Joey Barton charged with betting rule breach after 'placing 1,260 bets on football matches over 10-year period

Barton has already been given a one-match ban in Scotland for breaching betting rules

Barton was previously charged by the Scottish Football Association for betting on football matches (Getty)

Burnley midfielder Joey Barton has been charged by the Football Association for breaching betting rules, it has been announced.

The former Rangers player, who left the club in November after a training ground bust-up, has been accused of placing 1,260 bets on football matches between 2006 and 2016.

An FA statement released on Friday read: “Joey Barton has been charged for misconduct in relation to betting.

“It is alleged that between 26 March 2006 and 13 May 2016, he placed 1,260 bets on the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of, or occurrence in, football matches or competitions in breach of FA Rule E8.”

Barton has been given until 5 January, 2017, to respond to the charge, though he is eligible to play in Burnley’s Boxing Day clash against Middlesbrough if manager Sean Dyche deems he is fit enough, as well as their Premier League matches against Sunderland on New Year’s Eve and Manchester City on 2 January.

However, the news is unlikely to go down well with Barton – who has not played competitive football since Rangers’s 5-1 thrashing by Celtic on 10 September, after he was involved in a training ground row that ultimately led to his exit from the Glaswegian club.

Barton has already been given a one-match ban in Scotland after he was found to have placed 44 bets on games between July and September this year.

The 34-year-old agreed to return to Burnley on Wednesday, having left the club at the end of last season after helping them to promotion from the Championship, but could now face a ban from English football as well.