel and in the changing rooms used by referees.

He is now set to miss Rovers' first three games of next season's League One campaign, although the BBC say the Gas are set to appeal the ban.

After the game, Barton was critical of the officials and accused the referee of doing "something barmy" whenever he takes charge of games involving his sides.

"You rely on the officials to get major decisions right and unfortunately tonight the linesman's had a guess as they do at this level," he told BBC Radio Bristol.

"I was always worried when I seen the referee, every time I get him he does something barmy, that ref, not really putting that on his toes. His official, the linesman, has got one job to do. It's disappointing when they guess, sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn't."

Rovers is Barton's second managerial job after he started out with Fleetwood, whom he coached between June 2018 and January 2021.

He took the reins at Rovers after just a month out of work and earned promotion back to the third tier in his first full season with the club thanks to a 7-0 win over Scunthorpe on the final day.

Barton led his side to a 17th place finish last term, with Rovers accruing 53 points from 43 games.

Featured Image Credit: Alamy

Topics: Joey Barton, Premier League

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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