Joey Barton has completely rowed back on earlier claim that he’s a Celtic fan

When Jock Stein sent his assistant Sean Fallon to sign Kenny Dalglish, the 16-year-old ran up to his bedroom to pull down his Rangers' posters.

When Joey Barton signed for Rangers, he was left slightly embarrassed by this old tweet declaring his support for the Glasgow club's bitter rivals. Ahead of Saturday's Old Firm derby, the first league game between Celtic and Rangers in four years, Barton has rubbished any suggestions he supported Celtic, despite what he said on Twitter. The former Manchester City midfielder also said it's not possible for a "true" football fan to support more than one team. So we doubt he was a fan of Robbie Keane claiming both Liverpool and Celtic were his boyhood teams. "I don't think I've ever supported Celtic," the Rangers midfielder told Four Four Two magazine. "I'm a born-and-bred Evertonian, I’ve not met any true football fan who supports two teams.

"My name is Joseph Anthony, I went to St Agnes Primary School and St Thomas Becket Secondary School, and my grandmother is a staunch Roman Catholic of Irish heritage. So when Rangers played Celtic, the same way as when Barcelona play Real Madrid, you pick a side based on what's going on around you. "Things like that are always an issue until the first game, then people know which side of the divide you stand on."

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