‘A hefty, middle-aged man’ – JK Rowling fires back at criticism over alleged ‘bullying’ of a transgender female football coach.

The Harry Potter author has responded to claims of “bullying” and “punching down”

JK Rowling has spoken out after coming under fire for criticising a trans female football manager.

Lucy Clark, who used to work as a referee in the game, has swapped the whistle for the dugout and was recently appointed the manager of Sutton United’s women’s football team in south London.

LGBTQ+ charity Pride UK took to X, formerly Twitter, over the weekend to celebrate Clark’s achievement.

The organisation shared a photo of Clark holding a pink whistle and a red card alongside a celebratory caption.

The Pride account penned: “Lucy Clark, the world’s first openly transgender referee, has made history by becoming the first trans manager in the top 5 divisions of English women’s football.

“The former referee has taken over at Sutton United. FABULOUS,” it signed off and quickly caught the attention of Harry Potter author Rowling.

JK Rowling has faced fresh criticism for her trans views

The 58-year-old is no stranger to hitting headlines with her views on the trans debate, recently engaging in a war of words with trans newsreader India Willoughby.

Her Harry Potter colleague Daniel Radcliffe also shared a fresh critique of the author’s views, distancing himself from her remarks and admitting they haven’t spoken for years.

Rowling took to X over the weekend to share Pride’s post and penned alongside: “When I was young all the football managers were straight, white, middle-aged blokes..

“So it’s fantastic to see how much things have changed.”

The author was soon flooded with a mixed response from her followers, with some accusing her of trolling and encouraging a “social media pile on” towards Clark.

Later, Rowling decided to respond to the backlash, writing on the social media site: “Calling a man a man is not ‘bullying’ or ‘punching down’.

“Crossdressing straight men are currently one of the most pandered-to demographics in existence, and women are under no obligation to applaud the people caricaturing us.”

Rowling continued to publicly react to crticism online, including one person who claimed her thoughts on the trans issue was her “downfall”.

JK Rowling unleashed a blistering take on trans football manager Lucy Clark

She wrote back to that X user: “You’ve seen nothing yet. Wait til I hit rock bottom. It’s going to be spectacular.”

Responding to one critic who suggested Rowling should “try to treat everyone with kindness”, the author also replied: “When you stop telling me to lie, I’ll stop shouting the truth.” (sic)

The Pride UK Org X account has since deleted both the post and the account itself.