With the start of Euro 2024, we can expect to see plenty of bandwagon-jumping by politicians.
And the fact the highly-anticipated tournament in Germany coincides with a General Election mean this is likely to be even more noticeable than normal. England are among the favourites to lift the trophy, having narrowly missed out in the final last time around against Italy.
In moments of national expectation or celebration, showing your love for the beautiful game might seem like an easy win. But it’s not without its risks, with several MPs coming unstuck over the years.
David Cameron, Liz Truss, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak have had their awkward football moments. Here we look at some of the most excruciating examples of politicians talking about football.
1. Rishi Sunak asking Welsh fans about the Euros
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A very early General Election gaffe came when the Prime Minister visited a Welsh brewery soon after calling the surprise poll. While trying to make small talk in Barry, he asked staf if they were looking forward to “all the football”.
But one worker responded quickly pointing out that Wales had not qualified for the Euro 2024 tournament. He made the comment after a different worker said the summer of football was “not so much my bag”. Mr Sunak awkwardly laughed, as he scrambled to say: “It’ll get people out. There will be people coming. It’ll be a good summer of sport.”
2. David Cameron forgetting what team he supports
Perhaps the most famous example is former Etonian David Cameron. While he was a Tory MP he had an embarrassing lapse of concentration and urged people to back West Ham – despite being an Aston Villa fan.
In the middle of a 2015 talk about British identity, Mr Cameron said he wanted to live in a country “where multiple identities work.” The examples he gave were being “Welsh and Hindu and British”, or “Northern Irish and Jewish and British” and where you can support “Man United, the Windies and Team GB.”
He then inexplicably said, “Of course I’d rather you supported West Ham”. Trying to explain the bizarre blunder, he later said: “I’ve been an Aston Villa fan all my life, I literally opened my mouth and I was going off-piste about the fact that in Britain you can be a supporter of the West Indies, a supporter of Manchester United, and a supporter of Team GB.
“I was then busking about other things you can support and was … I don’t know what happened to me, it was just one of those things.”
3. Michael Tomlinson’s spectacular own goal
This one is a classic for the ages. For no reason at all Tory minister Michael Tomlinson asked Sky News host Kay Burley to ask him about sport. When she did, he couldn’t name what football team he supported.
It came after Ms Burley quizzed him over whether he’d watched ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office. He stuttered: “I watch very little, is the honest and straightforward answer. If you ask my family they’ll say I’m a little bit focused on what I’m doing and probably don’t have a lot of time to watch boxsets.
“But I do enjoy watching sport, and if you want to ask me about cricket or sport then please do,” he added. Asked which football team he supports, he then appeared to forget. “I don’t really have a football team,” he said.
Told he wasn’t really a sports fan, he protested: “I’m a cricket fan, I love sport and I enjoy watching sport — but it would be wrong to tell you that I have a football team. “I’ve been to Bournemouth, I’ve been to various other grounds but I don’t have a specific football team,” he said, then added: “Wimborne Town Football Club!”
But his love of Wimborne Town appeared to be a bit shallow. Asked by the presenter about their last result, he said: “I couldn’t tell you their last result. But the last result that I was there was very exciting, there were lots of goals – and it was a 1-1 draw.”
4. Liz Truss urging voters to ‘channel spirit of Don Revie’
During 2022’s Tory leadership contest the wrecking ball PM tried to impress an audience in Leeds by saying the UK “needs to channel the spirit of Don Revie”. Mr Revie was a hugely successful manager for Leeds United between 1961 and 1974, before he endured three difficult years in charge of the England national team.
In this time the Three Lions failed to qualify for the European Championships and the World Cup. He was also a passionate Labour support who would doubtless have loathed Ms Truss’s politics.
This was pointed out with relish by Labour MP Chris Evans – who wrote a biography of Revie. Mr Evans said: “As much as I love Don, he had a reputation for playing dirty & had a disastrous time when put in charge of the country. So I can see why Liz Truss thinks Revie is a good comparison to the Tories.” And he gleefully wrote on Twitter : “She forgot to add that Don Revie was a Labour supporter.”
5. Matt Hancock getting Marcus Rashford’s name wrong on TV
Football fans of all loyalties will remember Marcus Rashford’s incredible campaigning around free meals for children during the Covid pandemic. After the Tories initially rejected plans to give vital support to struggling families, the Manchester United and England star lobbied for a rethink.
The Tories had initially rebuffed Rashford’s attempts, but caved into pressure after the Three Lions striker spoke with then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson. In an interview on Sky News, Mr Hancock said: “I’ll tell you what happened, the Prime Minister talked to Daniel Rashford, he considered it and made his decision. I think it’s terrific.”
