Despite having given up on football, Joey Barton continues to stir up controversy off the field too. The former midfielder for QPR, Newcastle, and Man City has a well-known history of losing his temper. One of his biggest controversies is the Jamy Tandy cigar controversy.
In addition to serving time in prison for two violent convictions, Barton has faced three charges of violent behavior from The FA. Targets of Barton’s behavior have included colleagues, rival players, and even the cast of The Only Way is Essex.
Ex Manchester City player Jamie Tandy with an injured eye in December 2004, after his team-mate Joey Barton put out a cigar in it at the club Christmas party. pic.twitter.com/JiooYGThUS
— Football Away Days (@FBAwayDays) February 22, 2021
In December of 2004, Barton experienced a terrible outburst during a Christmas party. When Barton, disguised as Jimmy Saville, saw young player Jamie Tandy trying to light his shirt on fire, he lost his rag. Angrily, Barton stuck a lit cigar in Tandy’s eye as payback, burning his teammate’s eyelid in the process.
This sparked huge controversy in the soccer community back in 2004 as this was the first incident that was deemed as so vile. Many soccer fans around the world were calling for the termination of Bartons’s contract and soccer career. The English media also were left surprised by the news that got to them regarding Barton.
Manchester City FC carried out an internal investigation regarding the Joey Barton cigar incident
Joey Barton, a midfielder for Manchester City, was reportedly sent off for stabbing a young teammate in the eye with a burning cigar at the team’s Christmas celebration on Sunday. The young team player’s furious friends allegedly beat the 22-year-old Barton over his head with an alcoholic beverage after that. Various reports first stated that he would receive a minimum two-week fine for the altercation at Manchester’s Lucid nightclub.
The Daily Mail reported that Barton, who was costumed as Jimmy Saville, had been sticking cigars into players’ arms. However, he went one step further when a young player named James Tandy approached him from behind and attempted to light his shirt. Barton then turned around and stuck the cigar into the 18-year-old’s eye.
Football bad-boy Joey Barton’s most shocking moments, from fighting teammates and cigar attack to spending time in jailhttps://t.co/5WAO4btd1Xhttps://t.co/5WAO4btd1X
— The Sun Football ⚽ (@TheSunFootball) December 8, 2023
“We are aware of a minor incident that took place on Sunday involving two members of our playing staff,” said a Manchester City spokesperson. “An internal investigation is already being carried out and the matter is being dealt with by the club.” This was back in 2004 when Barton was fined four weeks’ wages by City, which amounted to a club record of about £60,000, for his severe misconduct.
Following Barton’s apology, Tandy sued Barton and was granted £65,000 in damages. This was a huge controversy back then as nothing sort of this kind of a matter or incident had taken place before in the country involving soccer players. Barton set a standard for all the unwanted things in the sport and is continuing to do so.