It has, by any measure, been a bruising few days to be a Manchester City supporter. The Premier League’s guilty verdict on the club’s financial charges has dominated the media, and rival fans up and down the country have been quick to revel in City’s discomfort - none more gleefully than those of the club across the city.

Not everyone in a sky blue persuasion was prepared to take it lying down, however. What is more surprising is that the response came from one of the country’s most prominent politicians.

Closing the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Powell - a well-known City fan - could not resist a dig at the expense of United’s support.

“Can I just say to all those United fans who have been gloating all week - you’re still crap and you know you are,” she told the hall.

The line drew a roar of laughter from the room and quickly went viral, a rare example of football tribalism rearing its head at the climax of a major political gathering. It was also one of the few chances any City fan has had during this torrid week of headlines to land a blow of their own. 

While she may not be one of the more obvious examples of a famous City fan, Powell has never hidden where her loyalties lie.

The Manchester Central MP, who serves as both Secretary of State for Education and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, has long been open about her support for City - and she is far from the only prominent figure to have nailed her colours to the mast during the current saga, with celebrities from the worlds of sport and entertainment chiming in en masse. 

Her decision to air that loyalty from the biggest stage her party has to offer has raised a few eyebrows - but it will also have delighted a few supporters who have spent the week on the back foot.

United fans have enjoyed a week in which City were found guilty of serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules, with the club now preparing an appeal against the ruling and a separate hearing to determine any punishment still to come.

Of course, Powell’s quip is little more than a brief moment of levity amidst an incredibly serious situation.

It changes nothing about the charges, the appeal or the sanctions that may follow, but for a few seconds in a Liverpool conference hall, one of the most powerful City fans in the country reminded the red half of Manchester where the bragging rights still currently stand.