ITV condemns Joey Barton's 'SHAMEFUL' comments comparing Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward to Fred and Rose West, before labeling the broadcaster 'f*****g idiots' and vowing to continue calling all female pundits serial killers

ITV slammed Joey Barton's comments as 'embarrassing' after he compared pundits Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward to Fred and Rose West – but vowed to continue comparing female football broadcasters to serial killers in a blistering response.

Barton sparked anger on Friday morning after comparing Aluko and Ward, an ex-footballer turned commentator, to the West and questioning their legitimacy as experts.

Aluko and Ward reported on Crystal Palace's 0-0 draw against Everton in the third round of the FA Cup on Thursday evening.

The Wests murdered twelve women and young girls over the course of twenty years in what became known as the Moorish Murders. Fred took his own life before trial, while Rose was sentenced to ten life sentences. She is still in prison, at the age of 70.

“It is clear that Joey Barton, an ex-professional player with a significant social media presence, is addressing two of our experts, Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward, with such vindictive gender-based comments, invoking the names of serial killers, clearly is. despicable and shameful on his part,” ITV said in a statement in response to his backlash.

'Football is for everyone.'

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Barton responded to their post with a foul-mouthed rant. He wrote: 'Shut up you damn idiots. Keep them off the tele. They ruin the game for all of us.

“That's what happens when you foist underqualified, underprepared, tokenistic people on us.

'From now on I'll call them all serial killers. Every clip you motherfuckers put out.

“I told you I don't care anymore. We've all had enough of you 'Woke', 'DEI' bulls***.

'I hope everyone who agrees with me will go after your social media every time you force this nonsense on us.

“I tried to play nice, but you didn't listen.”

When Barton addressed Aluko on Friday morning, the final misogynistic comment about X was: “How does she even talk about men's football. She can't even kick a ball properly. Your coverage of the EFC game last night took it to a new low. Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward, the Fred and Rose West of football commentary.'

He later posted more abuse directed at Aluko, observing a clip of her taking photos during training.

He wrote: 'Technically that's terrible. She can't move without her legs rubbing together. You have to laugh. She's 60 feet away and can't reach the target without bouncing!

'Damned pathetic. Get them out of men's football. From the tele. Only there to tick boxes. DEI is a load of nonsense. Affirmative action.

“All because of the BLM/George Floyd bullshit. Cancel me, I don't care anymore.'

Barton's first tweet immediately sparked a series of angry responses, with one user asking if it was possible he would “sink even lower.” A second wrote: 'Comparing a football commentator to serial killers to score points. That's a bad thing to do.'

Gary Neville tweeted support for ITV's conviction of Barton.

He wrote on X: 'Well done ITV. It goes too far and the mention of serial killers is simply unbelievable.

'My daughters have been watching Salford City with me for ten years and enjoy commenting on football, my mother was kicked out of the football team (boys in the 1960s) and stopped playing due to mysogyny, my sister struggled to get funding for her sport to get year and my brother was mocked when he took over the England women's team.

'I come from a family that has been fighting these problems for years and I have seen it with my own eyes. All this does is discourage and it is not the way forward. It's damn hard work for women to be successful in sports and media, just like without this stuff.”

Barton has repeatedly launched tirades against female football broadcasters in recent weeks, including Laura Woods, Alex Scott and Bianca Westwood.

Barton also called it “dangerous” for women to work at men's clubs because they “have full-scale businesses and cost people marriages.”

On Boxing Day, the 41-year-old convicted criminal targeted Amazon Prime Video Sport for including former Liverpool goalkeeper Rachel Brown-Finnis as a pundit for the Reds' 2-0 win over Burnley. She said her inclusion was “nonsense” and “tokenism.”

After Mary Earp won Sports Personality of the Year, he rejoiced at scoring '100 out of 100 penalties' against the holder of the Women's World Cup Golden Glove.

On Boxing Day, Barton took aim at Amazon Prime Video Sport for including former Liverpool goalkeeper Rachel Brown-Finnis as a pundit for their 2-0 win over Burnley, saying her participation was 'nonsense' and 'tokenism'.

He previously boasted he would score '100 out of 100 penalties' against Mary Earps after she won the Sports Personality of the Year award in December.

Aluko, who made 102 appearances for England in a 12-year international career, rose above Barton's width.

She refused to address Barton's vitriol and instead posted a video talking about her favorite FA Cup memories.

“The best FA Cup match I have ever seen has to be Manchester United's semi-final against Arsenal in 1999,” she said as the third round of the competition continues this weekend.

'Extra time, Ryan Giggs goal. Takes off his shirt, waves it, hairy chest. That's a memory that's stuck in my mind.'

She later revealed that her favorite moment in the competition was winning the first of her two FA Cups in 2015, a match in which she was named Player of the Match.

Aluko's decision not to engage with Barton was admirable given the former Manchester City and Newcastle midfielder's recent campaign against women, who he claims are 'not qualified' to discuss men's football.