Nigel Farage has given Ipswich Town a PR disaster, but the reported backstory to his social media post is thankfully not too damning on the club.

Ipswich Townsupporters and the wider public were left sick to the stomach as the Championship club appeared to align with controversial right-wing politician Farage, who is the current leader of the Reform Party, on Tuesday morning.

This came as Farage posted images on social media, including one of him holding an Ipswich Town shirt with ‘Farage 10’ on the back and another simulating signing for the club.

The caption of the post read: “I’ve never been too bad on the right wing.”

In a follow-up video, Farage dropped some more guff. He said: “Ipswich Town are really in contention to get back to the Premier League. Let’s hope they do it, but if they don’t then I think, having had a chat with a few people here, there’s a chance of the manager’s job coming up next season and I’m definitely on the shortlist. The trouble is, there’s only one job I’m really after…”

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This publicity stunt comes ahead of May’s local elections as Farage looks to secure votes for his party, and it would have been really damning if Ipswich Town had a hand in orchestrating this exercise.

Thankfully, that is not the case.

A report from local outlet The Ipswich Starclaims ‘Reform didn’t use the party or Farage’s name when initially booking the private tour online and that the printed shirt was purchased rather than gifted’, with it also important to note that the Championship club have not shared any of the posts from the party or Farage himself.

And more details have been provided by The Independent,who say that the club were not ‘unaware of the full extent of the event until social media posts emerged’.

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The report adds:

‘No official invitation was extended by Ipswich to Mr Farage for the Monday event, it is understood.

‘Portman Road Events, which manages private tours of the stadium, is understood to have taken a booking on behalf of Reform for Monday afternoon. However, the Championship club only became aware of what was involved later that day when posts appeared on the party’s official account.’

So, this story does not shed as bad a light on Ipswich Town as it did initially, but this situation was still entirely avoidable if the staff at Portman Road had even an ounce of foresight.

Those who let Farage and whoever was with him into the stadium should have known they were only doing so for their own personal gain and that whatever came out afterwards would have reflected terribly on the club.

The only real course of action when Farage and co. arrived at the stadium for their tour, would have been to refuse entry and, preferably, kindly tell them to f*** off.

And Ipswich Town did not help themselves with their own statement, which was not posted until Tuesday evening.

They said: ‘Following Monday’s visit by the Reform party and its leader, Nigel Farage, the club would like to issue the following statement:

‘Ipswich Town Football Club has, over several years, hosted representatives from a range of political parties. The club remains apolitical and does not support or endorse any individual or party.

‘The club will continue to engage with representatives from across the political spectrum as part of its role within the community.

‘Ipswich Town is proud to be an inclusive, diverse, and welcoming organisation that supports all members of the local and wider community. This commitment remains unchanged.’

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