Gary Lineker hails Patrick Bamford for hitting out at Twitter trolls after getting abuse

Gary Lineker hails Leeds United player Patrick Bamford this week for hitting out at Twitter trolls after getting abuse from them.

Bamford revealed that he has been left annoyed by ‘nonsense’ claims from fans on social media that he and the Match of the Day presenter ‘shouldn’t have an opinion’ on topics outside of football.

Lineker is used to receiving the same responses for talking about politics and the former striker backed the Elland Road man.

‘It annoys me. I saw it on Twitter that someone had a go at Gary Lineker for talking about politics, saying that he should talk about football only, because “That’s what you’re good at. You shouldn’t have an opinion on this”,’ Bamford told FootballJOE.

‘And that’s nonsense because if everyone just spoke about their profession and the industry they were in, one, life would be boring and two, we’d never get anywhere. So, I totally disagree with that.

‘Sometimes, I get fans saying “stick to football” or “concentrate on football”. And I’m like that’s so blind-sighted. 

‘I can fully concentrate on football while making a change. It’s not like you can have one or the other. You can do both simultaneously.’

“Someone had a go at @GaryLineker for talking about politics, saying, ‘Stick to football.’ That’s nonsense.”@Patrick_Bamford explains why he hates being told to ‘stick to football’. ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/RpldDmTJZ8

— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) November 10, 2021

Lineker sent Bamford back tweet: ‘Well said, Patrick Bamford, but the “stick to football” line only seems to be applied when they disagree with us.’

Bamford has spoken out about climate change and has been active in promoting sustainability on social media.

The 27-year-old is also an ambassador for Hylo Athletics, a sustainable sport shoe company, and his ‘Z’ hand gesture celebration – which we often saw in the Premier League last season – is a nod to the work they do to promote actions that combat climate change.

He said: “Originally, when I started getting involved with the shoe company – the sustainable shoe company – the sign for them is the bolt. Whilst I didn’t want to just be pushing the shoe company forward, the bolt actually stands for Bolt for Planet.

“It was trying to raise awareness for climate change. I remember when I was a little kid at school, I used to go watch the (Nottingham) Forest games, and whoever scored I’d copy their celebration.

“So it’s kind of mad to think that there are kids out there who are copying my celebration when I score, and I’ve actually seen people tagging me in pictures on Twitter and stuff.

“Originally, people were just copying it and nobody knew what I was for, they thought it was just a hand signal. People were asking me ‘what’s it for?’

“I’ve tried to put it out on Instagram that it’s Bolt for Planet, it’s trying to raise awareness for climate change.

“I feel like the majority of people who are going to do it are kids, and if you can start getting them to ask questions about why they’re doing it, and they start learning and learn from a young age it helps them grow and carry it forward with them. That’s kind of the idea.”

🗣 “It was trying to raise awareness for climate change. There are probably kids out there copying my celebration.”

@Patrick_Bamford explains the important meaning behind his celebration pic.twitter.com/ibo4qF9drP

— Football Daily (@footballdaily) July 14, 2021

Users gave their reaction as Gary Lineker hails Patrick Bamford for hitting out at Twitter trolls after getting abuse…

@watfordfocus: If someone says “stick to football”, they usually mean “you’re talking about that makes me uncomfortable”.

@AdamTheBaddun: Spot on mate. And if he was supportive of a cause those ppl believed in they would love it.

@JoMoMMS: Well said @Patrick_Bamford. It’s total nonsense. And usually comes from people who disagree with the view being expressed.

@ajg8701: Patrick I think I speak for the majority of fans when I say you’re very good at what you do and you’re a footballer before all else… But keep doing what you do, ignore the hate and keep raising the bar for how change is made.

@pamela_cafc: It’s really stupid. So builders should stick to building and so on and so on. People are not defined by their careers.

@thatboytysoe: It’s funny as the people saying “stick to football..” are the exact same people who will sit and talk about the need for a holding midfielder in the Man Utd team. Ermm stick to accountancy please Barry from Exeter.

@DaykinXx: Its ignorant to make that comment to footballers! to be honest I disagree with Gary quite often on non football related matters, but his opinion is as valid as mine or anyone else’s. Everyone has the right to their opinion provided it’s not promoting bigotry or hate. Simple as!

@mritgreenock: Patrick Bamford is a class act. He is absolutely on the money. We expect sportspeople to be robots.

@LUFCFilmGeek91: Telling a Footballer to “stick to Football” is same as telling your average Joe “stick to your day job”. They are human beings same as rest of us with opinions. I don’t care if they play Sport, the violin or don’t work at all if they make the right decision on voting day then 👍.

@marko_richo: It’d be nice if politicians could stick to politics at the moment tbh.

@SM_futbolcoach: Imagine a footballer was to come out and say, “you should stick to plumbing/banking/scaffolding/health care etc” As its what your good at. They’d be slaughtered in the media for it. Everyone’s allowed an opinion, it’d just help if we educated ourselves more before offering them.

@Goodguybarry: ‘Stick to football’ often goes hand in hand with people who are apoplectic with rage if footballers don’t wear a poppy