Politicians masquerading as football fans

[He's here!]

Quite a good article on something that has always been a bit of a bugbear of mine:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/euro-2021/2021/06/15/nicola-sturgeon-proves-nothing-worse-politician-pretending-care/?WT.mc_id=e_DM1443312&WT.tsrc=email&etype=Edi_FPM_New_ES&utmsource=email&utm_medium=Edi_FPM_New_ES20210615&utm_campaign=DM1443312

It's not all about Sturgeon by the way (for any Nicola devotees taking offence :wink:), but you may have problems reading the whole article. I managed to read it once but when I clicked on it again I was faced with a subscriber paywall.

[G B Young]

One for the pet football hates thread?

This sort of thing doesn't just happen in football though. I remember during the referendum campaign Salmond trying to hog the limelight by hauling out a saltire he'd stuffed in his suit pocket when Andy Murray won Wimbledon.

[Future17]

One for the pet football hates thread?

This sort of thing doesn't just happen in football though. I remember during the referendum campaign Salmond trying to hog the limelight by hauling out a saltire he'd stuffed in his suit pocket when Andy Murray won Wimbledon.

Murray won Wimbledon in 2013 but, to be fair, it's been a referendum campaign in Scotland for the past decade. :greengrin

[JimBHibees]

Can remember Gordon Brown indicating his favourite goal in an England Scotland game was Gazzas one. I mean wtaf :greengrin

[Moulin Yarns]

David Mellor, Chelsea shirt, apologies for the mental image. 😉

[Bostonhibby]

Sure Dodgy Dave Cameron claimed to be a fan of Arston Vanilla united at some point.

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[Lago]

They are all told by they're advisers it makes them more like the hoi poli, good marketing strategy, nothing more they care sip about football & sport in general.

[Jamesie]

Anyone seen Kezia Dugdale at Easter Road other than at the Scottish Cup Final winners party, or indeed Peter Murrell (technically not a politician but close enough) at Easter Road at all?

[vercol36]

Anyone seen Kezia Dugdale at Easter Road other than at the Scottish Cup Final winners party, or indeed Peter Murrell (technically not a politician but close enough) at Easter Road at all?


Those two? No. Ian Grey - yes.

[WeeRussell]

Sure Dodgy Dave Cameron claimed to be a fan of Arston Vanilla united at some point.

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Was it him that got villa and West Ham mixed up? Or changed which one he supported within a few hours maybe..

[nonshinyfinish]

Was it him that got villa and West Ham mixed up? Or changed which one he supported within a few hours maybe..

Yeah, he said something like "…my team, West Ham, er er er I mean Aston Villa."

Most of them can at least keep track of who it is they pretend to support.

[Bostonhibby]

Was it him that got villa and West Ham mixed up? Or changed which one he supported within a few hours maybe..The very same.

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[Moulin Yarns]

Douglas Ross, Annie Wells, Murdo Fraser. Go on, guess!?

[Diclonius]

Those two? No. Ian Grey - yes.

Iain Gray sat near us in our old ST seat in the West, saw him once.

[O'Rourke3]

Malcolm Chisholm is a huge Hibby. Still being seen at ER,when there were people to see.

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[Bostonhibby]

Douglas Ross, Annie Wells, Murdo Fraser. Go on, guess!?Is it themselves?[emoji16]

I'll go with Sevco, even if they do look like Hearts types.

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[Moulin Yarns]

Is it themselves?[emoji16]

I'll go with Sevco, even if they do look like Hearts types.

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To be fair to Douglas, I'm not sure, but the other 2 frequently tweet references to the queen's eleven 🙄

[Bostonhibby]

To be fair to Douglas, I'm not sure, but the other 2 frequently tweet references to the queen's eleven [emoji849]Fans of most other clubs will be delighted by their apparent choices.

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[lucky]

Anyone seen Kezia Dugdale at Easter Road other than at the Scottish Cup Final winners party, or indeed Peter Murrell (technically not a politician but close enough) at Easter Road at all?

Seen Kezia there and at Hampden.

[Peevemor]

Anyone seen Kezia Dugdale at Easter Road other than at the Scottish Cup Final winners party, or indeed Peter Murrell (technically not a politician but close enough) at Easter Road at all?

