Nigel Farage has labelled the backlash to his controversial visit to a Championship football club as “ridiculous”.
The Reform UK leader was pictured at Ipswich Town’s Portman Road stadium last week holding up club shirts with “Farage 10” on the back.
After the party’s social media posts sparked anger amongst a section of Town fans, the club’s chief executive was forced to apologise for any “harm and distress” caused by the visit.
On Tuesday, the Clacton MP was in Norfolk for Reform’s local election campaign and told ITV News Anglia: “That was just ridiculous wasn’t it?
“It’s funny isn’t it? Keir Starmer can visit football clubs – that’s fine. Other politicians – it’s fine.
“I do it, and you get the hate mob online and everyone runs scared. It’s nonsense.”
Farage added that he was not deterred by the fiasco and wanted to visit “every football club” to talk about plans for a new regulator for English football.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage at the home of Championship play off hopefuls, Ipswich Town FC. Credit: Nigel Farage / X
When asked on Wednesday about the controversy and if football clubs should be involved with political figures, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “Ipswich is a great club and one of the guys that I play football with is a Tractor Boy, so I get updated regularly in relation to Ipswich and what’s going on.
“They’re a great club with a great history and I wish them very well.”
Some Ipswich fans had said they did not want the club associated with Farage’s political views.
Members of the local media called for the club to say sorry – with the East Anglian Daily Times calling for a club apology.
“One wonders how the club’s sponsors – many emblazoned on the advertising board behind him – felt about being associated with a man as divisive as Farage,” the article read.
“Or how the club’s players and staff felt when they saw a politician linked with allegations of racism, homophobia and misogyny holding their famous shirt aloft.”
A report in The Athletic suggested that they’d seen proof that Farage had been invited and had received the shirts as gifts – an accusation Ipswich haven’t commented on.
Ipswich Town chief executive Mark Ashton has apologised for the way Nigel Farage’s visit was handled. Credit: Reform UK/PA
On Friday, Ipswich Town chairman and chief executive Mark Ashton admitted in an in-house club interview that the visit had caused “harm and distress”.
“The staff are hurting, elements of the fanbase are hurting, and so are elements of our local community – and that upsets me immensely,” said Ashton.
“For that, I want to unreservedly apologise and say I’m sorry.”
Ashton went on to say that “lessons had been learned” from the visit – but also suggested that there were a “lot of mistruths out there” about how it materialised.
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