I’ve seen some daft campaigns. Noble campaigns with no chance of success and trite campaigns certain to deliver. But all the campaigns I’ve seen have had one thing in common – by taking part their supporters could hope to effect the outcome in some way – by persuading, pressuring, shaming or funding they hope to prevail.

So when I saw that the Evening Post had set up its “Keepy Uppy” campaign to keep Reading FC in the Premier League I naturally assumed that the FA had changed the rules. Do petitions now mean points? Will a question in Parliament improve the club’s goal difference?

Forgive me for thinking that the only people who can fight off relegation are the players? As for ‘getting behind the team’, am I imagining things, or is the Madstad not full for every match? Are the supporters not ‘behind the team’ already? Is £545 for a season ticket not support enough?

But never fear, into the breach step Reading’s two MPs pledging their support to this nonsense. Martin Salter followed the well trodden path of the politician turning up to participate in a suit and unsuitable shoes, while Rob Wilson, took it all rather too seriously, dressing for the occasion in a nearly new tracksuit. There is a fine tradition of MPs making themselves look ridiculous – but there is usually some charitable cause that benefits from their humiliation. No such excuse for the ‘keepy uppy’ contest.

But they couldn’t say ‘no’. Only a politician that had entirely lost their marbles would say they didn’t support the local team remaining in the top flight. Add the lure of the cameras and Rob’s getting his kit out of mothballs before you can say ‘Arsenal’. These days once you have one of the MPs hooked getting the other along is all about them not wanting to be seen as a bad sport.

Sport in general but football in particular has become a sacred cow for politicians. I don’t believe for a minute that anyone really lets whether or not a candidate supports a particular team affect how they actually vote – so why does it matter so much to say yes to this paper’s blatantly silly yet harmless campaign?

As long as football remains important to people politicians will queue up to appear in photo calls with players and chairmen. Hopefully they will see to it that clubs put something back into the communities that provide their core support. After all, I can’t be too pious about it – I did some pretty daft photo calls myself. I even promoted road safety with Dave Kitson!

There was a time when football really needed help, and it’s to our nation’s lasting shame that people had to die in death trap stadia before the game got the leg up it needed. But now football has wagon loads of cash, the job of the politicians is to ensure that all levels of the game benefit from the success of the higher levels. Hopefully, we won’t have a football regulator – but if we do I really hope they call it ‘Offside’!

So if clubs like Reading want to build on their success it’s down to them. John Madejski is supporting the Post’s ‘keepy uppy campaign’. Buying some decent players would have been better, but in the crazy world of football commerce remaining in the big league long term is not viable on a 24,000 capacity stadium and Mr Madejski knows it. That’s why extending the ground will go ahead if at all possible, whatever league Reading play in next season. Investment in the team may once again take a back seat.