Joey Barton Uses Twitter to Ask the FA to Lift His Ban - and it Hasn't Gone Down Well With Fans

Joey Barton's latest tweet has not gone down too well with fans on Twitter. 

The controversial ex-Burnley midfielder is currently serving an 13 month ban from football for breaking betting rules, after it was alleged that he placed 1,260 bets on football matches between March 2006 and May 2013.

The much-maligned character recently claimed that '50%' of players would be banned if the FA was more stringent with its betting rules.

"I think if they found out everyone who has been betting and cracked down on it, you'd have half the league out." He said. "I think 50% of the playing staff would be taken out because it's culturally engrained."

Following Barton's claim, The Times carried out an investigation and found at least a quarter of players are violating the FA ban on betting. 

Barton has now used this information, and his Twitter account, to plead with the FA to lift his ban.

However, other Twitter users are not so keen on the midfielder returning to action soon. 

The midfielder has 16 goals in 212 career appearances, most recently with Premier League side Burnley, his last game being a 2-0 home defeat to Manchester United in April 2017.  

He is no stranger to controversy, in 2004, he was fined six weeks wages by Manchester City after stubbing a lit cigarette in the eye of a team-mate. He also served a 12 match ban in 2012 after being sent off on the final day while playing for QPR against his old club, after he kneed Sergio Aguero and attempted to headbutt Vincent Kompany. 

The 35-year-old is currently without a club, and will hope to find a new one when his ban is lifted by the FA this summer.