Who Nigel Farage really supports as Ipswich Town ‘signing’ emerges | OneFootball

Nigel Farage appeared at Portman Road on Tuesday

Reform leader and British MP Nigel Farage created a storm with his visit to Ipswich Town’s Portman Road this week.

The politician was pictured with a Farage-branded jersey at the stadium on Tuesday morning, which led to the Suffolk outfit receiving criticism for the incident from supporters.

It has since been reported by the Independent that the 61-year-old was not invited to the ground by the Championship side, and that it was organised without Farage’s or the Reform party’s name being involved.

The club works with Portman Road Events, who organise tours of the stadium, and it’s been claimed that they took the booking, rather than the Tractor Boys themselves.

It’s also understood that Farage purchased a jersey with his name on the back, rather than being gifted one by the club itself.

Ipswich were reportedly unaware of the incident until it went viral on social media on Tuesday morning.

Who Nigel Farage really supports after Ipswich Town 'signing'

However, Farage is not in fact a supporter of Ipswich despite making a show of turning up to their stadium this week.

While he smiled in pictures holding a home kit with his name on it, along with posting a satirical photo of him signing for the club, the politician only turned up at Portman Road due to attending an event nearby at Trinity Park hosted by the Reform party.

Instead, the controversial 61-year-old is believed to be a Crystal Palace supporter, which he revealed in an interview with Matt le Tissier in 2022.

He opened up on going to games in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with the Eagles earning promotion to the First Division in 1969 before going back down to the Second Division in 1974.

“My earliest memories of football are being taken, I suppose 1969 or 1970, to watch Crystal Palace play," said Farage, via Gettr.

“Malcolm Allison, with the big fedoras, who’d come from Man City, was the manager.

"Don Rogers, the star player for Swindon, had come to Palace as centre forward, and my grandfather and grandmother used to go and watch Palace.”

However, he also claimed that he is a bigger fan of cricket than football, albeit he spends time following both sports.

Ipswich Town reaction to Nigel Farage visit

Ipswich have not yet released a statement regarding Farage’s surprise visit to Portman Road on Tuesday.

But the club have come under a lot of criticism for hosting someone with his public track record.

Farage was recently criticised for allegedly filming content for the platform Cameo at a neo-Nazi event.

This led to him pausing his activity on the app, which allows people to purchase videos from famous people which are typically used for birthday wishes, and other similar kinds of messages.

Ipswich will be hoping that this incident passes by quickly, with the team currently fighting for promotion to the Premier League this season.

Kieran McKenna’s side are enjoying the international break, which has given them a two week gap between fixtures following their 1-1 draw with fourth place Millwall on Saturday.

The Tractor Boys are level on points with the London outfit — who are fierce rivals with Crystal Palace — leaving them two adrift of second place Middlesbrough, but with a game in hand on their rivals.

Ipswich will return to league action on 6 April with a home game against Birmingham in a 3pm kick-off, where many supporters will be hoping that Farage is not in attendance.