ON Sunday, Manchester United go to Anfield for Liverpool’s first home game since the Hillsborough Independent Panel’s devastating findings. The report shocked a Prime Minister and most of the nation. It looks like one of those unhappy quirks of fate that the Kop’s most bitter rivals will be in town on what will be an extremely emotional occasion at Anfield.
After all, a section of United fans sang songs aimed at Liverpool on Saturday. The Merseyside club was the focus of the Stretford End’s disdain, even though United were playing Wigan Athletic.
The words, “Always the victim, it’s never your fault,” are a snide reference to Liverpool supporters’ role in the 1989 disaster, coated with the flimsiest veneer of deniability. Claims that the lyrics refer specifically to the Luis Suárez-Patrice Evra affair are disingenuous. It has caused concern that Liverpool’s tribute to the families who fought relentlessly for justice for 23 years will be upstaged by bile-filled nastiness emanating from the away support.
There were similar fears when Manchester City went to Old Trafford on the day United commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster four years ago. They proved completely unfounded. City supporters observed the silence impeccably. And United fans will show the same decency.
The overwhelming majority of football supporters value their humanity over sectarian point-scoring at the expense of the dead. To believe that the noisy minority is anywhere close to being representative of fandom at large is to fall into the same trap as South Yorkshire Police.
Some people were asking why the United fans singing on Saturday were not identified by CCTV, ejected and banned from the stadium. It is dangerous territory. On what basis, would such actions be justified? On this occasion, the chants were ambiguous enough to provide a legal line of defence.
Yes, some supporters look and act like brutish members of the underclass. But making assumptions is dangerous. Let’s remember that the people responsible for the Hillsborough disaster were not the sort of people you would cross the road to avoid. On the contrary, they were men of status, wealth and power. They covered up their own culpability and their influence allowed them to evade their responsibilities for 23 years until the truth finally caught up with them.
They had little or no respect for football fans. They would expect United supporters to misbehave at Anfield. They would plan for it and imagine no other possible outcome. They would criminalise them in advance.
They should have been at a Hillsborough Justice Campaign fundraiser in London on Saturday night. They would have met United fans, seen that a City fan sent memorabilia to raffle and encountered supporters of a dozen clubs.
Most people who go to matches understand the enormity of Hillsborough, United fans more than most. They were beaten by Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup quarter-final in 1989 and it does not take too much of a leap of imagination for older supporters to envisage a series of results that might have put them in the semi-final, and in the Leppings Lane end.
The hierarchy at United understands this, too. It is keen to make a gesture of solidarity with the families and it is not beyond possibility that a United shirt will carry a tribute to the 96. A few rogue voices at Old Trafford on Saturday should not obscure the level of solidarity between the clubs on this.
Every club is followed by a small number of unpalatable people. There have even been Liverpool fans who saw nothing incongruous about singing songs lauding Harold Shipman — “the man who’s killing the Mancs” — while wearing Hillsborough Justice Campaign badges. Just about every club have this sort of element.
They are mostly young, immature and desperate to show off. Most of them grow up and do no lasting damage.
Yet using the lowest common denominator to formulate policy about how to deal with fans is what happened in the 1980s. It created the environment where police jumped to the wrong conclusions with fatal consequences. We must never let that happen again.
If the price to pay is a few nasty songs, we can live with it with a wince. After all, 96 people paid the ultimate price because a police force was more concerned about hooliganism than their safety.
The above piece was first featured in The Times and has been reproduced with permission.
Spot on again Tony. Ignoring the idiots and focusing on the positive support shown by so many fans of other clubs is the best way to answer the chant of “always the victim”.
Great speech on Saturday mate!
Truly emotional JFT96
I don’t always agree with your views Tony, but thought this was spot on. Although I’m in my forties I’ve only been a regular at Anfield for the last 9 or 10 years. This was mainly through geographic barriers rather than economic or emotional ones. Although, to be honest, the image of terrace hooliganism wasn’t an incentive to attend either for me or many of my friends.
