DATE: Saturday 1st February, 2025
TIME: Doors and bar open 6.30pm. Speakers and Q and A at 7.00pm with social from 8.30pm. Ends 10.30pm.
VENUE: The Hacienda Suite, Holiday Inn City Centre Manchester, 25 Aytoun St, M1 3DT.
TICKETS: £8 for FSU members, £12 for non-members, £5 for students.
SPEAKERS:
Baroness Claire Fox
Linzi Smith
Joey Barton
Chair: Toby Young
A timely discussion about the new threats to free speech being pioneered within the beautiful game.
Football fans have long been subjected to the most draconian legal controls, not just on the hooligan-like behaviour of the few, but on the freedom of association and freedom of speech of the many. In recent years, the institutions that run football have become as captured by ‘woke’ ideology as many others, leading to numerous players and fans falling foul of ‘equality, diversity and inclusion’ policies. At all levels from the game, from elite to amateur, people are being silenced and excluded from the game they love.
The worst example we’ve seen is that of Free Speech Union member Linzi Smith. Linzi has been banned from attending Newcastle United games until 2026 because of views she expressed on social media about the biological reality of sex. In the course of defending her, the Free Speech Union discovered that Linzi’s social media activity had been monitored by a surveillance unit embedded in the Premier League and we fear that what happened to her isn’t a one-off incident – it may be part of a wider trend affecting thousands of fans.
It’s not just football fans like Linzi who have fallen foul of football’s authorities. Professional players also risk getting into trouble for their beliefs. Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi feared investigation by the F.A. because he added the statement ‘I love Jesus’ on a rainbow armband that he was obliged to wear. Other players in the UK have had to justify not wearing Stonewall-inspired clothing by arguing that it clashed with their religious beliefs. This comes on the back of ‘taking the knee’ alienating many fans who object to the politicisation of their game and the increasing amount of virtue-signalling at the higher levels of the sport.
Even amateur players have been affected by heavy-handed authorities. The Free Speech Union is also helping a 17-year-old female footballer appeal against a six-match ban, imposed as punishment for asking a transgender player with a beard playing in an opposing women’s team, ‘Are you a man?’.
Meanwhile, the Football Governance Bill, currently being debated in Parliament, threatens to impose more systematically, homogenous beliefs throughout the national sport by making EDI mandatory for clubs and threatening players and fans with compliance to values they may not share. It has been repeatedly and effectively challenged in the House of Lords by Baroness Claire Fox.
Whether or not you’re a sports fan, the conversation will be fascinating, and there will be plenty of time for Q and A and audience discussion. So, come along, have your say, and meet other free speech enthusiasts from the North West region.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:
Linzi Smith is a member of the Free Speech Union, an LGB advocate and a lifelong supporter of Newcastle United football club. She was banned from Newcastle United and subjected to a sinister private investigation because of posts she made on social media in support of her belief that biological sex is important and real.
Joey Barton is a former professional footballer who has represented England and been a pivotal player for Manchester City, Newcastle United, Queens Park Rangers, Marseille, Burnley and Glasgow Rangers. He went on to manage Fleetwood Town F.C. and Bristol Rovers. He was a controversial player, with a reputation for violence, but he is equally well-known for his outspokenness and the attempts made by celebrities, the courts and even government ministers, to silence him.
Claire Fox is the director of the Academy of Ideas, which she established to create a public space where ideas can be contested without constraint. She convenes the yearly Battle of Ideas festival and initiated the Debating Matters Competition for sixth-formers.
In May 2019, she was elected as an MEP for the North West England constituency of the UK in the European Parliament elections and in September 2020, Claire became a member of the House of Lords as Baroness Fox of Buckley.
She is author of two books on free speech, I Find That Offensive! and I STILL Find That Offensive!
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