Official: Burnley Release Joey Barton As 18-Month Betting Suspension Comes Into Effect

Chris Wright

23rd, May 2017

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Coming as a surprise to absolutely nobody, Burnley have passed on the option to renew Joey Barton’s contract.

As you may recall, Barton is currently just a few weeks into an 18-month suspension from all footballing activity after being found guilty by the FA of over 1,000 betting breaches in April.

With four players currently out of contract, the Clarets released a brief statement to confirm that they are still in talks with two parties over new deals – 34-year-old Barton not being one of them.

Midfielder [George] Boyd and goalkeeper [Paul] Robinson are two of only four senior players out of contract at Turf Moor this summer.

The others – Michael Kightly and Joey Barton – are both been being released.

For the record, Kightly spent the latter half of last season on loan at Burton Albion having played just 8 minutes of Premier League football for Burnley since last October.

As for Barton, surely retirement (and an almost inevitable move into media) is now imminent?