There’s plenty of behind the scenes events in football history the average fan would’ve liked to have been witness to.
Y’know, that time Sir Alex Ferguson kicked a boot into David Beckham’s face. That sort of thing.
You may not have heard, but Barton has a new book coming out, and has plenty of time to promote it after being suspended by Rangers.
One of the more bizarre stories, which is saying something given the 34-year-old’s eventful career, involves a brawl on a pre-season tour of Thailand in 2005, when then-Manchester City Stuart Pearce allowed his team to go out and have a few drinks.
Barton ended up biting Richard Dunne during the brawl, which was apparently sparked after Barton took exception to some comments made by some Everton supporters about Robbie Fowler.
“I take after my grandad, in that I am an angry, articulate drunk,” Barton begins the tale.
He and Irish international, Dunne encountered the Everton fans in the bar, and Barton says he didn’t appreciate one of the fans talking ill of Robbie Fowler.
“He [Everton fan] began to denigrate Robbie Fowler as a cokehead and a coward, because he wasn’t on the trip. Bob was injured, and I wasn’t going to put up with lazy, vindictive lies about him. I could feel the mist start to descend.”
Barton says the fan, who was 15-years-old and in the bar with his father, hit him so the midfielder struck back. Dunne wasn’t pleased with Barton’s reaction and demanded he apologise to the teenager.
“I went back to my pint and was soon confronted by the Honey Monster [Dunne], who was as buried in booze as I was. ‘F***ing get over there now and apologise!’ he screamed. I declined.”
“Dunney grabbed me by the throat, and pushed me back against the wall. He was bigger than me and stronger than me so wrestling was out of the question. I turned feral, and sank my teeth into his fist as hard as I could.
“I rugby tackled him before he could react. Our momentum took us over some steps and into a secondary tier, where Dunney crashed through a glass coffee table.
“‘You’re going to have to fight him now. He’s a big lad, but nothing to be scared of’. I leaped back to the bar and grabbed a pint glass. Tim Flowers recognised my intention of smashing it across Dunney’s head, and threw himself at me.
“I could hear Dunney screaming, he was being frog marched to a secure area, and was so out of control he kicked a plant pot, breaking a bone in his foot.”
