Football Lads Alliance outnumbered & embarrassed in Manchester

Join the mobilisation against the ‘Democratic Football Lads Alliance’ on Saturday 2 June in Manchester here

The far right and Islamophobic ‘Football Lads Alliance’ were embarrassed and outnumbered in Manchester on Saturday by Stand Up to Racism Manchester .

The FLA’s protest only mustered around 300, and was criticised for attempting to exploit the anniversary of the attack on the Manchester Arena. Stand Up to Racism and Unite Against Fascism mobilised twice that number, with at least 600 people joining the counter-protest.

Dan Hett, brother of a Manchester Attack victim, said that the FLA were ‘shamelessly hijacking the anniversary of the attacks to peddle their racist, Islamophobic views’ and that he was ‘beyond proud to march in solidarity with so many in Manchester today as we ran the racist Football Lads Alliance out of town. These are our streets.’

The mobilisation against the FLA was a true representation of Manchester: diverse and vibrant. Anti-racist shouted chants of unity as they marched through the city to applause from locals.

Stand Up to Racism and Unite Against Fascism also held a minute’s silence in memory of the victims of the Arena attack, and local Councillors read out the names of the victims.

On the other hand the FLA rally was a disappointing and drab affair. Roughly a quarter of their number were ex BNP and EDL followers, while around 50 or so stayed in pubs, clearly down about the day.

In the aftermath, FLA supporters took to social media to vent their anger at what was a damp squib for them.

Saturday marked an important day for multicultural Manchester, but we can’t get complacent. The ‘Democratic Football Lads Alliance, a split from the FLA, plan to take to the streets of Manchester on Saturday 2 June. It is likely they will draw a bigger crowd. Anti-racists must mobilise even bigger numbers against them.

(see facebook event for Stand Up to Racism protest here)

Groups supporting the antiracist mobilisation included:

16 MPs in the North West •North West TUC • NEU• Manchester City Councillors • LGBT+ Against Islamophobia • UNISON • the GMB • Fire Brigades Union and other unions who also brought strong delegations with banners and flags.