Barton left Fleetwood Town in January and has been appointed at the Memorial Stadium; Rovers sacked Paul Tisdale earlier in February following a poor run of results; Barton's first game in charge is against Wigan on Tuesday
Monday 22 February 2021 11:29, UK
Joey Barton has been appointed manager of Bristol Rovers.
The West Country club sacked previous manager Paul Tisdale on February 10 and are just two points outside the League One relegation zone after Saturday's loss to Gillingham.
Barton has signed a contract until 2023 at the Memorial Stadium and will take charge of the team for the game against Wigan Athletic on Tuesday night.
Clint Hill and Andy Mangan have joined Barton's coaching team as assistant manager and first-team coach respectively, while current coaches Kevin Maher and Jack Mesure will all form part of Barton's backroom staff.
Speaking about the appointment, club president Wael Al Qadi said: "We are delighted to welcome Joey to Bristol Rovers and look forward to working closely with him to progress our football club forward.
"Joey's experience in the game is matched by his passion for coaching and delivering results, which made him a standout candidate for the role.
"He's got a good knowledge of the league already thanks to his spell at Fleetwood and has shown his credentials at delivering results and getting the best out of the players he works with.
"We are confident that he will be able to continue the ongoing development of the younger players coming through the ranks at the club and speaking to him, I know his ambitions align with what we want to achieve as a football club.
"I want to wish Joey, the staff and the players the very best of luck for the coming games, as we look to cement our safety in Sky Bet League One and build for the future."
Barton went into management with Fleetwood in 2018, but they parted company with the 38-year-old in January this year.
Fleetwood reached the League One play-offs under Barton in the 2019/20 season - where they lost to Wycombe in the semi-finals - and he had them at 10th earlier this year but left after a poor run of form that saw them win one of his final eight games.
