david_smith
In 2007, news broke that Richard Dunne had broken a bone in his foot after intervening in an altercation between Manchester City team-mate Joey Barton and a 15-year-old Everton fan in a bar in Thailand.
Joey Barton is releasing his new book, ‘No Nonsense,’ and he’s claimed that he was provoked by a kick in the shin from the 15 year old. Barton then slapped the teenager, and his description of what happened next makes for both a fascinating and hilarious read;
“(The boy’s dad) slipped away to complain to Dunney, whom he recognised from his time at Everton. I went back to my pint, and was soon confronted by the ‘Honey Monster’, who was as buried in the booze as I was.
‘Fucking get over there now and apologise!’ he screamed.
I declined.
Dunney grabbed me by the throat, and pushed me back against the wall. He was raging, oblivious to my warning that he had precisely two seconds to let me go. He was bigger 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. He roared, let me loose, and involuntarily looked down to see that I had drawn blood.
I rugby tackled him before he could react, pushing him backwards across the room. Bystanders were bulldozed out of the way, human skittles in bizarre game of bar billiards. Our momentum took us over some steps and into a secondary tier, where Dunney crashed through a glass coffee table.
In the distance I could hear Dunney screaming: ‘Why is this happening?’ He was being frogmarched to a secure area and was so out of control he kicked a plant pot, breaking a bone in his foot. He would miss two key internationals for the Republic of Ireland.”
Barton was either very brave or very foolish to mess with the ‘Honeymonster.’
