Former footballer Joey Barton has launched his latest social media attack, accusing ITV of ‘covering up’ the Phillip Schofield scandal.
Barton’s vile, homophobic tirade came after ITV Football issued a statement on social media, said his comments were ‘contemptible and shameful’ and defended their female pundits Eniola Aluko and Lucy Ward.
They had come under attack from Barton, who mystifyingly labelled the pair as the ‘Fred and Rose West of football commentary’ while they worked for the broadcaster on Crystal Palace’s FA Cup game with Everton on Thursday.
In response to ITV, Barton posted on X, formerly Twitter: ‘Is this the same ITV @itvfootball that tried to cover up Phillip Schofield… Asking for a friend.’
Barton’s accusation refers to the revelation in May, first reported by the Daily Mail, that Schofield had lied about being in an ‘unwise but not illegal’ relationship with a younger man while working as a presenter on This Morning.
Joey Barton has once again taken aim at ITV by referencing Phillip Schofield as he continues his tirade about female football pundits
Schofield (left), seen presenting ITV’s This Morning with Holly Willoughby last year, admitted cheating on his wife with a younger man he’d first met as a teenager
ITV denounced Joey Barton’s criticism of Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward as ‘shameful’ and ‘contemptible’ in a statement released on Friday night
Barton, whose social media has been filled with sexist barbs over the past few weeks, then made a sinister threat towards Gary Neville, the former England defender and ITV pundit who came out in support of his employer’s statement over Barton’s attack on Aluko and Ward.
‘If you so much as utter my name in vain again, the floodgates will open on you. ’ Barton wrote on X.
Campaign group Women in Football praised ITV for coming out in support of Aluko and Ward.
‘We call on all employers in the football industry to show the same support for their female employees and take all possible measures to ensure their well-being in the current epidemic of misogynistic abuse,’ they said.
‘As the leading agency driving gender equality in football we stand with all those who suffer such abuse.’
Barton was sacked by Bristol Rovers last year, having previously managed Fleetwood, following a 15-year playing career in which he earned one cap for England in a friendly against Spain in 2007, coming on as a sub in the 79th minute.
In May last year, ITV This Morning presenter Schofield, 61, admitted cheating on his wife with a younger man who worked on the show and who was a teenager when they first met.
Schofield described their relationship as ‘unwise but not illegal’ but admitted to lying to ITV, his colleagues, his friends and his management firm about it.
Barton slammed Eni Aluko for working on Everton’s game against Palace – saying she ‘can’t even kick a ball properly’ – before making a sick taunt towards her and broadcaster Lucy Ward
Barton bizarrely called Aluko and Ward ‘the Fred and Rose West of football commentary’. The serial killers are known to have committed at least 12 murders over a period of 20 years
Barton sparked fury on Friday morning when he made a bewilderingly false comparison between pundits Aluko and Ward to serial killers Fred and Rose West, who murdered 12 women and young girls over the course of 20 years.
Aluko and Ward worked on ITV’s coverage of the FA Cup third round match between Crystal Palace and Everton on Thursday night.
Barton tweeted: ‘How is she even talking about men’s football. She can’t even kick a ball properly. Your coverage of the game EFC last night took it to a new low.
‘Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward, the Fred and Rose West of football commentary.’
It was just the latest in a series of attacks made by Barton on female football pundits in recent weeks.
In response, ITV Sport issued a statement on Friday night, which read: ‘For Joey Barton, an ex-professional player with a significant social media presence, to target two of our pundits, Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward, with such vindictive remarks based on gender and to invoke the names of serial killers in doing so is clearly contemptible and shameful on his part. Football is for everyone.’
Barton duly replied to that statement by writing: ‘Shut up you f****** idiots. Keep them off the tele. They’re ruining the game for everyone of us.
‘It’s what happens when you force under qualified, under prepared, tokenistic people onto us.
‘I will be calling them all serial killers from now on. Every clip you f****** put out.
‘Told you, I don’t care anymore. We’ve all had enough of your ‘Woke’ ‘DEI’ [Diversity, Equality and Inclusion] bulls***.
Last year, Schofield sensationally admitted to having a relationship with a much younger man who worked as a colleague for him on This Morning (pictured with co-host Holly Willoughby)
The presenter apologised to his wife Stephanie and their daughters Molly and Ruby
‘I hope everyone who agrees with me, gets right after your social media every time you force this nonsense on us. I tried to play nice, you didn’t listen.’
His comments relating to Schofield take his tirade to a new level. In May last year, the presenter confirmed his departure from This Morning with immediate effect after over 20 years fronting the show.
It followed reports of a feud between Schofield and co-presenter Holly Willoughby.
