Chris Mackie: Pwoud of the Wabour Party

So, Sir Alex Ferguson has lent his support to Labour candidate Willie Bain's campaign for the now imminent Glasgow North East by-election (see entry by Willie below).
Playing up his former role as a shop steward Sir Alex urged local voters to turn out for the Labour candidate, saying: "I always tell young players that being a footballer is the best job in the world. Yes, it’s hard work to reach the top but nothing to bringing up a family or running a household on a tight budget. As the only genuinely local candidate in this election, Willie understands what needs to be done."

Quite how significant the endorsement of a former Rangers player, born in Govan will prove in the Celtic steeped neighbourhoods of Springburn, only time will tell.

Sir Alex is by no means the first football figure to become involved in politics - Bill Shankly was a declared socialist - but his views are significantly more moderate than some others connected to the beautiful game...

Despite turning out for Celtic - a traditionally left-leaning club - former Italy striker Paolo Di Canio is a self-proclaimed fascist, who stoked controversy in Italy in the aftermath of a Rome derby in 2005, when he offered the Lazio "ultras" a straight arm salute. It was the third time he had made the gesture during that season, and earned him a £7,000 fine and a one game ban. In the wake of the salute Di Canio told an Italian news agency: "I am a fascist, not a racist."

At the other end of the spectrum, Oleguer Presas i Renom, the former Barcelona midfielder and avowed Catalan nationalist refuses to play for Spain or speak Spanish in public and was regularly booed in away grounds in La Liga because of his outspoken anti-Spanish government views. In 2007, he lost a boot sponsorship deal after writing an opinion piece in a Basque newspaper questioning the validity of the Spanish judicial system in dealing with a member of the terrorist group ETA.

As for Scotland, a trawl through the Scotsman archives throws up the following incendiary insight from Pat Nevin, the ex-Chelsea, Everton, Kilmarnock and Motherwell winger. When asked if he supported independence, he said:

"I am not a huge fanatic either way, though I am leaning towards independence - but it's not a fanatical 'let's do it tomorrow' and kick down the doors of parliament."