Mary Earps finally responds to Joey Barton after SPOTY criticism and his '100 penalties' claim

Mary Earps has responded to Joey Barton’s criticism of her Sports Personality of the Year (SPOTY) victory.

In December, former Manchester City, Newcastle United and Queen’s Park Rangers star Barton criticised the crowning of Earps as BBC SPOTY and claimed he would score "100 out of 100 penalties" against the England and Manchester United goalkeeper.

Barton initially tweeted: "Well done Mary." However, he followed that up with a Tweet saying: "Sports Personality of the Year! More f****** nonsense. Well done to all involved. So the best sportsperson this year is… A Women Goalie.

"Lost in a couple of finals this year. Not won a sausage. So popular that Nike didn't even sell a replica jersey before the tournament. Are you telling me all those who jumped on that bandwagon, haven't voted in the BBC nonsense? Good luck to Mary. Hope she makes a few quid."

Among several further Tweets, Barton quoted a passage from George Orwell's Animal Farm and 1984, before resharing a video of Earps' penalty save in the World Cup final against Spain. He commented: "That's a bad penalty and she's clearly off her line very early. No retake? SPOTY for that! Drop me out.

"I'd score 100 out of 100 penalties against Mary Earps. Any day of the week. Twice on a f****** Sunday."

The Tweets were among a litany of social media attacks from Barton over the past few months, directed at female footballers and pundits.

Earps has responded to the criticism, admitting it is “hard to give a calm response” when asked about misogyny within football, but adding that an “aggressive response” may not help the cause.

Barton has been critical of several female pundits and footballers in recent months (Getty)

While referencing Chelsea boss Emma Hayes’ scrutiny of Barton, Earps told Women’s Health: “Sport is a vehicle for change, but it’s also a representation of society.

“The [sexist] comments on that [video of Emma, speaking at a press conference] are really telling.

“This isn’t just what one person thinks, this is what people across the country think – probably in the world. And that’s the biggest disappointment to me.

“That’s the irony of the whole situation. And I think anyone who’s a woman knows that; it’s not just football. I don’t think there are many women in the world that will have not experienced sexism and misogyny of some kind.”

Topics: Football, Joey Barton, Manchester United, England

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.