To be fair Peter Murrell must be interested enough in Hibs for Mrs M to comment - she seems to mention it far more often than he does.

[JimBHibees]

Tony Blair indicating he used to sit in the Gallogate end at St James Park when there were no seats in that end when he was pretending to be there. :faf::faf:

[Jamesie]

Was coming on again to mention Ian Gray and Malcolm Chisholm but see them already mentioned.

Ian Blackford is probably the most regular attendee of all AFAIK.

I’ve also seen Brian Monteith regularly at Easter Road over the years and primarily before his move to France.

Kenny Macaskill has of course been involved heavily on the community side of the club but not sure how regular an attendee he is.

[overdrive]

Tony Blair indicating he used to sit in the Gallogate end at St James Park when there were no seats in that end when he was pretending to be there. :faf::faf:

He should really support his childhood local team, being from Willowbrae. :greengrin

[He's here!]

Was coming on again to mention Ian Gray and Malcolm Chisholm but see them already mentioned.

Ian Blackford is probably the most regular attendee of all AFAIK.

I’ve also seen Brian Monteith regularly at Easter Road over the years and primarily before his move to France.

Kenny Macaskill has of course been involved heavily on the community side of the club but not sure how regular an attendee he is.

Yep, Monteith was a regular for many years. Pretty heavily involved in Hands on Hibs/anti-Farmer stuff if I recall rightly.

As somebody else has said, Malcolm Chisholm was also a regular while older fans may recall long-standing North Edinburgh Tory MP Sir Alex Fletcher who was a big Hibs fan.

[He's here!]

To be fair to Douglas, I'm not sure, but the other 2 frequently tweet references to the queen's eleven 🙄

Ross is an Aberdeen fan. I remember seeing him on a programme about the Ferguson era and saying he was born the year they won the Cup Winners Cup.

[Is It On....]

One for the pet football hates thread?

This sort of thing doesn't just happen in football though. I remember during the referendum campaign Salmond trying to hog the limelight by hauling out a saltire he'd stuffed in his suit pocket when Andy Murray won Wimbledon.

One of the funniest things you will see re "pretending to have an interest" is the video of John Redwood, as Welsh Secretary, trying to mine to the Welsh national anthem..it's brilliant...

[One Day]

Ross is an Aberdeen fan. I remember seeing him on a programme about the Ferguson era and saying he was born the year they won the Cup Winners Cup.

I was sure he was a sticky bun too.

[vercol36]

Iain Gray sat near us in our old ST seat in the West, saw him once.


I saw him at least four or five times when I was a ST in the East - he was always standing at corner of West and North looking like he was waiting for someone.

Maybe he kept leaving just before kick-off :tee hee:

[Keith_M]

The Times claimed a number of years ago that Adolf Hitler was a Schalke fan.



Schalke's PR man, Gerd Voss responded to this claim with...


"We were very curious to find out what made the well-respected Times claim this as a fact," wrote Voss.

"So we checked and double-checked whether the club board between 1933 and 1945 had named a stand the Fuhrer Stand, for example, and we watched every episode of 'Allo 'Allo in a bid to find a clue... Nothing!."

[Moulin Yarns]

The Times claimed a number of years ago that Adolf Hitler was a Schalke fan.



Schalke's PR man, Gerd Voss responded to this claim with...


"We were very curious to find out what made the well-respected Times claim this as a fact," wrote Voss.

"So we checked and double-checked whether the club board between 1933 and 1945 had named a stand the Fuhrer Stand, for example, and we watched every episode of 'Allo 'Allo in a bid to find a clue... Nothing!."

😁 So much like a lot of the politics threads on here.

[Bostonhibby]

One of the funniest things you will see re "pretending to have an interest" is the video of John Redwood, as Welsh Secretary, trying to mine to the Welsh national anthem..it's brilliant...He was pretending to be Swahili at the time.

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[Bostonhibby]

This one seems sincerehttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210616/38b516a255b85f9fe01b8b57ecb17f19.jpg

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[degenerated]

Those two? No. Ian Grey - yes.I saw dugdale at a few games at Hampden 2016. League cup final and Scottish semi final from memory.

