The ex-midfielder says there were no ‘natives’ on Saturday’s Football Focus (Pics: BBC / Getty)
Joey Barton has courted yet more controversy by claiming diversity in football has ‘gone mad’ and there aren’t enough ‘white contributors’ on football shows, with his latest comments ridiculed and slammed.
The former Manchester City and Newcastle United midfielder has spent most of the last fortnight ranting about women football pundits, claiming they ‘should not be talking with any kind of authority in the men’s game’.
Barton’s comments have been repeatedly skewered, with the likes of Chelsea manager Emma Hayes and ex-England midfielder Alex Scott expertly and passionately picking apart his feeble arguments.
But not content with picking a fight over female pundits, he has now prompted another backlash by criticising BBC staple Football Focus for not having any ‘white, British/Irish, male’ footballers contributing to the show – or ‘locals/natives’ as he puts it.
Saturday’s Football Focus was, as ever, presented by Alex Scott, with Dion Dublin and Jaap Stam – the Dutch defender formerly of Manchester United – in the studio to provide analysis.
In a now deleted tweet, Barton wrote on social media platform X: ‘Is this Football Focus going to have any contribution by a white, British/Irish, male footballer before the hour is out?
’Twenty-eight minutes in and no contribution as yet from the Locals/Natives. Is it always this way?’
Football Focus regular Dublin was joined by Stam (Picture: BBC iPlayer)
He then put up a fresh message, saying: ‘One white contributor on Football Focus today. One, WASP [White Anglo-Saxon Protestant], Male, Ex Player from Britain or Ireland. Talking about the Men’s Game. In an hour-long state programme? And he was cut off!
‘Does that happen every week? If so, no wonder it’s on its arse. Who do you think built the game here? People call you sexist and racist if you dare to ask these questions? World’s gone mad.’
He added: ‘We need diversity. But honestly, I think it’s gone mad. It’s gone too far to the left. Box ticking is rampant. The tokenism has dragged down the journalistic standards.’
Barton must have missed Clem’s interview with Ian Evatt (Picture: BBC iPlayer)
Football Focus actually had a number of contributors to Saturday’s show that fitted Barton’s narrow-minded criteria.
Bournemouth duo Lewis Cook and Ryan Christie, capped for England and Scotland respectively, were both interviewed, as was Bolton manager Ian Evatt – with Mark ‘Clem’ Clemmit asking the questions.
Ex-Premier League journeyman Michael Brown was interviewed at the Etihad Stadium by Steve Bower ahead of Manchester City’s clash with Crystal Palace, while John Aldridge – who wasn’t cut off at all, with his web cam freezing – spoke to the studio. There was also a contribution from The Athletic’s George Caulkin.
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Barton was lambasted for his remarks, with one X user commenting: ‘British former player Dion Dublin was on the whole show… but I guess he doesn’t count.’
Another wrote: ‘To be honest I didn’t even notice how many of whatever colour were on the panel and that’s how it should be. The fact you did is the problem.’
Former Football Focus anchor Dan Walker also joined the criticism of Barton’s latest rant, writing: ‘One of my Christmas wishes is that people with a big platform on here wouldn’t use it to drag others down.
‘Alex WAS a great pro and IS a top television presenter – and a lovely person.
Walker, left, worked with Scott, second right, for several years (Picture: Getty)
‘Women who love football already have too many hurdles to climb over and too many doors slammed in their face. You have a big voice… use it to encourage.’
If Barton wants to see ex-male professionals talking about football on TV he will have to get used to seeing non-white faces, with a report in 2022 revealing that 43 per cent of players in the Premier League are black, while that figure is 34% for the English Football League.
Moreover, football coverage is already dominated by Caucasian pundits, with Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville covering Friday night’s clash between Nottingham Forest and Tottenham, while Paul Merson and Tim Sherwood make up 50% of Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday panel – which is presented by Simon Thomas.
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MORE : Alex Scott gives perfect response after being told to stick to women’s footballby Joey Barton
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