{"id":569073,"date":"2026-03-28T02:22:29","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T02:22:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/569073\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T02:22:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T02:22:29","slug":"ipswich-chair-apologises-for-causing-fans-hurt-and-pain-after-farages-visit-to-club-ipswich-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/569073\/","title":{"rendered":"Ipswich chair apologises for causing fans \u2018hurt and pain\u2019 after Farage\u2019s visit to club | Ipswich Town"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Ipswich Town<\/a> chair and chief executive, Mark Ashton, has apologised for \u201cany hurt, pain or distress\u201d caused by Nigel Farage\u2019s visit to Portman Road this week.<\/p>\n

Farage visited the club on Monday, and footage of his trip \u2013 including images of the Reform UK leader holding up an Ipswich No 10 shirt with his name on the back \u2013 was used by the political party on social media.<\/p>\n

The club said on Tuesday that it remained \u201capolitical\u201d after Ipswich fans showed their displeasure on social media. Supporters described the visit as \u201cshameful\u201d and \u201cembarrassing\u201d.<\/p>\n

On Friday Ashton said in a statement: \u201cI\u2019m fully aware that this has been a very difficult week for all of us. The staff are hurting. Elements of the fanbase are hurting. So are elements of our local community. That upsets me immensely. Unreservedly, I want to apologise and say I\u2019m sorry.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand that supporters and element of the community are angry. I also understand that there are a number of mistruths out there about what\u2019s actually happened this week. And I also understand that we have lessons to learn. Because mistakes have been made which have caused harm and distress to parts of our local community.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd as the chairman of the club I take full responsibility for those mistakes. And full responsibility for making sure that those lessons are learned and learned quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ashton added that the club would reconsider its approach. \u201cThe full board of directors are now reviewing the policy regards how we engage with local politicians and political parties,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll decide how, if and when we do that moving forward. Because, again, lessons have to be learned.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ipswich are fighting for a return to the Premier League, having been relegated last season, and are third in the Championship<\/a> table with eight games remaining, with the Farage furore causing an unwanted distraction in the promotion race.<\/p>\n

\u201cI unreservedly apologise for any hurt, pain or distress that\u2019s been caused,\u201d said Ashton. \u201cWe are better when we move together as one and there is lots to fight for on and off the pitch.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do try to listen to supporters and we do take on board their feelings and their thoughts on a wide range of things. The biggest thing for me this week has been the hurt and frustration fans have had, and, I repeat, I unreservedly apologies for that hurt and pain. I\u2019m genuinely sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Ipswich Town chair and chief executive, Mark Ashton, has apologised for \u201cany hurt, pain or distress\u201d caused…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":569074,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-569073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/569074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}