VIOLENCE, occasionally of the extreme kind, was a part of Joey Barton’s life from the beginning. In his autobiography, No Nonsense, he relates an encounter with an Alsatian at the age of four on his Liverpool housing estate.
The unattended dog happened upon him as he played in a concrete tunnel in a school playground, biting him repeatedly on the face. So badly, indeed, that he required surgery and ten days in hospital.
Tracked down to the pub, his father was told of the attack and, after making sure that his son was in good hands, borrowed a friend’s van and headed for the playground.