by Joey Barton has compared women who comment on football to men who talk about knitting in a ‘sexist’ story.
Barton has faced backlash for a series of posts made on X, including calling for men to boycott games with female presenters and a rant branding those who challenged him as “Eunuchs”.
The controversial former player, who was sacked as manager of Bristol Rovers in October, criticized the growing trend of women covering the men’s game, apparently watching Amazon Prime Video’s live coverage of the Premier League.
Apparently attended by presenters such as Gabby Logan, Eni Aluko, Siobhan Chamberlain and Robyn Cowen, Barton wrote: “Women should not be speaking with any authority in the men’s game. Come on. Let’s be serious.
“It’s a completely different game. If you don’t accept that. We will always see things differently.
“The women’s game is thriving. Great to see. I can’t take what they say seriously in men’s lives. #namaste”
He added: “Any man who listens to a woman’s commentary or fellow communicator needs to get his head tested… #sticktoyourowngame.”
‘You give them a f—— inch…”
After other users of the platform accused him of sexism, Barton resorted to a series of crude insults before doubling down on his previous statements.
“Stand by everything I’ve said about women commentating and co-communicating men’s football,” he wrote. “It’s like me talking about knitting or a net ball. Way out of my comfort zone. Some of the men are pretty bad! We have gone too far.
“You can’t watch a game now without hearing the nonsense. Any man who says otherwise is a complete fart.”
He also mentioned his former club, Manchester City, over a clip of a woman fronting their Champions League game against RB Leipzig last week, slamming the presence of the “influencer”.
“I mean look at the nonsense,” he wrote. You give them a f—— inch… You were going to use the hashtag #Getthemout but it will inevitably be taken out of context…
“Out of the stadiums and out of the assemblies with the person who has influence f—— nonsense. Men sure, enough is enough? Someone had to say something or it will never end.”
The ‘influencer’ Barton points to was Georgia Hampson, the club’s social media editor.
Barton added: “Obviously a lot of top players can’t get a gig because TV companies have quotas to fill and boxes to tick.
“Their experience of the landfill to serve the ‘Woke’. The only way they will change is if he hits them in the pocket.
“That only happens when the men decide to quit.”
‘These tweets only encourage more’
Laura Woods, the TNT Sports presenter, accused Barton of inciting a sexist “bunch” of women covering the Premier League. She said: “I usually avoid these conversations because I don’t like to add more oxygen. But it is wrong to throw young vloggers to the wolves.
“I started my vlogging career and have always had success with Joey. He also sent me a good luck message for TNT in June. Does that make him a eunuch too?”
She added: “Joey is entitled to his opinion. If he feels that strongly about women in the men’s game he could ask for a private chat with the broadcasters & state his case.
“These tweets only encourage women who are getting on with their jobs. Or is that the secret?”
Despite his series of offensive comments, Barton will not face any action from the Football Association for breaking their rules on such comments because he made them while off work and is considered outside their jurisdiction.
‘Misogyny for women in football is common’
Barton’s posts came despite his support for the #HERGAMETOO campaign, which aims to fight sexism in sport, while he was manager of Rovers.
Shortly before his sacking, after one win in five League One games, Barton publicly backed Kevin Keegan after the latter declared that he did not like hearing a female philosopher talk about the England men’s team .
Speaking live in Bristol, Keegan said: “I’m not that keen, I have to be honest, and maybe it’s not a shared view. I don’t like listening to women talking about the England men’s team at the game because I don’t think it’s the same experience. I have a problem with that.”
In response, Barton posted on X: “Kevin Keegan. Ballon D’or winner 1978. England manager. It’s blocked.”
Anti-discrimination group Kick It Out also criticized Barton’s comments, which said: “It would be unacceptable in any part of society to question whether women should have a voice in a debate, so why the difference between football?
“The uncomfortable truth is that sexism and misogyny are far too common for women in football, whether on the stands, in the workplace or online.
“At Kick It Out this season, we’ve already had more than twice as many reports based on sexism and misogyny than we did at this point last season. Against the backdrop of a 400 per cent rise in reports of sexism and foul play in 2022-23 from the previous season, these reports paint a damning picture of a game where women are still being abused at unacceptable levels.
“And we know that misogynistic comments can lead to intimidation and threats, and women and girls can leave the game. So, while negative comments about female punditry online can be shocking because they are in the public eye, they remind us of the consequences that sexist behavior can have on the experiences of women and girls. in football.”
Barton’s latest comments also come just a week after he appeared to downplay his brother Michael’s role in the 2005 racially motivated murder as a “f——“.
Barton was playing for Manchester City when his brother was convicted of murdering Anthony Walker before going on to serve 17 years of a life sentence for his part in the killing of the 18-year-old black man.
