Former UK Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls made the somewhat unlikely leap into football on Sunday when he was named chairman of Norwich City. Here, PA Sport’s Eleanor Crooks looks at other figures who have made their mark in sport and politics.

Silvio Berlusconi

• The career of one of Europe’s most well-known politicians began in construction, before he moved into the media and created a TV empire. Silvio Berlusconi (picture) bought Italian giants Milan in 1986 and eight years later made a whirlwind entrance into politics, with his Forza Italia Party sweeping to victory only three months after being formed.

Berlusconi served as Italian Prime Minister for nine years in three different spells.

Under his ownership, Milan won the UEFA Champions League five times and Serie A on eight occasions.

Sebastian Coe

• Sebastian Coe enjoyed a glittering athletics career, winning four Olympic medals at 800 and 1,500 metres and setting 11 world records.

Following his retirement from the sport, he served as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Falmouth in Cornwall between 1992 and 1997 and was made a Life Peer in 2000.

The man behind the London Olympics, his roles have since included chairmanship of the British Olympic Association and, currently, president of the International Association of Athletics Federations.

Colin Moynihan

• Like Sebastian Coe, Colin Moynihan’s career has taken in sport, politics and sport politics. He coxed the Great Britain rowing eight to a silver medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, having previously won the Boat Race with Oxford in 1977.

A talented sportsman, he also boxed for Oxford and represented Britain in schoolboy golf. In 1983 he became the Conservative MP for Lewisham East and was the Minister for Sport between 1987 and 1990.

A hereditary peer, he also served as Shadow Minister for Sport in the House of Lords between 2003 and 2005, and was chairman of the BOA from 2005 to 2012.

David Miliband

• The MP for South Shields, David Miliband was one of New Labour’s star politicians and held various cabinet posts, including Foreign Secretary, before losing the leadership contest to his brother Ed Miliband in 2010.

He joined the board of Sunderland the following year, serving as vice-chairman and a non-executive director, but resigned in 2013 citing the “past political statements” of then manager Paolo Di Canio.

Menzies Campbell

• The leader of the Liberal Democrats between January 2006 and October 2007, Campbell served as MP for North East Fife for nearly 30 years until retiring this year.

But the Scot also had a highly successful athletics career. Campbell competed for Great Britain in the 200m and 4x100m relay at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

He also captained the GB athletics team in 1965 and 1966, and held the British 100m record of 10.2 seconds from 1967 to 1974.

At one time he was known as “the fastest white man on the planet”.