Joey Barton to Discuss Social Media at Professional Players Federation Conference

The Professional Players Federation (PPF) has announced that QPR captain and avid Twitter user Joey Barton has agreed to take part in its conference in London on Monday 17th October 2011.

Joey, who has played in more than 200 Premiership games in 10 years, will join a high profile panel discussing social media. The other panellists are Matthew Syed (the Times), Angus Porter (CEO of the PCA), Matthew Himsworth (Schillings) and Hugh Tomlinson QC (Matrix Chambers) who will all discuss the impact of social media on the modern day athlete and both the pros and cons of using this method of communicating directly with the public.

Joey began his football career with Manchester City in 2002 after working his way through their youth system. His appearances in the senior side gradually increased over the following five years and he made more than 150 appearances for the club. He earned his first cap for the England national team in February 2007 before joining Newcastle United for a fee of £5.8 million in July 2007. After four years with the Magpies he joined his current club Queens Park Rangers in August 2011.

Joey is an ardent user of Twitter, boasting nearly 600,000 followers and courting both controversy and praise for his use of the platform. Commenting on figures from Friedrich Nietzsche and George Orwell to Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Morrissey, Joey’s eclectic tweets have resulted in him being described by the BBC as “as a philosophical sportsman to rival Eric Cantona in his heyday.”

If you want to hear directly from Joey on his thoughts about social media and get the view from the players, then make sure you buy your ticket now to the PPF national conference. 

The conference takes place on Monday 17th October 2011 at the RHS Conference Centre in Westminster. Tickets can be purchased online by visiting www.ppfevents.org.uk.

For press accreditation please click here to email Tom Davies, or call him today on 0844 351 0077.