Written by Emilou
Barton made his first team debut against Bolton Wanderers on 5 April 2003 although he was due to make his first team debut against Middlesbrough in november 2002 but a thief stole his shirt that he had left near the seats in the dugout at half time and with no replacement shirt Joey had to wait to make his debut.His first senior goal came in a 2-0 win over Spurs at White Hart Lane on Good Friday 2003, at the end of the season he had started in 7 consecutive matches.
At the start of the 2003/2004 season Joey was a first team regular and his second Premiership goal against Blackburn Rovers, earned him a call up to the England U21 squad.
Barton had two red cards in his first 120 games, both for two yellow cards, and Man City considered sacking him after an incident at a Christmas party where he poked a cigar in junior player Jamie Tandy's eye. The following summer Barton was sent home from a pre-season tournament in Thailand after becoming involved in a fight with a young Everton fan and he had a fight with team-mate Richard Dunne, which resulted in the Dunne injuring his foot after kicking a wall in anger. After that Barton had to undergo anger management at the request of manager Stuart Pearce. He was also fined 120,000 pound.
In September 2004 Joey signed a new contract that kept him at Man City until 2007. But on 30th January 2006, Joey handed in a written transfer request. The next day, Man City rejected a verbal offer for Barton from Middlesbrough. During the following week, Joey admitted that making such a request was hasty and wrong and apologised to the club.
Joey scored the penalty against Arsenal in man city's home game against them in the 2006-2007 season to give Man City a historic 1-0 win over Arsenal. On September 30, he was captured by television cameras exposing his rear end to Everton fans following Man City's injury-time equaliser in a game at Goodison Park. Joey is one of Man city's most influential players in Manchester City's midfield at the moment.
D.O.B:02/09/82
