JOEY BARTON’S career as a footballer was always one mired with controversy and violence.

From numerous red cards on the pitch, to fighting and prison sentences off it, the former Newcastle and Manchester City man was never going to be considered one of footballs “nice guys.”

However, since the one-time England international’s retirement and recent spell in charge of League 1 side Bristol Rovers, Barton has caused the public perception of him to fall even lower.

Since the end of 2023 he has been parading himself on social media as an anti-left, anti-woke king of Twitter while spouting off on a number of subjects.

To many, this may seem unimportant, silly and even slightly humorous, but Barton has a significant following of almost three million.

Therefore, some of the views he has been presenting — in particular towards female pundits — has the potential to sway views and cause significant damage to the positive steps made with women in football over the last decade.

After first claiming that female pundits should not be allowed to “talk with any authority” about the men’s game, he has then taken jibes at numerous women in the football scene, including Alex Scott, Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward. He even compared them to the serial killers Fred and Rose West.

This particular comment caused ITV to come out with a statement public backing their pundits.

“For Joey Barton, an ex-professional player with a significant social media presence, to target two of our pundits, Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward, with such vindictive remarks based on gender and to invoke the names of serial killers in doing so is clearly contemptible and shameful on his part. Football is for everyone,” ITV said.

Former Manchester United fullback and Sky Sports presenter, Gary Neville, also took objection to Barton’s comments.

“My daughters have watched Salford City with me for 10 years and like to comment on football, my mum was kicked out of the football team (boys in the 1960s) and stopped playing due to misogyny, my sister struggled for funding for her sport for years and my brother was mocked when he took over the England women’s team,” Neville said.

“I come from a family that has fought these issues for years, and I’ve witnessed it first hand. All this does is just discourage, and it’s not the way forward. It’s bloody hard work for women to succeed in sport and media as it is without this stuff.”

Barton’s predominant use of social media centres on Twitter, where his account is currently categorised as a comedian.

However, his controversial takes leave little to be laughed at, with some considering legal action over his comments.

More recently, he has been highlighting single sentences in Premier League games where female commentators have made slight errors.

To pick one sentence from a 90-minute game as a reason for there to be fewer females involved in male football is ridiculous in its own right. All the more so when you consider how regularly male commentators make mistakes.

For example, national treasure and former pundit Chris Kamara famously once did not notice a player in a game he had been watching had been red carded. There was obviously no suggestion of forcing Kamara off the TV.

We are at a critical point in history in regard to women’s football. While there has been many positive steps recently, with higher attendances at women’s games and fantastic new opportunities, there are many who still believe football is, and always will be, a man’s game.

If former footballers, such as Barton, continue to sprout such illogical nonsense about these female pundits, this view could continue and a huge amount of damage could be done.