Joey Barton's controversial criticism of female co-commentator has been completely debunked

Joey Barton's controversial comments about a female co-commentator have been completely debunked.

The former Manchester City, Newcastle and QPR midfielder has been widely criticised online for remarks made about women with football.

Barton began his claims on X, formerly known as Twitter, stating his view that female presenters aren't "qualified" to speak about men's football.

The ex Bristol Rovers and Fleetwood Town boss added that female commentators are "like me talking about knitting or netball" and faced responses from the likes of Laura Woods, Bianca Westwood and Alex Scott, who have all excelled in the field.

Barton continued to court controversy on an appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored and was challenged for his views.

Image: Getty

One of the points the 41-year-old made on the programme referenced commentary of Wataru Endo's goal for Liverpool against Fulham.

Barton claimed that the co-commentator talked about Endo scoring with his laces - adding that "anyone who watched that with any knowledge of football seen that Endo scored with the side of his foot".

Barton said there was no negative response because it was a female, but as a Reddit post shows, his recollection of the analysis was in fact inaccurate.

The commentator actually talked about how many players would try and hit the ball with their laces before focusing on his tidy side-foot finish.

She described: "How many players do you see at the moment, panic and hit it with their laces and smash it over the bar. No, Endo just strokes it into that top right-hand corner."

Image: Getty

Barton had praised the work of Chelsea boss Emma Hayes and said he would have no issue with her managing in the men's game.

Hayes, who will soon become the manager of the USWNT, was asked about Barton's comments this week and responded in excellent fashion.

She said: "The realities are male privilege has always been at the centre of football in this country.

"I feel that sport is the last place in society where that male privilege exists.

"I don't expect any individual to understand their privilege. Nonetheless you only have to see scores of women across the internet or in the business - whether that's coaches, presenters, players - we're routinely used to dealing with systemic misogyny, bullying and behaviour that has been pretty normal for a large part of the football public."

Topics: Joey Barton

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

@joshlawless_