With Jeremy Corbyn's approval rating currently at minus 39 according to yesterday's YouGov poll, one could argue that there is little reason for cheer within Team Corbyn. However, the Labour leader can at least take heart that he has managed to prove more popular than one Labour heavyweight when it comes to football.

While Corbyn is a regular at Arsenal games -- often attending with his sons -- other Labour politicians have experienced difficulties fitting in at matches. Writing about New Labour's toxic legacy and the 'unelectable' Corbyn in today's Guardian, Alastair Campbell recalls a trip to the football he took with Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson:

“ 'During the Blair years, football and politics became increasingly aligned. Tony and Gordon Brown were both keen football supporters. Peter Mandelson, fair to say, less so. I took him to two matches.'

When Campbell took him to see Hartlepool play things took a turn for the worse after Mandy wore his football scarf 'Oxbridge-style'. This prompted members of the crowd to chant 'who's the wanker in the scarf?':

“ 'At his second game a few years later, Hartlepool against my team, Burnley, the crowd was smaller, Peter was by then the local MP, Tony Blair was MP for Sedgefield and I was still a journalist. With our sons, Tony and I stood in the Burnley end, while Peter watched from the directors’ area of the home stand.

At half time he saw fit to walk around the perimeter of the pitch to see us, a huge knitted Hartlepool scarf thrown Oxbridge-style over his shoulder, prompting the Burnley fans to sing: “Who’s the wanker in the scarf?” Burnley lost 4-1 and had two players sent off.'

In Mandelson's defence, he's not the only politician to struggle with the beautiful game, with David Cameron unable to remember whether he supports Aston Villa or West Ham. In fact, given that this is the one area Corbyn seems to excel in, it appears that Campbell may have just inadvertently come to the 'unelectable' leader's aid.