Nigel Farage sparks outrage after going back on his word on football | Football | Sport

Nigel Farage has sparked outrage after posing at Ipswich Town’s Portman Road on Monday, holding one of the club’s shirts. The Reform MP has previously suggested that football and politics should remain separate, but he took the opportunity to visit the home of the Tractor Boys ahead of a political rally to launch the party’s local elections campaign.

Farage is said to have booked onto a stadium tour and has since published photos of himself holding an Ipswich Town shirt. Posting a collection of pictures on X, the 61-year-old said: “I’ve never been too bad on the right wing.”

The political leader also posted a video and said: “Best of luck to Ipswich Town Football Club for the rest of the season.” The video included Farage suggesting he was on the shortlist for the Ipswich manager’s job.

“A big end to the season for Ipswich, they’re in contention to go back to the Premier League and let’s hope they do. But if they don’t I think there’s a chance, and I’ve had a chat with a few people, on the manager’s job coming up next season and I’m definitely on the shortlist. Trouble is, there’s only one job I’m really after.”

One supporter described the image as ‘absolutely sickening’, while another pointed out: “We used to chant Ipswich lives in racial harmony back in the 70s and 80s.”

Another fan, posting on the TWTD supporters’ forum, said they were “disgusted and embarrassed” that Reform had been allowed to use the club’s facilities, while a second said it was “a slap in the face to all decent supporters, our players, staff and history as a fairly multicultural club.”

Others, however, highlighted that Farage had booked the tour commercially and that the club were put in a difficult position. It was suggested that the Championship side could either accept the booking and annoy some supporters or cancel it and find themselves thrust into the media by Reform complaining about cancel culture.

It is understood that no official invitation was made by Ipswich to Reform Party leader Nigel Farage to stage a photo opportunity and Portman Road Events, which manages private tours of the stadium, is understood to have taken a booking. However, the full extent of what was planned was not made clear to the club until social media posts emerged on the party’s official account.

Express Sport have approached the club for comment.

Monday also saw Farage required to abandon a walkabout in Felixstowe. The Reform leader planned to walk the seafront, but with protesters at the scene and chanting, a spokesman noted the event was cancelled following security advice.

A Reform rally at Trinity Park Conference and Events Centre also saw a number of protesters, but the event was oversubscribed. An overflow room was required, with 300 people said to be unable to fit into the main hall.

A demonstration organised by Ipswich Stand Up To Racism saw anti-racist groups, community activists and trade unionists gather outside and claimed that locals wanted to give Reform a “resounding unwelcome” and show that “Ipswich is a multicultural town that rejects Reform’s anti-migrant racism.”

Ipswich Stand Up To Racism’s Dean Ryan said: “Beyond their racist rhetoric around migrants, Farage and Reform want to make ordinary people pay for healthcare, driving the last nail in the coffin of the NHS.”

Farage’s posing at Portman Road comes after Reform also launched their own football shirt. The party has produced a top in the Reform UK blue, which features the party’s logo and a Union Jack, with shirts signed by Farage going for a higher fee.

In both instances, onlookers have pointed out the irony after the MP had previously suggested football and politics should remain separate. Speaking in 2021, Farage did not want the two areas to be associated.

“Gareth Southgate is out of touch with England fans,” he said. “They have a right to boo when players take the knee for Marxist BLM. Let’s keep politics out of football this summer.”

Unsurprisingly, Farage was labelled a hypocrite. “Thought you wanted politics out of sport,” one comment said.

Another added: “This you?” and quoted a previous social media post by Farage.

“‘Politics has no place in football’ – Nigel Farage (Unless I can grift from it)” said another.