Patrick Bamford has been speaking to FootballJOE about politics in football, as he continues his recovery from an ankle injury at Leeds.
What’s the story?
Well, the £35,000-a-week Leeds man leapt to the defence of Gary Lineker and others who have been told to ‘stick to football’ by fans.
Bamford said: “It annoys me. I saw it on Twitter yesterday, someone had a go at Gary Lineker for talking about politics, saying he should talk about football only because ‘that’s what you’re good at’ and ‘you shouldn’t have an opinion on this’.
“That’s nonsense because, if everyone just spoke about the industry they were in, one, life would be boring, and two, we’d just never get anywhere, so I totally disagree with that.”
It comes amid a time where a number of leading footballers, such as Marcus Rashford, are beginning to delve into the world of politics.
Arguably not through choice, but because they feel forced to do something.
For example, it was the scrapping of free school meals for children – something Rashford grew up with in a single parent family – which saw him spring into action.
Bamford is spot on.
Being told to ‘stick to football’ is an insult to the intelligence of footballers, and undervalues how much of an impact they can have on events outside of the sport.
Leeds have a gem in Patrick Bamford
One thing we’ve noticed since Leeds earned promotion is how well Bamford conducts himself in the media.
The 28-year-old spoke extremely well amid the Super League fiasco, at a time where greed was threatening the integrity of the sport.
Marcelo Bielsa also praised Bamford for those comments, and applauded him for asking why racism in sport doesn’t receive similar outcry to how the Super League was received (Sky Sports).
It’s important for footballers not to brush things under the carpet.
In Bamford, Leeds have an excellent speaker, who isn’t afraid to tackle the big topics – he certainly tackles them with great maturity, to say the least.
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