Row over Farage Ipswich visit rumbles on

The row about Nigel Farage's visit to Ipswich Town rumbles on, although the club has said they have nothing to add to their earlier statements.

On Tuesday, The Athletic was the first media outlet to reveal that elements of Ipswich’s account of Reform’s visit, chiefly that Reform leader Nigel Farage had not been invited to the club, had been contradicted by sources at the party.

But with the controversy continuing to escalate, The Athletic has now revealed more details which undermine Ipswich’s account and raise further questions of the club’s handling of the affair.

These include:

• The invitation to Farage was made by an associate of chief executive officer MarkAshton.
• Farage was met by a club executive and then had lunch with Ashton and Luke Werhun, the club’s COO.
• The club gifted the politician six ‘Farage 10’ Ipswich shirts free of charge.
• Members of staff, some senior, have made formal complaints to Ipswich’s human resources department over the stunt.

There is no suggestion that Ipswich have broken any rules by entertaining Farage, nor has Reform breached any of the Electoral Commission’s regulations by shooting campaign material at a football stadium.

But supporters’ groups have continued to apply pressure to Ashton and Ipswich’s ownership. On Wednesday, Blue Action — one of the most vocal fans’ groups at Portman Road — accused the club of letting themselves be “egregiously exploited by a political figure for personal gain and those in charge seemingly allowing and even welcoming it”.

The Athletic has been told that many club employees are furious that Ipswich have allowed this to happen and feel the club subsequently attempted to mislead them regarding how Farage’s visit came about. One club source said several complaints had been made to Ipswich Town’s human resources department.