‘My political views have nothing to do with you’: Newcastle United fan who was banned from matches until 2026 ‘for her trans views’ reveals Premier League compiled ‘Stasi’ dossier about her where she was called ‘the target’

A Newcastle United fan who was banned from going to matches until 2026 ‘for her trans views’ has revealed how the Premier League compiled ‘Stasi’ dossier about her where she was called ‘the target’.

Linzi Smith, 34, was the subject of a four-month investigation by a special unit set up to expose racism in the game, after she expressed gender critical views on social media platform X.

Ms Smith, who is gay and champions lesbian, gay and bisexual rights, was presented with a 11-page dossier — compiled by the Premiere League — which included details of where she lives, works and even where she walked her dog.

‘That just had me sick to my stomach. They’d basically referred to me as a target, they had tried to find my identify’, she told the Free Speech Union, ‘it’s quite frightening, I don’t feel safe walking around where I live anymore.’

It ended in Ms Smith being banned from the club’s St James’ Park stadium for the rest of this season and the two seasons after that, and her membership was revoked.

The report (pictured) compiled by Premiere League on Linzi Smith includes details of where she lives, works and even where she walked her dog

It resulted in Ms Smith being banned from attending games at Newcastle United until 2026 

She is now taking legal action to overturn the ban, stating that it is her right by law to express gender-critical views and that the Premiere League’s actions were a breach of data protection laws. 

She said: ‘They tried to find where I lived, they had even went as far as to get screenshot off my twitter. 

‘They searched in the search bar ‘I live’ to find anywhere I’ve said I live, took images of me where I used to walk my dog behind the house, got google images of the church there and the park that’s there. 

In one section of the report titled, ‘vulnerabilities’, it detailed how Ms Smith had repeatedly been a victim of online abuse, including her face having been superimposed onto an image of someone being hanged. 

Now, Ms Smith, who runs a tea shop with her mother, is afraid to go out and doesn’t feel safe at home, as she doesn’t know who has seen this information.  

‘It is really quite frightening because i don’t know whose seen it now. I don’t know who knows where I live or knows where I walk around. 

‘You know anyone could be waiting there and it is quite frightening I don’t feel safe walking around where I live anymore.’

She is now taking legal action to overturn the ban, stating that it is her right by law to express gender-critical views and that the Premiere League’s actions were a breach of data protection laws

The 34-year-old was interviewed by police after an 11-page dossier was handed to them by Newcastle United 

Linzi’s Tweet (pictured) which was flagged for investigation 

In an interview with the Telegraph she described the experience: ‘I’m struggling to believe this has happened to me. It’s mind-blowing that they have gone to such lengths because I have expressed views to which I am entitled on my personal Twitter account.

‘They have behaved like the Stasi – it was being done so covertly that I didn’t even know what was happening.

‘They kept telling me they want everyone to feel included – but it appears you’re only welcome if you follow their thought process on everything, and if you don’t you are banned. It is sinister and I feel violated, to be honest.’

Toby Young, the general secretary of the Free Speech Union, said: ‘This is the most egregious example of corporate interference with free speech I’ve ever come across. In effect, the social media accounts of football fans are being monitored by the ‘Stadium Stasi’. It’s like something out of 1984.’

The organisation is helping Ms Smith to fight her ban.

The original complainant had included screenshots taken from her social media account in which she suggested that transgender people were suffering from mental illness.

Adding that they would feel ‘unsafe’ if they had to ‘share a space’ with someone who was so ‘openly transphobic’ and stated that many of Ms Smith’s posts were mocking the trans movement.

In October, Newcastle United emailed Ms Smith to inform her that she was being investigated by Northumbria Police for a possible hate crime offence and that her membership had been suspended.

It is understood that Ms Smith had not done anything to offend anyone during a match, inside the stadium or involving the club.

Days after, Ms Smith was visited by two police officers at her home and she agreed to be interviewed under caution about her tweets for 25 minutes.

Two hours later, she received a call from police to inform her that no further action would be taken as she had not committed any offence.

Ms Smith appealed her ban but was told on January 26 that it had been upheld because her tweets ‘constitute harassment’ and go against the club’s Equality Policy.