Joey Barton has praised the PGMOL promotion of referee Rebecca Welch to a Premier League match over the Christmas period, just a week after he launched an incendiary misogynistic tirade over whether women should be broadcasting in the men's game.
Welch will become the first female referee in the competition's history to officiate a Premier League match on December 23 when she takes charge of Fulham's match against Burnley at Craven Cottage.
The 40-year-old previously broke new ground when she became the first woman to act as fourth official during a Premier League match between Fulham and Manchester United in November.
After starting her refereeing career in 2010 while working in an administrative role in the NHS, Welch started full-time in 2019 and was promoted to the Championship ahead of the 2022-2023 season.
On social media, Barton announced the decision to further raise Welch's profile, as well as the organisation's decision to promote Sam Allison, who becomes the first black referee to officiate a Premier League match since Uriah Rennie in 2008.
Rebecca Welch will make history as the first female referee to officiate a Premier League match
Sam Allison has also received a Christmas promotion, becoming the first black referee to take charge of the top flight since 2008.
Joey Barton has spent the past week sowing division over the role women should play in football and sports broadcasting.
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“Brilliant (thumbs up emoji),” Barton wrote in response to a post announcing the news.
'Rebecca and Sam have worked hard in the lower leagues. I think we had Rebecca's first match in Hartlepool. Sam was a regular in Bristol. Great guy.
'Let's hope they do well in the big league (thumbs up emoji)'.
The post on certain jobs are around the world. the sport for which women are not suitable.
Barton launched his tirade last week by claiming that 'women should not speak with any authority in the men's game' and with his belief that he 'can't take anything they say seriously in the men's arena'.
He then pilloried BBC broadcaster and former footballer Alex Scott, slamming his former club Manchester City's use of a female presenter for their social media reporting, and doubled down on his comments in an appearance on TalkTV's Piers Morgan: Uncensored.
Barton praised Welch's appointment to a position that some saw as contradictory
Barton began his argument last week, emphasizing that women in the men's game should not speak to any authority
The ex-player was largely criticized for his contradictory views on the television programme, in which he immediately claimed that his reasoning was 'absolutely not' about the fact that women had not played in men's football – before describing the different ways in which it was important to to have experienced this. the men's game at the highest level.
It was later revealed that his only instance of comment from a female broadcaster about not meeting 'journalistic standards' was incorrect due to his misquotation of Courtney Sweetman-Kirk's comment on Wataru Endo's goal for Liverpool against Fulham.
Barton later claimed that it was 'dangerous' to have women in certain sections of men's teams and that there was a 'recipe for disaster'.
Although Scott did not directly reference Barton, her withdrawal after hosting Arsenal's WSL clash with Chelsea this weekend emphasized that “football is a better place with all of us in it” in a message to the “young girls said “no you can't” watching the broadcast.
Journalist Carrie Brown said working in football had “sucked the life out of her” after Barton attacked her and her actions in a social media post.
Chelsea manager Emma Hayes – who had previously praised Barton for her astute analysis of pundits' duties and success in the women's side – delivered a four-minute monologue on the 'systemic misogyny' in football, which was highlighted by Barton commentary.
“The reality is that male privilege has always been at the heart of football in this country,” Hayes said at a press conference.
Alex Scott was a target of Barton, but chose not to respond directly to his comments
Chelsea manager Emma Hayes slammed the 'systemic misogyny' at play in football, without deliberately referring to Barton
The former Bristol Rovers manager took a social media break as he attended Marseille's away match against Brighton in Thursday night's Europa League match
'Until the 1970s, women were not allowed to play football. I don't expect any individual personality to understand their privilege, but you only have to see dozens of women on the internet or in the business, whether you're a presenter, a coach or a player, to realize that we are routinely accustomed to dealing with systemic misogyny, bullying and behavior that is quite normal for a large part of the football public.
“If you haven't experienced systemic misogyny like many of us, you cannot for a moment understand how damaging some of these conversations are, knowing that everything anyone says just enables an absolute pile-on, especially on social media that, let alone Let me be clear: It doesn't take much to stack up women,” Hayes added.
'It's quite normal for a lot of people who support football.
“So it's a bit sad, not that we're having this conversation, we should be having the conversation about the broader issue of it.”