Nigel Farage has been mocked as a fake fan after he reused a photo from two years ago to toast England’s World Cup win. Shortly after full-time in the thrilling 4-2 victory over Croatia, the Reform leader posted a picture enjoying a pint in a packed pub while wearing a vintage England away shirt worn during Euro 96. With the caption ‘Proper Job @England’ – most assumed that the beer-loving Clacton MP had been watching the game live in a local boozer.
However, eagle-eyed users spotted that the photo looked familiar. And with good reason, because the photo was not taken during England’s Group L win, but rather a reused one from Euro 2024. That post two years ago showed Farage in the same pose, with the same top on, and indeed in the same pub with the same people.
Social Media Backlash
On X, merciless posters were quick to criticise the Reform leader for his apparent attempt to burnish his ‘man of the people’ image. One user asked if Farage ‘had a time machine’ while another simply called him a ‘lying bastard.’ A third sarcastically commented that ‘Farage is such a man of the people that he arranged for everyone he was in the pub with in 2024 to get back together in their same clothes to watch England play Croatia.’ Another user speculated ‘If Keir Starmer was caught using a picture of himself from two years ago to celebrate an England win, the backlash would probably be enough to finish him off.’
Political Context
The Reform leader is believed to have spent much of this week in Makerfield ahead of the by-election there and has posed with his party’s candidate Robert Kenyon, who has been spotted wearing an England top throughout the campaign. Voters go to the polls in the Greater Manchester constituency today, and Farage will be hoping Kenyon can pull off an upset against Andy Burnham on the scale of Cape Verde’s heroic draw against Spain earlier this week.
On Tuesday, ahead of the game, Farage appeared in his regular GB News slot, where he urged Thomas Tuchel’s squad to ‘go for goal’. He also neglected to get swept up in World Cup fever, commenting that while he hopes football would be ‘coming home’ – in his heart of hearts he was ‘not really’ convinced that England could lift the trophy for the first time since 1966.
Previous Football Gaffes
It’s not the first time that Reform’s attempts to talk football have backfired, in fact it’s not the first time this week. The party’s MP Sarah Pochin faced backlash after she attempted to raise awareness of research that shows that domestic abuse reports rise during major England games. Pochin, MP for Runcorn and Hemsby, posted a video on X saying ‘thank goodness England won’, claiming that when the team loses, domestic violence ‘goes through the roof’ and urging Tuchel’s boys to ‘keep winning.’ She was quickly criticised for not only misrepresenting the research (which is clear that domestic violence cases rise despite the result), but placing the weight of expectation on the England squad to prevent these incidents.
Commentator Matthew Torbitt said: ‘It’s hard to overstate how absolutely awful this framing is. Football players aren’t responsible for domestic abuse, abusers are!’
Farage himself caused controversy in March when he visited Ipswich Town, and posed with a shirt featuring his name and Number 10. The club initially suggested that the Reform leader was there as part of a private tour, but eventually conceded that he had been hosted by the club, and insisted they were apolitical. Farage also plugged his ‘5-a-side team’ when Reform launched a range of football tops bearing his name.
The party looks set to win the next election, but after last night’s gaffe, Farage clearly needs to brush up on his tactics.
