Joseph Anthony "Joey" Barton is an English footballer who plays for Premier League side Queens Park Rangers as either a central midfielder or a winger. His career and life have been marked by numerous controversial incidents and disciplinary problems.

Barton is a prominent user of Twitter, boasting 470,000+ followers. Commenting on figures from Friedrich Nietzsche and George Orwell to Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Morrissey; his eclectic tweets have resulted in him being described by the BBC as "as a philosophical sportsman to rival Eric Cantona in his heyday".