Straight red! Soccer pundit banned for saying ‘handbags’

IT may not be very ‘woke’, but in the plainspeaking world of football it’s common during a minor pitch confrontation to say the players have their ‘handbags out’.

Unfortunately for football pundit Steve Thompson, using the phrase while commentating on a game for the BBC has cost him his job – for the time being.

Bosses also gave the former Lincoln City player and manager the red card for saying a player was a ‘bit of a drama queen – he’d have been better wearing a skirt’. His colourful remarks on the goalless draw between Lincoln City and Accrington Stanley last weekend led to an unspecified number of listeners complaining about his choice of words on Radio Lincolnshire. As a result, he won’t be used by the station until next year, following Football Association ‘training’.

However, the BBC’s response provoked anger. Karl McCartney, Tory MP for Lincoln, said the public were losing patience with the BBC’s ‘out of touch-ness’.

Craig Leyland, leader of East Lindsey District Council, said the BBC’s response was ‘silliness’, adding: ‘I heard the remark live. No intent to offend.

‘Common usage... a complete overreaction to suspend him.’

Lincolnshire County Council leader Martin Hill called the suspension ‘ridiculous’.

Local councillor Roger Patterson said it was ‘utter lunacy’, adding: ‘The BBC are happy to play offensive songs on Radio 1 but censor things that are not offensive. The biggest threat to the BBC is the BBC.’

Mr Thompson is said to have been warned about his language before. A BBC spokesman said: ‘Steve made three comments on air that he accepts didn’t meet the standards our listeners expect.’

In September, the BBC told commentators not to use language linked to slavery or racial stereotypes such as ‘cakewalk’, ‘nitty gritty’ and ‘whiter than white’.