In October, Newcastle United contacted Ms Smith via email, saying she was “currently under investigation by Northumbria Police for a possible hate crime offence” and that her membership had been suspended.
“I felt sick to my stomach,” she said. “I just thought, this can’t be right. I had no idea what it was referring to.”
At no point was there any suggestion that she had done anything to offend anyone during a match, inside the stadium or in any circumstance that involved the football club, but within hours its equality and inclusion team had leapt into action.
Internal emails discussing her case – which she obtained by submitting a subject access request to the club – detailed a four-month investigation that culminated in her being banned.
“When I go to a football match, I just talk about football,” said Ms Smith. “But I have been banned because the club thinks just having to sit near me is bad – someone you disagree with.”
Days after she received the email, two police officers came to her home wanting to interview her. She refused to let them in, but when they said they had grounds to arrest her she agreed to attend a police station the next day. There, she was interviewed under caution about her tweets for 25 minutes.
“I felt quite dizzy and sick afterwards,” she said. “I was shaking. I had to sit in my car for about 20 minutes before I could drive.”
Two hours later, she received a phone confirming that police would be taking no further action because she had not committed any offence.
‘Just seemed surreal’
In mid-November, she received a letter from Newcastle United telling her she was banned from the club’s St James’ Park stadium for the rest of this season and the two seasons after that, and that her membership had been revoked. She was also banned from buying tickets for away games.
“I just cried,” she said. “I plan my whole weekends around football, I’ve been a Newcastle fan my whole life and I’ve spent thousands over the years on tickets, shirts, everything. What was happening just seemed surreal.”
The club said she had breached the equality and diversity section of its membership rules, which state that the club will protect supporters from discrimination, harassment and victimisation.
It said she had also breached its equality policy, which is similarly worded, and section 12 of its ground regulations, which prohibit “any conduct, act or statement… that is discriminatory”, including by means of gender or sexual orientation.
One of the examples Newcastle gave in reaching the decision was a tweet in which Ms Smith said: “It’s like they’re trying to trans the gay away. You’re a young woman who likes sport? YOU’VE BEEN BORN IN THE WRONG BODY!!!! You’re a young man who likes makeup and dressing up??? YOU’VE BEEN BORN IN THE WRONG BODY!!!! Make it make sense.”
Through a friend, she was put in touch with Harry Miller, a former police officer who won a legal challenge against police forces recording gender-critical views as hate incidents.
He urged her to submit a subject access request to Newcastle United. When the club sent her the documentation it held on her, she found it included an 11-page dossier compiled by the Premier League, entitled Online Investigation and Target Profile – Linzi Smith.
The Premier League’s investigation unit, which does not have an official name, is part of its legal department and based at its headquarters in Paddington, west London. It was set up in 2019 to monitor abuse, in particular racist abuse, directed at players.
2024-02-02 21:00:00
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