Joey Barton has been slammed by darts fans after a post on social media after Northern Ireland won the World Cup.
The 2025 showpiece took place in Frankfurt, Germany, with England the holders after last year's triumph.
But while they were undoubtedly favourites going into the tournament, the pairing of world No.1 and No.2 Luke Littler and Luke Humphries were knocked out by Germany in a shock second round defeat.
Northern Ireland, represented by Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney, went all the way - beating Wales' duo Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price 10-9 in the final to claim £80,000 in prize money.
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Fans praised the deciding leg of the clash, with one user calling it "the greatest World Cup final ever" and praising the quality on show.
Joey Barton made controversial post about darts
However, former Premier League footballer Barton produced a surprise bit of criticism, taking to X and posting, "No one’s arsed about Darts mate" with an emoji combination to sum up his feelings to his 2.7 million followers.
The 42-year-old is known for his controversial opinions online but his comments prompted a furious response from darts fans, who told him where to go.
One accused Barton of hypocrisy, writing: "Weren’t you tweeting about Luke Littler in January."
A second replied: "Quintessential working class British activity, darts. Think you'll find most British lads enjoy it. Horrific take mate this time."
A third said: "I like you Joey but is a bad, bad take. Darts is one of the most popular sports around at the minute. You've had a mare here."
Another added: "Attention seeking as usual Joey."
A final user defended the sport, commenting: "Feel for you, missing out on pure entertainment. Unbelievable sport unbelievable emotion one of the very best around."
While he doesn't appear to be on the darts bandwagon, Barton is a golf and tuned into the US Open and asked, "Who wins this? on the final day on Sunday.
JJ Spaun won the major at Oakmont to claim a whopping $4.3 million in prize money.
Topics: Joey Barton, Darts, World Darts Championship
Josh Lawless