On 15th April 1989, the Hillsborough stadium saw one of the biggest disasters in the football world, followed by a large-scale coverup on an institutional level. On the 27th anniversary of the disaster in 2016, a verdict was finally achieved which countered the police’s efforts to blame Liverpool supporters for the tragedy. However, whether it by through blatant ignorance or sheer cruelty, many rival fans still insist on evoking the damaging stereotypes made through the cover-up that followed Hillsborough.
During the Manchester City match at Anfield earlier this season, for example, away fans were heard singing songs which are associated with the tradition of mocking Hillsborough. If this wasn’t enough, they proceeding to vandalise parts of the stadium with offensive references to the disaster. Manchester City offered no official response to Liverpool’s public condemnation in the following days, failing to acknowledge the damage made by their fans. Four days later, Pep Guardiola offered an apology on behalf of the club, albeit a restrained apology at best.
The Premier League match between Leeds United and Liverpool saw a similar theme of vile chants and mocking. Prior to the match, a Leeds fan was pictured taunting Liverpool fans with the newspaper responsible for the smearing of Hillsborough victims in the aftermath of the disaster. In the subsequent week, Leeds United announced that this individual would receive life-long match ban for all their games, both home and away. There is a reassurance in the way that Leeds have dealt with the situation, and this action hopefully serves as an example for other clubs to follow in the future.
After 27 years of tireless campaigning by the Hillsborough Justice Campaign to prove that Liverpool fans are in fact victims and not so-called-murderers, there is still a resistance to the truth among rival fans. Though the FA eventually spoke up to condemn the “highly offensive” chants and expressed their “concern”, they are yet to take strong disciplinary action on clubs who allow their fans to continue the abuse directed to Liverpool fans.
It really cannot be emphasised enough how much these disgusting chants do have an impact on the people involved. Regardless of football rivalries, the fact is that 97 people went to a football match and didn’t return home to their families. And even those who were lucky to return home at the end of the day, many of them still live with the trauma right now, 33 years later.
So, if you go to a football match and think it might be ‘banter’ to mock opposition fans in this way, just know how much damage you are really doing.