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Football

14th Jan 2019

Cardiff City publicly distance themselves from Neil Warnock’s Brexit comments

Wayne Farry

Neil Warnock

The Malaysian-owned Welsh club playing in the English Premier League are – shockingly – not as anti-the rest of the world as their manager is

When Neil Warnock revealed last weekend that he is more in favour of Brexit than each of yer das mates combined, there was widespread collective surprise that no one had realised earlier.

The Cardiff manager’s agrarian style of football and past comments saying that there should be a limit on foreign players paint the picture of a man who does not feel England can learn much from the outside world, and it would appear that this picture is wholly accurate.

In his comments last week, Warnock said that he “can’t wait” for Britain to leave the European Union.

“I think once the country knows what they’re doing, it will be straightforward [to make signings] … Any transfer window is difficult for me, not just this one,” he said.

“I don’t know why politicians don’t do what the country wants, if I’m honest. They had a referendum and now we see different politicians and everyone else trying to put their foot in it … Why did we have a referendum in the first bloody place?

“I can’t wait to get out of it, if I’m honest. I think we’ll be far better out of the bloody thing. In every aspect. Football-wise as well, absolutely. To hell with the rest of the world.”

Warnock’s comments saw him widely mocked, particularly because he is working in arguably one of the most global industries in the world, with staff from all corners of the world in his Cardiff squad.

And while Warnock may have assumed he could rest assured in some backing from his employers that – it has emerged – is very much not the case, with Cardiff City today distancing themselves from their manager’s position.

“Comments made by our manager following Saturday’s fixture are representative of his personal political stance,” read a Cardiff statement on Monday morning.

“These comments do not reflect the political position of Cardiff City Football Club, nor its Board of Directors.”

Cardiff’s stance on the issue is not particularly surprising given the aforementioned international nature of football, nor is it surprising when you consider that the area of Cardiff voted overwhelmingly in favour of a Remain vote, with more than 60 percent voting to stay in the EU.