BARTON WAITS TO LEARN FATE
Police and FA investigate ‘volatile’ tunnel incident
Joey Barton faces an anxious wait to see if Barnsley manager Daniel Stendel will press charges against him following allegations of a tunnel bust-up at oakwell.
the Fleetwood town manager is alleged to have assaulted Stendel immediately after Barnsley’s 4-2 win on Saturday. Sources have alleged to
Sportsmail that the 36-year-old former Manchester City midfielder barged into the back of his German counterpart, who fell head-first into the metal support inside the tunnel, damaging his two front teeth and leaving him bloodied and shaken.
Later, Barton was caught up in more controversy when a woman police officer prevented his car, driven by Fleetwood chief executive Steve Curwood, from leaving the ground. the car was allowed to continue after a two-minute stand- off. Barton was not interviewed immediately by police, who had not questioned the Fleetwood manager by yesterday afternoon.
a spokesman for South yorkshire Police confirmed that they had received a report of an assault and added that the matter would be ‘thoroughly investigated’. they seem likely to seek a statement from Stendel (below).
Barnsley confirmed that they are speaking to the local constabulary.
It could spell trouble for Barton, who took over at Fleetwood after serving 13 months of an 18-month ban from football for gambling breaches. the altercation was caught on camera, although not by Fleetwood’s documentary makers, who are following Barton during his debut season in management. Sportsmail understands that Barton is confident he will not be sacked by Fleetwood chairman andy Pilley, but the Football association will this week launch their own probe into what happened and are seeking witness accounts. Fleetwood’s hand could be forced should the Fa come down hard on Barton. It is understood the incident occurred with the majority of players still out on the pitch following full time. the atmosphere inside Barnsley’s tunnel was described as ‘ volatile’ after the alleged assault.
Barnsley striker Cauley Woodrow tweeted after the match: ‘Firstly @ftfc to have a manager that can physically assault another manager in the tunnel is disgusting, causing our manager to have blood pouring from his face!! People like you don’t deserve a place in the game of football.’
outgoing EFL chief executive Shaun Harvey promised that his organisation will assist in an investigation. ‘as an off-the-field matter the tunnel is in the domain of the referee, but we will work with everybody to ensure it’s not a case of who deals with the matter but that the matter is dealt with properly,’ Harvey told the BBC. ‘the police investigation is ongoing so we need to leave the details for them to deal with.’
Fleetwood issued a brief statement yesterday morning which said that the club ‘...are currently establishing the facts and will not make any further comment at this time’.