Twitpic/Joey7Barton
His antics on and off the pitch have earned him a certain notoriety, but even Joey Barton's fans were shocked when he opted to play in a game in Wales while his girlfriend was in labour in London.
The 29-year-old QPR player chose to play against Swansea City yesterday (27 December 2011) despite Georgia McNeil checking into hospital on Boxing Day evening.
Luckily, Joey still made it to the birth. Following QPR's 1-1 draw with the Welsh team, he dashed to London's Portland Hospital in time to see his son Cassius born.
PA
In the early hours of this morning, Joey tweeted: 'He's here Cassius Joseph Barton. 7 pound 3 oz. Mother and baby are fine. Wow what a blessing that is....... #quivereringwreck'
Girlfriend Georgia was driven to the private hospital on Monday evening by her mother Denise after she began having contractions.
Although Joey had chosen to still travel to Wales for the football game, he was kept up to date with every development.
Following the match, he took to Twitter to tell his 945,000 followers he was on his way.
Game done, now to the hospital. Missus is going into labour. Great timing luv........#nosleeptonight
He followed with a photo of his newborn son and the message: "Cassius. Here he is 30 minutes after entering this world. #somewigalready."
Today he was in a more philosophical mood, messaging his fans:
"The minute I saw him, I instantly knew I'd love him for the rest of his life! That's the closest, I can get to describing this moment.......
Everything else is insignificant. Forget kicking a ball around or any of that other nonsense we get caught up in. This is what its all about.
The messages of congratulations have been flooding in from his friends and foes in the game. QPR owner Tony Fernandes tweeted: "Congrats joey. Very happy to welcome the new ranger. Congrats. Great news."
Michael Owen tweeted: "Let's hope he takes throw-ins better than his Dad!!! What was that last night?!!!"
It is not yet known why the couple chose the heavy-weight name Cassius, although Joey is a boxing fan so it could be in homage to former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, who was born Cassius Clay.
According to the Daily Mail, the name has Latin origins and the meaning is often described as 'empty, vain, hollow, poor, or robbed'.
Barton is expected to be back in QPR's line-up for their Saturday match against Arsenal.
What do you think?
Did Joey Barton get his priorities a little bit muddled if 'everything else is insignificant' compared to being a father?