One of Joey Barton's many indiscretions as a young player occurred during a pre-season trip with Manchester City in Thailand.
Then-manager Stuart Pearce gave the now Rangers midfielder, ex-Ireland centre-back Richard Dunne and the rest of the squad permission to have a night out after a victory over Everton in a pre-season tournament.
Unfortunately, trouble would ensue when Barton clashed with some Everton fans who happened to be in the same Thai bar over insulting comments they made about then-City forward and fellow Liverpudlian Robbie Fowler who was not on the trip.
Barton says he was kicked in the shin by a 15-year-old Everton fan who was there with his father and that drew a reaction from the midfielder who struck back.
The turn of events was a story shared in Barton's new autobiography No Nonsense.
As the story goes, Dunne demanded that Barton apologise: "'F***ing get over there now and apologise!' he screamed. I declined."
Things then turn physical as Barton recounts.
"Dunney grabbed me by the throat, and pushed me back against the wall. He was bigger than me and stronger than me so wrestling was out of the question. I turned feral, and sank my teeth into his fist as hard as I could.
"I rugby tackled him before he could react. Our momentum took us over some steps and into a secondary tier, where Dunney crashed through a glass coffee table.
"'You’re going to have to fight him now. He’s a big lad, but nothing to be scared of'. I leaped back to the bar and grabbed a pint glass. Tim Flowers recognised my intention of smashing it across Dunney’s head, and threw himself at me.
"I could hear Dunney screaming, he was being frog marched to a secure area, and was so out of control he kicked a plant pot, breaking a bone in his foot."
Evidently, as the years passed, there were no hard feelings as both were team-mates again at QPR many years later as the older, wiser heads in the squad.
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