Let’s discuss famous politicians and their favorite clubs. Football is so big, that even the most powerful people in the world watch it and even have clubs they love so much. That’s what we’re here to look at today.
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These are famous politicians and their favorite clubs
1. Kim Jung Un
Let’s start with the Supreme Leader of North Korea, Kim Jung Un. The 39-year-old dictator might look like he doesn’t have time for sports, but he actually loves football and has said before that he’s a huge fan of Premier League club Manchester United. He’s such a fan that he reportedly asked the state TV to broadcast Man United games in 2014.
2. Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin’s favorite club is Zenit St Petersburg and it is absolutely no secret. You would have expected the president to probably support the club of the capital which, in Russia’s case, would be Spartak Moscow or CSKA Moscow, but then, Putin was born in St. Petersburg, so his love for Zenit is actually not very surprising.
3. Donald Trump
Donald Trump doesn’t particularly watch football, but he claims to be friends with the owners of Manchester United, so naturally, he leans towards the Premier League giants.
During an interview with the former US president, Piers Morgan attempted to persuade Trump into supporting Arsenal. He even had a jersey prepared with Trump’s name and the number 45 (in reference to Trump being the 45th president of the United States), but that wasn’t sufficient to sway Trump’s allegiance to the London club.
4. Barack Obama
Barack Obama was once live in London to watch a West Ham game with his sister. I mean, that’s quite a show of support from a world leader, isn’t it?
5. Rishi Sunak
We naturally anticipate English politicians to be more vocal about their support for football clubs because, you know, England is the home of football. And, well, they are.
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, supports Southampton, which makes sense as he was born and raised in the city. He’s probably wishing he could use his power as Prime Minister to instantly reinstate the Saints back into the Premier League.
Of course, he can’t, but there’s a world leader who once used his power to help his favorite club. Keep watching to find out who it is.
6. Boris Johnson
Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson doesn’t seem to be very into football. When he was the Mayor of London, he was asked about his favorite club and gave a politically neutral answer, stating ‘all London clubs.’
We’re quite certain he couldn’t even name all the London clubs in the Premier League alone. And, well, it all makes sense considering Boris Johnson was actually born in the US. He probably has a favorite baseball club or something.
7. Queen Elizabeth II
We know the late Queen Elizabeth II wasn’t exactly a politician, but come on, you know we just had to include her. She was a West Ham fan. For a long time, she tried to stay neutral, but she eventually revealed where her allegiances lay.
8. Prince William
Prince William has never hidden his love for Aston Villa. He has openly supported the club for years and has frequently been spotted in the stadium watching games. He must be one of the happiest people in the world seeing what Unai Emery is currently achieving at the Birmingham club.
And you know what this tells us? Not everybody ends up supporting the club of the city they were born in. Despite being born in London with numerous clubs to choose from, Prince William ended up supporting a club from Birmingham.
9. Liz Truss
Liz Truss, despite being born in Oxford and raised in Leeds, supports Norwich City. It might seem unusual, but it’s not so strange considering she moved to Norfolk at some point, which led to a change in her allegiances. Additionally, she appears to have a lot of admiration for the club’s owner, Delia Smith.
10. Emmanuel Macron
France’s President, Emmanuel Macron, has shown himself to be a true football enthusiast. We’ve seen him at several football matches, notably the 2018 and 2022 World Cup finals, where he displayed a lot of emotion while passionately cheering on France.
But beyond the national team, does Macron have a favorite football club? Indeed, he does! And no, it’s not the club of the capital; the president actually supports their rivals, Marseille!
Many even speculated that he leveraged his influence to assist his favorite club by prematurely ending the Ligue 1 in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, Marseille were in second place, so concluding the league at that point secured free passage into the Champions League for the club.
I mean, there have to be some perks to having the president as a fan of your club, right?
11. Angela Merkel
Over in Germany, however, we have the former Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is a big football fan. She was famously in the stands at Wembley when Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich clashed in the 2013 Champions League final.
But she doesn’t support either of those clubs. Which club does Merkel actually support then? It’s one that competes in the 4th tier of German football, Energie Cottbus. She is even an honorary member of the club.
We’ve now explored some influential politicians and the clubs they support, but here’s a bonus entry. Pope Francis also follows football and is a big supporter of the Argentine side San Lorenzo. Born in Buenos Aires, it makes sense that he’d support the city’s club.
So, which famous person supports your favorite club? Let us know in the comments.