On May 26, in a bombshell statement to the Daily Mail, Schofield admitted having a relationship with a much younger man who worked on the This Morning team and later lying about it.
Schofield said: ‘I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning.
‘Contrary to speculation, whilst I met the man when he was a teenager and was asked to help him to get into television, it was only after he started to work on the show that it became more than a friendship.
‘That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It is now over…
‘I am painfully conscious that I have lied to my employers at ITV, to my colleagues and friends, to my agents, to the media, and therefore the public and most importantly to all of my family.
Barton labelled it ‘nonsense’ that Brown-Finnis, a former Liverpool Women and England goalkeeper, was a pundit for Amazon during the Reds’ 2-0 win over Burnley
He previously launched a tirade after Mary Earps won the Sports Personality of the Year Award, labelling her a ‘big sack of spuds’
‘I am so very, very sorry, as I am for having been unfaithful to my wife.’
ITV said at the time they investigated rumours of the relationship in early 2020 but at the end of May last year called in investigators to conduct an ‘external review to establish the facts’.
The review concluded in December that ITV made ‘considerable efforts’ to find out the truth about Schofield’s relationship with his colleague in 2019 but was ‘unable to uncover the relevant evidence’ until May 2023 because of the denials of those involved.
It was recommended ITV set out ‘clear guidelines for its talent going forward to ensure that good behaviours are observed even by those who are household names.’
Former Manchester United player Neville had tweeted his support for ITV’s condemnation of Barton.
He wrote on X: ‘Well done ITV. It’s gone too far this and mentioning serial killers is quite simply incredible.
Barton has taken aim at pundit Neville on several occasions in a social media spat
‘My daughters have watched Salford City with me for 10 years and like to comment on football, my mum was kicked out of the football team (boys in the 1960’s) and stopped playing due to mysogyny, my sister struggled for funding for her sport for years and my brother was mocked when he took over the England women’s team.
‘I come from a family that has fought these issues for years and I’ve witnessed it first hand. All this does is just discourage and it’s not the way forward. It’s bloody hard work for women to succeed in sport and media as it is without this stuff.’
Barton threatened Gary Neville in response, writing: ‘Gary, please keep your head down or you will get emptied as well. I know they pay your wages and I don’t want to have to put you away.
‘Worry about one of the other 3758 business things you’ve got going on. I’ll decide when it’s gone too far. Not you.’
The continued his argument with Neville on Saturday morning along the same lines.
He wrote: ‘Seen [sic] as you’ve raised your greasy little wig, Teabag (aka @GNev2) anything to say about one of your employers covering up [Schofield].
‘You have an opinion on everything else? Thought not. Keep your nut down you Little wet wipe.
‘If you so much as utter my name in vain again, the floodgates will open on you. #backunderyourstone.’
Barton has also argued that Alex Scott ‘shouldn’t commentate on the men’s game’ in one of many specific attacks on female broadcasters
Eni Aluko chose to ignore Barton following his latest attack on Friday, instead posting a video on Instagram in which she tells of her favourite FA Cup memories
Neville responded by reposting Barton’s tweet along with three laughing emojis.
Barton has launched repeated tirades against female football broadcasters in recent weeks, including Laura Woods, Alex Scott, and Bianca Westwood.
He also called it ‘dangerous’ for women to work at men’s clubs due to them ‘having full-blown affairs and costing people marriages’.
On Boxing Day, the 41-year-old took aim at Amazon Prime Video Sport for including former Liverpool goalkeeper Rachel Brown-Finnis as a pundit for the Reds’ 2-0 win over Burnley, saying her inclusion was ‘nonsense’ and ‘tokenism’.
After Mary Earps won Sports Personality of the Year, he gloated that he would score ‘100 out of 100 penalties’ against the Women’s World Cup Golden Glove holder.
On Boxing Day Barton took aim at Amazon Prime Video Sport for including former Liverpool goalkeeper Rachel Brown-Finnis as a pundit for their 2-0 win over Burnley, saying her inclusion was ‘nonsense’ and ‘tokenism’.
He previously boasted that he would score ‘100 out of 100 penalties’ against Mary Earps after she won the Sports Personality of the Year Award in December.
Aluko, who made 102 appearances for England in a 12-year international career, rose above Barton’s broadside.
She resisted addressing Barton’s vitriol and instead posted a video in which she spoke about her favourite FA Cup memories.
‘The best FA Cup game I have ever watched has got to be the 1999 semi-final Manchester United against Arsenal,’ she said as the third round of the competition continues this weekend.
‘Extra-time, Ryan Giggs goal. Takes off his shirt, swings it about, hairy chest. That is a memory that is in my mind.’
She later revealed that her favourite moment in the competition was lifting the first of her two FA Cups in 2015, a game in which she was awarded player of the match.