Seen Ian Gray at ER plenty times and Kenny McAskill used to sit in the row in front of me in West stand but hasn't for a few years now.

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[stu in nottingham]

One of the most genuine football fans I know from the world of poliltics is former Chancellor and Home Secretary, Ken Clarke. Always been a Nottingham Forest season ticket holder and attends Notts County games when they're at home too. He's getting on a bit now at eighty years-old but always there, hail, rain or shine. Attends Notts cricket in the summer too.

[brog]

One of the most genuine football fans I know from the world of poliltics is former Chancellor and Home Secretary, Ken Clarke. Always been a Nottingham Forest season ticket holder and attends Notts County games when they're at home too. He's getting on a bit now at eighty years-old but always there, hail, rain or shine. Attends Notts cricket in the summer too.

Michael Foot was similar with Plymouth.

[Jim Herriot]

Former Labour leader Michael Foot was registered as a player for Plymouth Argyle on his 90th birthday.
<insert joke about left winger here>

(Oops - beaten by brog.)

[weecounty hibby]

Martin O'Neill Labour ex MP for Clackmannanshire. Big Hibby and attended quite a few Allow Hibs SC POTY dos.

[ancient hibee]

Martin O'Neill Labour ex MP for Clackmannanshire. Big Hibby and attended quite a few Allow Hibs SC POTY dos.

And was of course a Director of the club.

[brog]

Martin O'Neill Labour ex MP for Clackmannanshire. Big Hibby and attended quite a few Allow Hibs SC POTY dos.

Martin was a lovely man. He was kind enough to give my workgroup an extended tour of the Houses of P and an extended time on the Terrace Bar also!

[CB Hibs 68]

For old timers I think it was the Hibs supporting Tory mp Alex Fletcher who tried to get Parliamentary support to enable Hibs to sign Sven Mathieson and Isak Refvik who were both from Norway.Think the problem was getting work permits which were linked at that time to how many international caps players had.Seem to recall Isak Refvik was the better player of the two but had no full caps so ultimately despite Fletshers attempt we were unable to get him on a permanent deal

[Ringothedog]

For old timers I think it was the Hibs supporting Tory mp Alex Fletcher who tried to get Parliamentary support to enable Hibs to sign Sven Mathieson and Isak Refvik who were both from Norway.Think the problem was getting work permits which were linked at that time to how many international caps players had.Seem to recall Isak Refvik was the better player of the two but had no full caps so ultimately despite Fletshers attempt we were unable to get him on a permanent deal

One of the saddest things I saw was at a game in the early 80’s at Easter Road. He had presented/ done something on the pitch, he was walking round the track taking horrible abuse for being a Tory and his back was covered in Spittle. I disliked the tories but this was way over the top .

[Prof. Shaggy]

Nothing to see today?

[Bostonhibby]

Nothing to see today?Mikey Gove thinking of getting a half and half Scotland England scarf after that great showing from Scotland?[emoji6]

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[Prof. Shaggy]

Mikey Gove thinking of getting a half and half Scotland England scarf after that great showing from Scotland?[emoji6]

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Ha ha, is there a picture of that?

[Sudds_1]

Those two? No. Ian Grey - yes.

Kezia and ian are both hibbies....

[Jamesie]

Another one that springs to mind - Lord Ramsay Dalgetty QC, former Edinburgh Tory Councillor and Chair of the Hibernian Shareholders Association circa late 80s / early 90s. Now lives in Tonga of all places, I believe.

[Diclonius]

Kezia and ian are both hibbies....

Dugdale's from Tayside originally though, so not totally convinced she's a lifelong fan. That said, I'm from there too!

[marinello59]

Dugdale's from Tayside originally though, so not totally convinced she's a lifelong fan. That said, I'm from there too!

She went to School in Elgin as did I. So it is possible to pick up a miserable addiction from afar. :greengrin

[Ryan91]

Dugdale's from Tayside originally though, so not totally convinced she's a lifelong fan. That said, I'm from there too!

I'm sure she said she became a Hibby because she lived in the Loched area for a while, hadn't previously had much of an interest in football, went to a game and became a fan