Joey Barton says there will always be a role for Nick Anderton Bristol Rovers after the 26-year-old underwent a successful operation to remove a tumour this week. The defender was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer, in his femur in the summer and he had it removed at a hospital in Birmingham on Wednesday.
The news turned Anderton's world upside down and put his playing career in doubt, although in an interview before his operation he said he will do all he can to return to the pitch again. In the meantime, his illness has hit his teammates hard but his response has also offered a source of inspiration.
Relieved that one of his promotion-winning heroes is on the mend, Barton made clear his admiration for the man. No matter what the future holds, the Rovers manager says his door will always be open for the popular defender.
"Absolutely, and if it turned out he couldn’t make a playing comeback, then I’ve been on to him about getting into this (coaching), start studying set-plays," Barton said. "We’d always create an opportunity for Nick because you’ve seen the bad news he’s got and the way he’s responded to it.
"I have nothing but admiration for him and the way he’s responded to the dreaded C-word. At that age, it would put the fear of good in you and he’s a better man than me in terms of his handling of it.
"We’re lucky in terms of we’re a close-knit group and the boys are in constant daily dialogue with Nick and he probably feels as part of the group as much as he possibly can, albeit he’s lying in a hospital bed in Birmingham overcoming from what is quite a dramatic surgery for a 26-year-old man.
"Nick is really close to all the lads. He is a real fulcrum of our squad dynamic here; one of the big conduits for everybody is their friendship with Nick because he’s such a likeable lad and the group has really felt that. It puts things in perspective. Sometimes you don’t realise how lucky you are just to have your health.
"He’s a top kid, Nick. You work all your life and you dream about being a player and Nick’s in the prime, 26 and improving. He joins a club and gets that promotion under his belt and he’s looking to the future and then he has some horrendous news in pre-season and life is flipped on its head.
"For us, it’s all about supporting our teammate and our friend and doing the best we can for him. I think the medical people at the club have been absolutely first class in terms of the speed in which Nick’s cancer was identified, the speed with which he’s been to see the specialist and the speed with which he has had the operation and now he can get on the road to recovery.
"The main thing for Nick is he is going to watch his kids grow up. We’ve all got to be there for him and I think the football club and the football community has been superb in getting around Nick and we’ve got to continue doing that until he’s fully recovered."
Anderton was a stalwart of Rovers' promotion-winning team last season, delivering several big performances on the pitch as well as playing a huge role in the dressing room. He made 39 appearances in all competitions, scoring three goals including the winner at Harrogate Town in October 2021 which proved to be a big turning point in the campaign.
He joined Rovers at the start of last season after a stint with Carlisle United and after a tricky start on the pitch, he established himself as a reliable player for Barton. He would later cement his place in Gas folklore with his part in the iconic celebrations atop the Gloucester Road traffic lights following the final-day victory over Scunthorpe United in May.
His life has changed dramatically since then, with what he thought to be a football-related injury turning out to be cancer after investigation by Rovers' medical staff, but with his surgery complete and the road to recovery in front of him, Barton is eager to see him back at The Quarters in any capacity as soon as possible.
"It does get lost sometimes in terms of you’re trying to get results and you feel sorry for yourself if you’re on a run where you haven’t won for 50 days in the league or whatever, and then you’ll get a reality check because something will pop up, whether you walk past the dressing room and you see Nick’s name on his peg or we’re in the stadium and Tom Foley has Nick’s jersey there," Barton added.
"All of a sudden you get a reality check and you realise. Football is important, Bill Shankly famously said ‘It’s not a matter of life and death, it’s more important than that’, but in reality, I think we all know there are a lot of moving parts in being a human being and, for us, we must never lose sight of how lucky we are to have our health.
"You feel sorry for yourself, maybe you haven’t trained or played well, but the fact you’re able to get out there, I always say to the lads ‘Nick would kill to be out here, imagine what Nick would sacrifice to be able to just pull the jersey on and have a bad game. For us, he was a huge person in our dressing room and the minute we can get him back in whatever guise, we will find a role for him because he is a top fella and all of us are desperate to see him chipper and back on his feet."
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