Sport

Kenny Archer: Disgusting jibes about the victims of the Hillsborough Disaster should end now

Kenny Archer

Kenny Archer

Kenny is the deputy sports editor and a Liverpool FC fan.

The 96 victims of the Hillsborough Stadium Disaster became 97 after the death last year of Andrew Devine.
The 96 victims of the Hillsborough Stadium Disaster became 97 after the death last year of Andrew Devine. The 96 victims of the Hillsborough Stadium Disaster became 97 after the death last year of Andrew Devine.

LOTS of people don't like Liverpool fans. That's not paranoia, that's reality.

A recent survey of 2,000 English Premier League supporters - which is a good-sized sample for that sort of thing - came to the following conclusions:

Most disliked team? Liverpool, followed by Manchester United, then Arsenal.

Most annoying fans on social media? Liverpool (just ahead of Arsenal, followed by Manchester United).

Liverpool supporters did only rank second in the 'Least Intelligent Fans' category - I can't understand that at all - behind Arsenal and clear of Manchester United.

The Reds also apparently have only the second 'Most Deluded' fan-base, again trailing Arsenal, this time by some distance, and ahead of Tottenham Hotspur - whose supporters will probably celebrate that third place. I have no doubt that Liverpool will top that table next time, though.

Those attitudes go some way to explaining the widespread singing of 'Feed the Scousers' at Liverpool matches over the festive period, along with the fact that it's sung to the tune of 'Feed the World' by Band Aid.

Yet it's a nonsensical chant, not only due to the prevalence of food banks all over England, but because Liverpool - and Everton - supporters do great work in setting up, stocking, and 'staffing' these facilities to help those who would otherwise go hungry. In 21st century Britain.

Nonsensical too because often the supporters singing this song come from towns and cities which have food poverty as bad or worse as that in Liverpool.

Now, you can make the argument that 'Feed the Scousers' isn't as offensive as the homophobic chants directed at fans of Brighton, or the 'Chelsea Rent Boys' jeers.

Still, if you were a decent, sentient human being you wouldn't sing 'Feed the Scousers' (or any of those other chants, or about the Munich Disaster).

However, there should be no debate about the merits or otherwise of other jibes directed at supporters of Liverpool FC.

I'm not sure if they still happen at matches, but 'Always the victims' and 'It's never your fault…' are regularly trotted out on social media.

The former is deployed if Liverpool fans dare to complain about anything. The latter if Reds supporters stick up for their players when accused of fouling or diving, for examples.

Yet both are clear, snide digs about the Hillsborough Disaster, with a side order of recalling the Heysel Stadium Disaster of 1985.

The latter should never be forgotten. Some Liverpool supporters were at fault for the deaths of 39 people at that European Cup Final, mostly Juventus fans, although a dilapidated stadium was also a significant factor in that tragedy.

Hillsborough wasn't in a good state either in 1989, but no one, not a single person, need have died there either.

There were major differences in what happened afterwards, though.

It may have been over-looked, over-shadowed by happening less than a fortnight after the Hillsborough Disasters, but 14 Liverpool supporters were convicted of involuntary manslaughter in late April 1989 for their actions at Heysel four years earlier.

The former secretary-general of the Belgian Football Union (BFU) was given a six-month suspended prison sentence for "regrettable negligence" with regard to ticketing arrangements and organisation of the final. A gendarme captain who was in charge of policing the stands at Heysel received a nine-month suspended prison sentence.

"He made fundamental errors," judge Pierre Verlynde said. "He was far too passive. I find his negligence extraordinary."

Those words could equally apply to Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield, the officer nominally in charge of policing at and around Hillsborough Stadium on April 15 1989.

Yet not one single police officer has been convicted over Hillsborough.

Apportioning blame correctly was not difficult.

This wasn't an X-File.

The truth was out there from very early on.

As shown in the brilliant drama 'Anne' about the indefatigable Anne Williams, who fought for justice after the death of her son Kevin at Hillsborough, a police spokesman readily confirmed that the gate at the back of the stadium had been opened by police, following orders from a senior officer.

Sadly, the lies were out there too, with BBC commentator John Motson having been quickly 'briefed' (aka lied to) so that he told the millions watching the tragedy happen that a gate had been forced by fans.

Duckenfield later admitted during a private prosecution brought against him in 2000 that he had lied about the causes of the disaster. Unfortunately the jury could not reach a verdict against him.

Still, the truth, the real truth, was always out there.

It was there in the Taylor Report, published in January 1990 after an interim finding in August 1989, in which Lord Justice Taylor found that "the main reason for the disaster was the failure of police control".

Lord Taylor also concluded that the behaviour of Liverpool fans, including accusations of drunkenness, were secondary factors, and said that most fans were "not drunk, nor even the worse for drink". He pointed out that Nottingham Forest fans could have suffered the same awful, crushing fate had they been allocated the Leppings Lane end.

That made the sheer hypocrisy and nastiness of Brian Clough, of all people, accusing Liverpool fans of being drunk, all the worse.

The Taylor Report also dismissed the theory, put forward by South Yorkshire Police, that fans attempting to gain entry without tickets or with forged tickets were contributing factors.

In a damning indictment of senior officers, Taylor noted this of police evidence to his Inquiry: "Sadly I must report that for the most part the quality of their evidence was in inverse proportion to their rank."

Appallingly, 'The Truth' that many chose to believe, was the fabricated package of lies cobbled together by an excuse for a newspaper, concocted by an unholy alliance of police and Conservative politicians.

Sound familiar?

If something similar happened today there might not even be an inquiry, especially if it happened somewhere in the remit of the Metropolitan Police.

The real truth about Hillsborough was buried almost as quickly as the fans, the truth covered up by misinformation and, yes, lies.

Police constables were forced to alter their statements. Evidence was hidden away. Odious people doubled down on their lies.

For far too long people parroted rubbish about drunken ticketless fans arriving late and forcing a gate open.

It wasn't until the Hillsborough Independent Panel in 2012 definitely cleared fans of any responsibility for the disaster that many came to believe the truth.

In April 2016 fresh inquests found that the 96 victims had been unlawfully killed.

Yet still no police officer has been convicted, or punished in any way.

Just last year, the Leader of the House of Commons called the lack of accountability over Hillsborough "the greatest scandal of British policing of our lifetimes".

Yes, Jacob Rees-Mogg said that. Jacob. Rees. Mogg.

'Always the victims' isn't 'bantz' - it's dancing on the graves of those who died, those who were unlawfully killed.

If you're not already doing so, watch 'Anne' on ITV player, the story of one mother's fight for justice against the establishment.

Anne Williams has passed away, but the fight for justice goes on.

Dislike Liverpool FC and their supporters if you wish - but don't slur the memories of fans who died simply because they went to support their team.