Gary Lineker added: “Good to see Matt Hancock finally giving credit to footballers and Daniel Rashford in particular.” Rashford responded to Lineker: “I’ve been called much worse over the last couple of days.”
6. Rishi Sunak unnecessarily antagonising Manchester crowd
Back to the most recent Tory leadership race, and Rishi Sunak was also keen to show off his football credentials. He is a supporter of Southampton, his local side when he grew up.
Unfortunately the PM’s backing didn’t help the Saints in their battle against relegation from the Premier League the previous season. And to make matters worse he unnecessarily antagonised a crowd at a hustings event in Manchester.
Asked if his side could get back to winning ways, he said: “I’m going to be unpopular for saying it here, starting by beating United this weekend.” The problem was that they weren’t playing United at all that weekend – they were actually scheduled to face Leicester City.
7. Sir Ed Davey’s ever-so-slightly staged photo
When the Lionesses secured their place in last year’s World Cup final, there was jubilation across the UK.
And Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey marked the occasion in the way only a political party leader can – by sharing a photo of himself celebrating. As you can imagine, not everyone was impressed.
One commenter wrote: “Love this picture, a real textbook example of “politician goes to pub and is normal bloke”.” And another said: There’s nothing like a spontaneous, candid shot that captures a moment… and this is nothing like a spontaneous, candid shot that captures a moment.”
8. Boris Johnson fluffs question on 1966 hat-trick hero
Bungling Boris Johnson scored a spectacular own goal when he claimed England’s 1966 World Cup-winning hat-trick was scored by captain Bobby Moore, a defender.
The then-Mayor of London was asked who had scored the vital three goals at Wembley, and fluffed his lines. In a quickfire quiz on LBC, he named the legendary centre-back, who lifted the trophy on that fateful day.
The answer, as almost every football fan will tell you, was Geoff Hurst. Mr Johnson defended himself afterwards, saying he was only two at the time.
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9. Zac Goldsmith likens himself to Leicester City
Back in 2016 Leicester City stunned the football world by winning the Premier League – when no one gave them a shot. At the same time Tory Zac Goldsmith was trying to become mayor of London.
He decided to liken himself to the champions, but it all went a bit wrong. He was accused of “piggybacking” their success when he said: “I’m hoping to do a Leicester City and zoom in from behind and win on May 5.”
Supporters were quick to point out that Leicester were actually ahead of the pack for months, having led the race since January. They also questioned whether the billionaire politician was right to describe himself as an “underdog”.
10. MP congratulates local team – but gets name wrong
Wrexham AFC fans were far from impressed with their local MP after she congratulated the club last year – and got its name wrong. Tory Sarah Atherton told the Commons: “Wrexham Athletic Football Club is on a high.
“You would have to have your eye off the ball to miss the fact that Wrexham Athletic Football Club is now owned by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.”
Unfortunately supporters were quick to point out the club is actually Wrexham Association Football Club. Ms Atherton later said it was a slip of the tongue after working for 15 hours.
11. Gyles Brandreth not knowing where football stadium was
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One from the archive here. Former Conservative MP Gyles Brandreth dropped a clanger before losing his seat back in 1997 while being followed by a TV crew.
Recounting the incident years later he said: “I do recall being out on the stump with Jeremy Vine from Newsnight following me with a crew. I had been invited to go to the local football club and I said ‘let’s go to the football club’ and then I realised I didn’t know where it was. In my own constituency I didn’t know where the football ground was.
“And so I had the Newsnight team following me as I went down one street after another pathetically trying to look for my own football club having boasted how well I supported the team!”
12. John Prescott’s joke about joint England-Scotland team
Former Labour deputy leader John Prescott scored an own-goal by suggesting a joint England-Scotland football team today. It happened in 2014 while he was campaigning against independence north of the border.
In one fateful speech he said: “When I got on the campaign bus they told me it is the Scottish football team’s coach, is that right? I’ve got a revolutionary thought for you. Perhaps if England and Scotland together had one team, we could at last beat the Germans, who knows?”
The gaffe was seized on by pro-independence campaigners who said it showed he was out of touch. The Labour veteran later insisted he was joking.
13. Boris Johnson makes bizarre climate change analogy
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Gaffe-prone Boris Johnson baffled viewers with a football analogy after meeting world leaders at the Cop21 summit. Speaking in Downing Street he said: “If this was a football match, the current score would be 5-1 down in the match between humanity and climate change.
“What I think you can say today after two days of talks with around 120 world leaders is that we’ve pulled back a goal, or perhaps even two, and I think we’re going to be able to take this thing to extra time.”
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