Joey Barton may have played his last game of football.

The controversial midfielder has been dealt with an 18-month suspension from the FA after betting on more than 1,200 football matches since 2004.

At the age of 34, it would be very difficult to see Barton play at the top level again.

However, he’s planning on fighting his ban after releasing a statement on his website.

After his long statement, Barton wrote: “Having consulted with my friends and lawyers, I have decided I will be appealing against the length of the ban. I hope that I shall be afforded a fair hearing by an independent Appeal Panel."

“If I am, we are confident that the sanction will be reduced to a fair one that both reflects the offences as well as the mitigating factors and the fact that there was nothing untoward or suspicious about the bets I made.”

Rather admirably, Barton also uploaded his thirty most pertinent bets as determined by the FA.

These involved clubs that he played for and even matches that he played in. While many of his stakes are relatively small, there was one match where Barton went a little over the top.

It was Newcastle’s FA Cup third round clash against Stevenage back in 2011.

Barton was pretty confident that his Premier League side would beat their League Two opponents, especially with him in the starting line-up. However, he couldn’t prevent the Toon Army from crashing out of the competition 3-1 in a massive shock.

How much did Barton bet on that match?

Well, he put £497.50 on Newcastle to win in 90 minutes before placing £250 on his side to be leading at both half-time and full-time. So, that’s pretty much £750 bet and lost.

And we thought we’d take a look at highlights from that match to see Barton’s behaviour.

The midfielder can be seen working hard in the highlights, although he did lose the ball in the build-up to Stevenage's second goal.

But Barton hauled his side back into the tie with a screamer to make it 2-1. After the goal, he yelled at his teammates to get the ball from the back of the net in an attempt to complete a miraculous turnaround.

Barton's goal was in the 92nd-minute so it was pretty desperate for Barton to get the ball in the hope to equalise. Would he have acted like that if he didn't have £750 riding on it?

However, Stevenage made it 3-1 to send Newcastle out of the cup and leave Barton counting his losses.

Take a look:

Barton’s suspension has certainly got everyone talking. Some consider it extremely harsh - especially considering that his career is now effectively over.

However, some believe that it is fully deserved - when you consider that some of his bets were on his own side to lose.

Whether his appeal is successful remains to be seen but it’s certainly difficult to defend his actions.