A Liberal Democrat guide to the Barclays Premier League

I accept that this is not necessarily the most obvious topic for a blog posting, but stick with me here, I'll get to the point soon...


For Liberal Democrats, there is no obvious link to any Premier League team (unless you're conditioned to do what Sara Bedford tells you to do). And, given the uncanny ability of Ipswich Town to draw their games (draw number 17 of the season at the weekend), leading Liberal Democrat donor, Marcus Evans, who owns the club, is unlikely to be visiting the directors' box at the Emirates or Old Trafford for a league fixture any time soon (go on boys, prove us wrong!).


However, that may be about to change. The Red Knights consortium, currently considering a bid for Manchester United, includes amongst its supporters, Paul Marshall, leading hedge fund manager and on the current list of Liberal Democrat members to be considered for a peerage. There is an irony here, in that the Glazers, who own the club at the moment, are considered to be less acceptable than a hedge fund manager...


This does present a minor dilemma for those of us who follow a team. As Liberal Democrats, we tend towards beauty (Arsenal), or underdogs like my own beloved Luton Town. That means that our teams don't win much, but then, if winning was everything, we wouldn't be Liberal Democrats. For that reason, teams like Manchester United fill us with a kind of horror, rich teams who distort fair competition by being able to use other teams as feeder clubs.


As a result, Manchester United were one of the most disliked teams in the League for many years, and only fell from that position once Roman Abramovich turned up at Stamford Bridge. In the same way that the average Manchester United supporter lives in Surrey, the traditional Chelsea fan, stoic in the face of chaos, has been pushed aside by the sort of people who will support anyone as long as they're winning. A bit like Conservatives, really. Yes, Iain, you're excluded from that cheap crack...


So, if Manchester United have a Liberal Democrat on their board, will that make them acceptable? Or will we all start quietly supporting Manchester City because we're contradictory like that?...