Joey Barton
Joey Barton played just eight times for Rangers before signing a contract with Burnley Getty Images

Joey Barton has been hit with a Football Association (FA) misconduct charge after allegedly placing 1,260 bets in a 10-year period. The FA believe that the English midfielder, who is set to join Burnley next month, has broken FA rule E8 by betting on "football matches or competitions" between 26 March 2006 and 13 May 2016.

The 34-year-old, who left Scottish Premiership side Rangers in November, was handed a one-match ban for breaking Scottish Football Association (SFA) rules on gambling before he left the Glasgow-based club.

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Barton had admitted the SFA charge of placing 44 bets between 1 July and 15 September all while he was a player at Ibrox. His suspension will carry over after he joins Burnley, who he left at the end of last season after helping them to promotion from the Championship, on 1 January.

The former Manchester City player has until 5 January to respond to the FA charge. The BBC reported that the FA was only made aware of the alleged betting irregularities by a gambling company in the last few months, which led to an investigation, and is not linked to him signing a new deal to join the Lancashire-based club.

FA rules, introduced in 2014, ban players and staff at clubs from betting on any football match or competition anywhere in the world. They are also prohibited from betting on football-related matters, like player transfers. Previously players were only banned from matches or competitions in which they were involved with.

In November this year, Rangers terminated Barton's contract following a training ground bust-up which led to him falling out with Rangers boss Mark Warburton. The England international, who earned one cap for the Three Lions, played just eight games for the club.

Burnley said in a statement that they are "discussing the matter with Joey and his legal representatives". The statement read: "We have been made aware of FA charges against Joey Barton relating to historic betting on football matches. The club will discuss the matter with Joey and his legal representatives and will make no further comment at this time."