Former Bristol Rovers manager Joey Barton has come under fire on social media yet again after making more critical comments about women's sports and taking a swipe at Sports Personality of the Year winner and England goal-keeper Mary Earps. The footballer won the award at last night's BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony, voted by members of the public.
After a string of tweets critiquing female football pundits earlier this month, Joey Barton, 41 has taken a swing at the Lionesses star for having 'not won a sausage', a claim also made by Piers Morgan. Despite congratulating Earps when she was announced as the award winner, Barton later branded the result "f***ing nonsense", the Daily Star reports.
Earps was shortlisted for the award alongside jockey Frankie Dettori, golfer Rory Mcllroy, cricketer Stuart Broad, athlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson and wheelchair tennis player Alfie Hewett. The England goalkeeper, who plays for Manchester United, was awarded the Golden Glove for only letting four goals in during this year's World Cup tournament, famously saving a penalty during the tense final against Spain.
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"So the best sports person this year is… A Women Goalie," Barton wrote on X. "Lost in a couple of finals this year. Not won a sausage." He added: "So popular that Nike didn’t even sell a replica jersey before tournament. 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."
He later added: "To win before Ronnie O’Sullivan and Frankie Dettori…? Well, that’s just madness to me. Both almost genius like in their respective fields. They’ve lost to a big sack of spuds that plays in goal for a girls team.
"That’s the world we live in. This all started with the ‘Everyone’s a Winner’ sport’s days. This is what happens when you celebrate mediocre. You breed this weak culture. A culture of losers. A culture of snowflakes."
Piers Morgan, who earlier this month debated women's sports pundits with Barton on his TV show, made similar comments after the BBC award show aired, writing: "Trying to get my head around two of England's women footballers winning BBC SPOTY in successive years… while male sporting superstars with great personalities like Rory McIlroy, Frankie Dettori and Ronnie O'Sullivan have never won it. No offence to Ms Earps, but shouldn't it have been given to someone who actually won something in 2023?"
For her part, Mary appeared to laugh off the criticism, celebrating her win on TikTok by dancing to the song Left, Right by rapper YG before grabbing her trophy and smiling as she waved it in front of the camera. She captioned the post: “BBC SPORTS PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR 2023 BABY” followed by a heart and flame emoji.
It is the third time in a row a woman has won the award, after England teammate Beth Mead won the prize last year for a standout performance in the Women's Euros 2022 and British tennis player Emma Raducanu in 2021 off the back of her unexpected US open victory. Earps is the 15th woman to win SPOTY since the award began in 1954.
