Barton misses out on Championship winners' medal

Barton doesn't seem concerned on the steps of Burnley Town Hall Credit: PA Images

Burnley celebrated clinching the Sky Bet Championship title in front of thousands of fans on Monday, but midfielder Joey Barton did not receive a winners' medal because there were not enough to go around.

The Clarets won the division at Charlton on Saturday only to be forced to wait for the trophy following the Football League's controversial move not to present it at any away ground.

Barton had been among those to criticise the governing body's decision and a representative from the Football League was jeered by Burnley supporters who had gathered to see Sean Dyche's squad's promotion party in the east Lancashire town.

However, after 25 members of Burnley's squad had received their medals ahead of the ceremony, the final two - defender James Tarkowski and Barton - were left empty-handed due to the fact there were none remaining."Burnley Football Club would like to apologise for the mix-up during the medal ceremony," said a statement on the club's official website.

"The Football League advised the club that 25 medals were to be presented, but the club put forward 27 players.

"We would like apologise to the league for this administrative error. We would like to clarify that all players will receive medals from the Football League."

One-time England cap Barton seemed bemused by the snub and did not lift the trophy when it was passed around, instead finding an inflatable version from the crowd, as the team had done at The Valley two days earlier.

Both Barton and Tarkowski later played down the incident on Twitter, though.

Dyche's team arrived for a civic reception in the town hall and having finally been presented with the trophy, they embarked on an open-top bus tour to Turf Moor, a voyage that Barton said he famously would not make if they finished second as they had done two years earlier.

Dyche's team arrived for a civic reception in the town hall and having finally been presented with the trophy, they embarked on an open-top bus tour to Turf Moor, a voyage that Barton said he famously would not make if they finished second as they had done two years earlier.