Joey Barton wants to be known as JOE from now on

Joey Barton has revealed that he has no respect for anyone who calls him Joey, and would prefer to be known as ‘Joe’ from now on.

The QPR footballer, born Joseph Anthony Barton, complained about the abbreviation of his name, and while he has referred to those calling him Joey as ‘bellends’, he admits he would not be demanding the name change.

“How I wish the mass media had christened me Joe instead of Joey. I hate Joey, not going to lie. Nobody I respect calls me it… #justsaying,” he wrote on Twitter today (August 21).

“Really couldn’t be arsed correcting everyone that calls me Joey. Not as precious to demand that people call me Joe. Just remember…

“If you call me Joey when we meet. I will instantly in my head be thinking, ‘What a f**king bellend this cat is!’ FYI #callmewhatuwant”

He added: “I’ve kept it as a twitter handle because that’s what everyone knows me as #dullards. No point starting twitter as someone nobody knows?

“Gonna have to change this twitter handle now. The #dullards have a point, I’ll give them that.”

Joey Barton’s official website has the URL www.joeybarton.com and almost exclusively refers to the player as Joey, as does his regular column in The Big Issue.

A message from the footballer on the front page of his site reads: “Whatever your label for me, I’m Joey Barton and this is my site.”