JOEY Barton has thanked Burnley fans for their support during his time at Turf Moor.

The 34-year-old looks to have played his last game for the club after he was hit with an 18-month ban from all football activity after admitting a Football Association misconduct charge in relation to betting.

Barton plans to appeal the ban but he is unlikely to feature for the Clarets again, ending a 58-game career with the club over two spells.

Having been voted supporters' player of the year last season as he played an influential role in Burnley's charge to the Championship title, Barton opted to leave the Clarets in the summer to sign a two-year deal with Rangers.

But his time at Ibrox ended in November after a training ground bust-up and he returned to train at Gawthorpe after an invite from Sean Dyche.

Burnley announced plans to re-sign Barton on a deal until the end of the season in December, but just days later he was charged by the FA for placing 1,260 bets on football matches or competitions between March 2006 and May 2016.

But Dyche and Burnley pressed ahead with the deal anyway and he has made 18 appearances for the club in this spell, including making a dream return to Turf Moor when he scored the winning goal against Southampton in the Premier League.

And Barton expressed his gratitude to everyone at the club for their support, as well as praising the fans.

He said: "I want to thank the Burnley FC board, management, players and staff for their faith and understanding, and their belief that I would play for them, and play well, even with this hanging over me, and I want to thank the Burnley fans for the support they have given me throughout. They have been brilliant."