Joey Barton blasts his former side Man City for hiring a female presenter and claims women are getting jobs in men’s football because TV companies have ‘quotas to fill and boxes to tick’ – with ex-footballer to appear on Piers Morgan’s show tonight

• Joey Barton hit out at a Man City female presenter on Thursday morning
• He claimed women are only getting jobs in the men’s game to fill quotas
• This HAS to be the time when players show respect and control. Only the captain should approach referees – Listen to It’s All Kicking Off 

Joey Barton has sparked fresh controversy by hitting out at his former club Manchester City for having a female presenter for their men’s matches.

Barton posted a video on social media on Thursday morning of the presenter setting the scene ahead of the team’s Champions League clash with RB Leipzig last week.

Having been irked by the 14-second clip for some reason, Barton wrote alongside it: ‘I mean look at the nonsense. You give them a f***ing inch… Was going to use the hashtag #Getthemout but no doubt it will be taken out of context…

‘Out the stadiums and off the concourse’s with the influencer f***ing nonsense. Men surely, enough’s enough? Someone got to say something or it won’t ever end.’

He proceeded to post another message to highlight his view that women are not being given jobs in men’s football on merit.

Former Premier League footballer Joey Barton has sparked fresh controversy after hitting out at women being given jobs in men’s football

He took aim at a Man City female presenter on X on Thursday morning

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‘Of course loads of ex-top players can’t get a gig because the TV Companies have quotas to fill and boxes to tick,’ he added.

‘Their experience thrown on the landfill to accommodate the ‘Woke’. Only way they will change if it hits them in the pocket. 

‘That only Happens When the men decide to switch off. Millions mute the TV’s and that’s for some of the Men. 

‘TV must be going out the window if you get a double dose of XX on the comms team for your next big match.’

Following Barton’s rant, it has been confirmed the 41-year-old will be appearing on Piers Morgan Uncensored tonight. 

Barton will appear on Piers Morgan uncensored tonight following his rant

Former England international Lianne Sanderson has slammed Barton’s comments.

She wrote on X: ‘I appreciate I’m always the voice for a lot of things. My phone hasn’t stopped ringing but I will not be bringing attention to a degenerate that you all know who I’m talking about. 

‘I’m going to enjoy my day at the @SportSJA awards. Best thing would be to not give him air time!’

TNT Sports presenter Laura Woods also criticised Barton after he singled out the City female vlogger.

‘Usually avoid these conversations as I don’t like adding more oxygen. But throwing young vloggers to the wolves is wrong,’ she posted on X.

‘I started my career vlogging & I’ve always got on with Joey. He also sent me a lovely good luck message for TNT in June. Does that make him a eunuch too?’

Barton’s posts showed him doubling down on his stance on women being involved in the men’s game after an astonishing set of messages that appeared on his X account on Wednesday night.

The former Premier League midfielder – who is currently unemployed after being sacked by Bristol Rovers in October – seemingly took offence to the number of female presenters and commentators on Amazon Prime’s coverage of the Premier League this week, and posted a series of sexist messages on X on Wednesday night.

Some of the highly-experienced broadcasters who were working included the likes of Eni Aluko, Siobhan Chamberlain, Gabby Logan and Robyn Cowen.

Barton first said: ‘Women shouldn’t be talking with any kind of authority in the men’s game. Come on. Let’s be serious.

Joey Barton also shared a series of misogynistic posts on social media on Wednesday evening

In two separate posts he hit out at both women commentators and pundits across football

‘It’s a completely different game. If you don’t accept that. We will always see things differently. 

‘The women’s game is thriving. Fantastic to see. I cannot take a thing they say serious in the men’s arena #namaste.’

Just seven minutes later, he then added: ‘Any man who listens to Women commentary or co-comms needs their heads testing… #sticktoyourowngame.’

Barton’s posts come after he had previously thrown his support behind the #HERGAMETOO initiative.

This is a campaign which aims to fight against sexism in sport, with Barton posing with a promotional card for the cause when he was Bristol Rovers manager. 

Back in October, he also generated controversy after sharing his apparent backing for former Newcastle and England manager Kevin Keegan’s comments that he doesn’t enjoy female footballers talking about men’s football.

At a live event in Bristol, Keegan had said: ‘(I don’t like) listening to ladies talking about the England men’s team at the match because I don’t think it’s the same experience. I have a problem with that.’

In response to that, Barton had posted on X: ‘Kevin Keegan. Ballon D’or winner 1978. England manager. He’s bang on.’

Barton has previously thrown his support behind the #HERGAMETOO initiative – which aims to fight against sexism in sport

His sexist remarks also come just a week after he appeared to downplay his brother Michael Barton’s role in a 2005 racially-motivated murder as a ‘f***ing scrap’.

Barton was playing for Manchester City when Michael was convicted of murdering Anthony Walker, with his brother serving 17 years of a life sentence for his part in killing the black 18-year-old in McGoldrick Park in Liverpool before being released from prison in September 2022.

Walker was returning home with his girlfriend Louisa Thompson and cousin Marcus Binns when Michael – accompanied by his cousin Paul Taylor – began hurling racist epithets at Walker, saying: ‘walk, n*****, walk’ as the trio passed by. 

The pair later stalked and ambushed Walker and Taylor drove an ice axe in his skull which left the teenager brain-dead within moments. 

Michael and Taylor fled to Amsterdam, but later returned to be charged with his murder, and later tried at Liverpool Crown Court.

A promotional clip for Barton’s appearance on a new podcast appeared to show him downplay his brother’s role in the racially-motivated killing of Anthony Walker

Barton appeared to play down the severity of his brother’s crime in promotional material for his appearance on the podcast Anything Goes with James English which circulated on social media on Thursday. 

‘My brother lost 17 years of his life from 17,’ Barton said. ‘Because his mate who was his cousin at the time thought it would be a fantastic idea when they were having a f***ing scrap to pull an ice axe out, and swing it into somebody, and he’s stuck it into somebody’s head.’

As the clip gained traction on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) a number of users highlighted the insensitivity of Barton’s description of racist assault that preceded Walker’s ambush and murder a ‘scrap’, labelling his description as ‘disgusting’. 

A statement shared by the Anthony Walker Foundation with Mail Sport stated that they considered the description ‘factually inaccurate’ and ‘lacking in any sensitivity given the serious nature of the incident’. 

Michael Barton (left) was jailed for a minimum term of 17 years and 8 months after racially abusing and ambushing Anthony Walker (right) before he was struck with an ice axe

IT’S ALL KICKING OFF! 

It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.

It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.

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