Nigel Farage says he won’t attend Sunderland AFC – yet

Mr Farage told ITV last month that a Black Cats director, reportedly Juan Sartori, had extended the invitation.

More than 4,000 people have since signed a petition urging the club to withdraw any such invite and ‘Keep Farage out of Sunderland AFC’, following a controversial appearance he made at Ipswich Town’s Portman Road.

The petition warned that his coming to the Stadium of Light would be “hugely controversial and severely damage the club’s reputation” and stated that the “politics of Nigel Farage are diametrically opposed to the club’s values”.

The Clacton MP was back in the North East this morning (Tuesday, April 21) and confirmed he had no intention of attending a Sunderland game as it stands.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service in South Shields, Mr Farage said: “Such is the appalling behaviour of the hate mob, which I got after the Ipswich visit, I just thought ‘you know what, lovely to have the invite, I am just going to leave them be’. 

“It is desperately sad we should come to that because football, the Premier League in particular, is facing a new regulator that the Government wants to bring in. I am less than convinced it is a good idea. 

“So I do want to meet these football club directors and talk to them. But if me turning up there means the hate mob on Twitter give the club a hard time, I will let it pass for now.”

Asked if he could understand why football fans may not want their club used in political stunts, Mr Farage replied: “It is not party politics. I go to sporting events every year – I go to horse racing every year, I go to football matches every year, I go to the odd rugby game, I go to cricket, I occasionally go to The Open golf. I love sport, I am a sports nut.

“The fact that I happen to be in politics is by the by. But in the case of football, with the potential for the regulator to come in and change the game, actually engagement of football clubs and politicians right now I would say is really important.

“And I think the extreme intolerance we now have from some of those on the left of politics is really against any of our democratic traditions.”

Mr Farage said he was not planning to meet representatives of Sunderland AFC, or indeed Newcastle United, “for now”.

However, he added: “We will meet them all, of course we will. We will meet them all, we want to talk to them all. Football clubs are a desperately important part not just of identity, but in terms of the local economy and everything. It matters. Also, we kind of lead the world in this so let’s stay there.”

Sunderland AFC has been contacted for a response.

The change.org petition, which had 4,060 signatures at time of writing, said that the Reform UK leader “would only visit the club as a publicity stunt to secure votes from fans”. 

It states: “He doesn’t care about the club, has never mentioned it before, and has no real connection with it. Having only visited Ipswich Town FC a few days ago, his cynical motivations are abundantly clear.

“There, he seized on the chance for a photo opportunity and to pander to their fans for votes, then left. Such behaviour is totally inappropriate for any politician, from any party. It’s also totally inappropriate for any football club to enable such actions.”