AN UGLY END TO A TROUBLED CAREER

Controversial star hit with 18-month ban for breaking FA gambling rules.. and NOBODY’S SURPRISED

JOEY BARTON’S latest fall from grace has brought a predictably unseemly end to a career blighted by controversy. Barton has vowed to fight the 18-month ban imposed on him for breaking the FA’S gambling rules by placing 1,260 bets on matches over a 10-year period. The midfielder claimed the ban will effectively end his career, given he will be 36 by the time he has served it, if he is unsuccessful in his efforts to see it reduced. But few in football will be surprised at the ugly end to Barton’s career, one that promised so much but was ultimately undermined by his inability to stay out of trouble. From stubbing a cigar in the eye of a Manchester City youthteam player in 2004 to a spell in prison for assault and now his betting shame, Barton has worn controversy like a badge of honour. But his latest misdemeanour has landed him with his lengthiest ban, despite admitting to suffering from a gambling addiction and providing medical reports to verify the condition. It is hard to see a way back for Barton following this, with the FA unlikely to reduce the length of the ban, despite his mitigation, given their determination to take a hard line on gambling by players. Out of contract at Burnley this summer, he will find himself a football pariah again, a role to which he has become accustomed throughout his turbulent career. Barton, capped once by England, has found trouble wherever he has played, in his spells at City, Newcastle, QPR, Marseille, Burnley and Rangers, and has been unable or unwilling to learn from his mistakes. In a game now populated by players unwilling to speak their minds and media-trained to trot out trite answers, his forthright and outspoken views were a refreshing antidote. Fond of quoting George Orwell, Albert Camus and Friedrich Nietzsche on Twitter, he has sought to dispel the notion of players as unintelligent figures whose brains lie solely in their feet. He stepped outside the boundary of football to appear on BBC One’s Question Time and displayed an understanding of a range of issues. On Barton’s official website, the header reads: “Footballer. Question Time Guest. Philosophy Student. Future Coach. Fluent French Speaker. What has become of me?” Barton can add ‘exfootballer’, his career surely over, a sad but all too inevitable outcome for someone whose talent was outweighed by his propensity for controversy.