Today, football matches are much more of a real family event – which is no mean feat considering some of the incidents reported at grounds 20 or so years ago. I’m sure the vast majority of United fans, along with LFC fans, and fans of any other club, would never want to see chants and songs rise above the level of “witty banter”. But its sometimes a fine line and I’ve often found that even the friendliest of atmosphere’s can be turned by the actions – or more accurately – the words of a vocal minority.
Sunday will be a real test of both sets of fans.
Surely the best way to shut any moronic dissenters up, is to sing #FieldsOfAnfieldRoad bloody LOUD
Where I don’t totally agree on what happened at Old Trafford, is the lame statement from the Club: ‘We deplore the chants;… the manager has condemned these songs, & it is now up to the fans to respect that…’ Clearly they don’t; & what the Club should be making clear, is what their policy is & how they intend to enforce it.
Otherwise, the scum have got away with it, & it is very difficult to take the Clubs ‘condemnation’ seriously…
yes deploring chants is not enough identifying and excluding the culprits would be. If you think it can’t be done it would certainly be done if the chanting was racist..While welcoming the positive response from other fans.Liverpool fans weren’t exonerated only last Wednesday they were exonerated by Lord Taylor’s Report 23 years ago and that hasn’t didn’t stop the slurs so I doubt if the latest Independent Panel findings will shut up the boneheads.
To be fair, the Munich songs havent been heard during the game at Anfield since Hillsborough and the Shipman songs have NEVER been sung en masse in any ground by Liverpool fans – the latter being the preserve of a handful of mings in lowe alpine and Lacoste trakkies who’ve had too much white lightening in some crappy pub round the back of the away end wherever we’re playing. It could also be reasonably argued that United’s “minority” is significantly larger than ours – “always the victim” sung by thousands at home games and “without killing anyone, we won it 3 times” is heard loud and clear pretty much every time United play on tv. That simply isnt the case with Munich songs, although I’ll admit they come out every time we play at OT.
The fact is – these songs are sung by people who don’t understand tragedy and have never lost anyone themselves. And as Tony alludes, unless you’re an absolute wrong ‘un, once you get past the age of 21 and learn a bit about life, you know to knock them on the head. Munich songs weren’t first sung in 1959 – they started 20 years after the event by lads who weren’t even born when Munich happened. When you could hear “the Sun was right – murderers” loud and clear from the Anny in the cup game last January, I doubt most of the singers were lads who were regularly going the match in the 80s and who understood the conditions and context in which Hillsborough could happen.
In fairness now – United as a club have taken a clear stance on this led by Ferguson and full credit to them for that. Its time for it to be knocked on the head all round and to welcome in a better, more decent way of exemplifying the biggest rivalry in English football.
Andy C, I can’t agree that Munich songs haven’t been sung at Anfield since Hillsborough. I’m a Blackpool fan with a soft spot for Liverpool. My brother is an S/T holder at Anfield and I’ve been fortunate to use his ticket for a couple of games vs Utd and have clearly heard Munich songs sung on both occasions.
Clearly heard it sung by how many? It hasn’t been sung by anything approaching a majority for a long long time.
Not anything like a majority but loud enough to be heard. Andy said Munich songs haven’t been heard and I’m just pointing out that they have been. I agree with the sentiments of all the above comments, yet it does no favours to portray all Liverpool fans as saints. A minority let the side down as often is the case.
It should be said though that while Munich songs might have been heard in the past during games against Utd, and as the poster above asserts, arguably more recently, there certainly isn’t the level of bile that makes united fans sing about LFC at EVERY game. I drove a coach load of Utd fans to OT about 6 years ago, and though they knew their coach driver was a Liverpool fan, the banter was pretty good. They even gave me a ticket to get in, which I accepted even though I had no wish to watch them play Villa. I left shortly before half-time, simply because even though they were playing Villa, they sang non-stop about LFC and City. They sing about LFC when they play Barcelona, or Burnley.
