'Big Southampton fan' Rishi Sunak gets basic fact about club completely wrong

Rishi Sunak was talking about Southampton Football Club, telling people how much he enjoys supporting the south coast team, only to get a basic fact about them completely wrong.

Sunak has previously spoken about his hometown side and previously described himself as a “massive football fan”

But when conversation turned to the club at the hustings in Manchester on Friday night, he made an awkward gaffe.

When asked how he would get Saints back on form after a terrible run of results reaching back to the end of last season, he replied: "I'm going to be unpopular for saying it here, starting by beating [Manchester] United this weekend.”

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Only, Southampton aren’t playing United this weekend. Instead, they’re playing at Leicester on Saturday.

They’re due to play against United on August 27.

It’s not the first time Sunak’s attempt to come across as a man of the people has backfired, after he declared that he orders an item off the McDonald's breakfast menu that doesn't even exist anymore.

It’s also not the first time a politician has come unstuck while talking about the beautiful game.

'Massive football fan' Rishi SunakGetty images

David Cameron gave MPs a bad name when it comes to football by forgetting whether he supported West Ham or Aston Villa back in 2015.

Liz Truss also managed to annoy an entire team’s fan base recently by stating she supported Norwich.

Truss, who lived in Leeds as a child, prompted boos in the crowd at the recent Leeds hustings after saying that she has switched allegiances from the Yorkshire team to Norwich.

The MP called Norwich a ‘nice family club’ and praised joint majority shareholder Delia Smith.