When it comes to the villains of English football, it is difficult not to come across the name of Joey Barton, one of those who has known prison for his behavioral problems. An experience which, as he explained, was by no means simple …
When it comes to the villains of English football, it’s hard not to come across the name of Joey Barton. The former midfielder, who is now a coach, has not only collected an enormous number of fights and bookings during his career, but he is also one of those who has known prison because of his behavioral problems. When in 2007 he assaults teammate Ousmane Dabo, causing retinal detachment, he is sentenced to four months in prison. An experience that… changed him, even if even after the conviction and after having finished serving his sentence, it’s not that the behavior on the pitch was too angelic.
Scream from the windows
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But as he himself explained to Men’sHealth, it’s not exactly easy to deal with an environment like prison, even when you have the label of “bad boy”. And when they ask him if he was afraid when he went behind bars, Barton doesn’t hide at all. “Oh yes, of course I was scared. You walk around the courtyard and people from the windows are yelling at you ‘I’ll stab you, I’ll stick a dagger up your ass. I mean, it’s a little different than when you’re out on the court and there it’s opposing fans yelling at you ‘you’re shit’. Then in your head you start replaying all the scenes from American movies and thinking about all the crazy things that could happen to you. But in the end, people are all the same “.
Prison hierarchies
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As Uli Hoeneß, who ended up in prison for tax fraud, also explained, anyone who enters a detention institution must make a virtue of necessity, working alongside the right people, but without getting too involved. “The most important thing is to understand the hierarchies of the prison and where you stand. I have tried to keep as low a profile as possible. You have to make sure that people don’t know anyone who can come and confront you, but at the same time you have to avoid allied openly with the gangs. You have to keep your head down, get yourself in jail, get out as soon as possible and reflect on what brought you to be there. When I entered I was crying a lot, but then things changed”. Perhaps, not enough, since from time to time Barton gets involved in some altercation…
January 24 – 07:59
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