I guess we should be flattered…you hate most what you fear most.
ferd
Firstly the emotion of the week has been incredible and when Cameron admitted at last that the families were right all along I cried, oh how I cried. The Truth can be as haunting as the lies. Thoughts and prayers are with all involved.
Secondly, Tony, I know meets lots of supporters so can talk first hand on other clubs including fans support towards HFSG but to balance that they (other clubs fans) could in part play lip service to those they meet in the media as I know I would if I met a well known person so as to seem balanced in my views, when in private I may castigate him or his club to the hilt….so in my view…
The ‘always the victim’ is one that still abounds on many a newspaper website column comments section. I wasn’t surprised that it was chanted at the weekend, as you only have to read the comments sections of the broadsheets post the HIP report so I refute it is only those that are under the age of 21 and a scattered few that hold this belief. Sunday will be testing on a emotional level for the brave families and I’m just praying that we do what all reds should which is rise above it. I have NO doubt we will and I hope that is a fitting tribute to the 96. In the end nothing other than Truth and Justice matters. As some MUFC twerp put on twitter earlier he ‘cant stand LFC now being seen as this sacred cow’ not happy for the families or able to put rivalry to one side but bitter and, well that is the problem. They have always been then one’s able to hold the moral high ground (Heysel, Hillsborough, Suarez) and used it to incite a response/taunt/label us. Now the truth is out and they, not all of them (including my wife who is a MUFC supporter and her dad, my father in law who is a great man) but a number don’t like it and the idiots not just the trolls amongst them will always believe the lies no matter the evidence and all because they don’t want the truth to be…. well true.
Dave B – which Anfield games were you at since April 89 where Munich was sung in the ground? I’ve been to every Man U game at ours since 1992 onwards and this has never happened so youre either half deaf or lying. I’ll let anyone reading this decide who is right – the Liverpool fan whose been going to Anfield his whole life or the Blackpool fan whose been twice, on both occasions when Munich was sung ….
Tribalism aside, the Hillsborough disgrace has implications for ALL football supporters, because during the event Liverpool fans were treated like cattle, and subsequent events would be hard to believe about a South American dictatorship. Thatcher’s regime was the low point of British governance.
It also begs the question about ALL police activities; how many stitchups, how many records doctored, how many witnesses ignored or frightened to speak out. We were inches away from being a police state.
An excellent peice. I would like to add that if it is a minority the honourable United fan should shout it down and drown it out with a positive song of support.
I was disappointed that this did not happen at OT last week as I have heard Munich sings being sung by Liverpool fans in a pub who were then told by the surrounding kopites that they did not agree with those chants and it was best that those miscreants leave.
I would hope good United fans on Sunday will take a similar stance.
Andy, the two games were the one when Alan smith was stretchered off and the other when Ferdinand was awaiting the outcome of the drugs charge. The stick the Liverpool fans gave rio was top drawer. What would be my motive for making it up? If I was half deaf surely I wouldn’t have heard it. Feel free to believe whatever you like, I know what I heard and have no reason to be in denial.
I know this has been dead for a few days but I was in the Anfield Road end at last season’s Man Utd game and while Munich songs like those from the eighties weren’t sung by supporters there were a significant minority routinely referring to Utd players as f*****g Munichs and some of the abuse directed at Ferdinand and Smalling basically amounted to racist chanting. Yes it was a minority but it did happen. And, yes, I did report it. I go regularly but haven’t been able to get a ticket for Utd game for many years and I was shocked by the deterioration in the atmosphere, which was as unpleasant as some of the games in the mid-eighties.
Most of our supporters are great, like at every other club. A small minority will sometimes let us down, just like at every other club. I’m going on Sunday and I’m hoping things go well. I do have some fears though.