Invitation to Farage at Stadium of Light.
I'll be writing my own letter and will support any campaign highlighting Farage's politics. I joined NUM pickets at Monkwearmouth Colliery, on which the Stadium of Light stands. in 1984 as they battled to keep their jobs and communities together. The pits were deliberately closed by the woman he worships in Margaret Thatcher who was determined to break the union in order to move forward and destroy the social gains that had to be granted after the defeat of fascism in WWII. Sunderland has suffered badly ever since.
A friend of mine has written the following letter.
Sent: 28 March 2026 10:47
To: 'david.bruce@safc.com' <david.bruce@safc.com>; 'kyril.louis-dreyfus@safc.com' <kyril.louis-dreyfus@safc.com>
Cc: 'Chris Waters' <Chris.Waters@safc.com>
Subject: Political Invitations
Importance: High
Dear Kyril and David,
I am a longstanding supporter and season card holder, my first season ticket was in the Boys Enclosure 1964/5 costing £2,and I have been a season ticket holder for 42 of my 74 years despite living out of the area since 1972.
I write to express my concern and distress on learning that a public and well publicised invitation has been made to the leader of Reform Uk Ltd., Nigel Farage, to attend a future home match. It is wrong and divisive for the club to associate itself with any one political party especially in the weeks before local elections. The club is followed by people of many political persuasions and an invitation to a politician of any perspective is unlikely to ever be appropriate or commercially prudent.
Whether issued by an individual or formally by the club the behaviour of Nigel Farage at Ipswich and his subsequent exploitation of that situation indicate an invitation to our club will be similarly politically exploited. The invitation itself is already attracting negative publicity to the club.
It is especially inappropriate after a week in which one of our players suffered racist abuse while representing the club at Newcastle in a local derby, to invite a man whose political reputation is built upon creating difference and division especially toward migrants and people of colour.
Some thirty years ago I was among a group of people who formed Sunderland Fans Against Racism in reaction to a particular time when the club had no players or staff of colour. The club has made massive changes in this respect since then, despite a worrying political climate, and for which the club deserves praise. An invitation to Nigel Farage is counter to any progress made in this direction. It will be seen as an alignment with a controversial politician by many both in the area and nationally and cannot be in the best interests of the club and its supporters. As a supporter myself I do not look forward to the resulting arguments with, and abuse from, other supporters resulting from this association should this invitation go ahead.
The issuing of an invitation to a football match played largely by migrants to a politician whose reputation is based upon opposition to migration is at the least incongruous. This invitation will send a message to all migrants and people of colour everywhere what this club stands for and whom it promotes.
Please urgently withdraw this invitation and please do so publicly,
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