Oh dear. It seems that Andy Burnham, riding high off his successful conference speech, has now scored something of an own goal. The Prime Minister, whose supporters talk endlessly about how in touch he is with public opinion, gave an interview to the BBC yesterday in which he was asked about two of his favourite subjects: Manchester and football. Safe ground, you might have thought. But when questioned by Chris Mason on whether the embattled owners of Manchester City should now sell the club, Burnham replied:
Well, I would be really concerned to lose them. They’ve been such a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester and obviously the building of Manchester City into the global force that it is.
So much for supposed neutrality, eh Prime Minister? His remarks went down a storm with, surprise, surprise, Man City fans, with Oasis singer Liam Gallagher tweeting: ‘There’s only 1 ANDY BURNHAM’. Yet others will be intrigued to hear Burnham weighing in and expressing personal support for the UAE-backed club, given that, as PM, he has to regularly interact with the nation’s leaders. Perhaps that’s why nation states shouldn’t own football clubs…
Burnham’s remarks are also interesting given that, when his beloved Everton was sanctioned in 2024, he claimed the Premier League was targeting the club for its support for an independent football regulator. He was unequivocal that it should oversee the game without interference from governing bodies or, one assumes, anyone else. So it begs the question that now – with Man City’s ownership looking doomed – he has chosen to interfere and back a hated regime.
Talk about an own goal Prime Minister…
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