What Joey Barton has said about Newcastle United legend Kevin Keegan’s ‘lady footballer’ views

Former Newcastle United star Joey Barton has been slammed for labelling Magpies hero Kevin Keegan’s controversial opinion on ‘lady footballer’ pundits as ‘bang on’.

Keegan expressed his disapproval at women’s footballers being given platforms to comment on men’s international messages at an event in Bristol last week. The comments sparked fury online as the former England manager was criticised for misogynistic views.

The Times report that the 72-year-old said: “I don’t like to listen to ladies talking about the England men’s team at the match because I don’t think it’s the same experience. I have a problem with that.

“The presenters we have now, some of the girls are so good, they are better than the guys. It’s a great time for the ladies. But if I see an England lady footballer saying about England against Scotland at Wembley and she’s saying, ‘If I would have been in that position I would have done this,’ I don’t think it’s quite the same. I don’t think it crosses over that much.”

The comments have sparked debate online with many football supporters leaping to the defence of popular female football pundits such as Alex Scott and Jill Scott. However, one man backing Keegan’s beliefs that women should be silenced during men’s international games was fellow former Newcastle United man Joey Barton.

Barton, now manager at Bristol Rovers, heralded Keegan’s thoughts in his latest X post. The 41-year-old wrote: “Kevin Keegan. Ballon d’Or winner 1978. England manager. He’s bang on.”

Responding to Barton, who made 84 appearances for Newcastle United, one user said: “Kevin Keegan probably thought he had a point until he saw this.”

Another added: “We have a Bristol Rovers women’s team. We have tonnes of female supporters of our club. We have a dinosaur for a manager.”

Some corners of the internet did share similar beliefs to those of Keegan, including former Premier League manager Harry Redknapp. The ex-Portsmouth and Tottenham Hotspur manager told TalkTV: “Very brave. A lot of people will be thinking that for sure. There’s a lot of very knowledgeable women out there, make no mistake. I love women’s football. I love the World Cup, followed every game at the Euros, I love watching the women’s football. I can see where he’s coming from.”

The controversy comes just months after the Women’s World Cup which saw nearly two million football fans watch the 64 matches with FIFA selling more than 1.5 million tickets for the event. In the UK, 15.9 million people tuned in to watch the Lioness take on Spain in the final.

Former Lioness Lianne Sanderson said: “I won’t be doing any interviews about Kevin Keegan’s comments. I won’t be bringing light to misogyny. He’s irrelevant. But I would absolutely love it if he would shut up! Those comments are not needed. It’s a shame people feel threatened by some of us. Unlucky for those people!”