Always the victims. Good article to read

[Stephen Paul]

CITY ISSUE STATEMENT ON CHANTING...

City issued a statement about some City supporters singing "Always the victims, it's never your fault" to Liverpool supporters (during last week's game):

"Manchester City FC are disappointed to have heard inappropriate chants from home fans during today's game. We regret any offence these chants may have caused and will continue to work with supporters groups and officials from both clubs to eradicate hateful chanting from this fixture."

The Premier League also made a statement, adding: "The Premier League condemns the chanting heard during today's match between Manchester City and Liverpool. The League is treating the issue of tragedy chanting as a priority and as a matter of urgency."

No one is suggesting that every City supporter is perfect. EVERY club has its idiots.

Manchester City supporters have come under attack again last week from various media sources, and it is unwarranted.

Firstly, personally speaking, I will always empathise with the victims of Hillsborough unconditionally. I have never ever chanted about Hillsborough and never will. Hillsborough crosses boundaries of club loyalties. I'm confident I'm in the majority in holding that view.

Disgust at Liverpool's behaviour as a club, their manager, players and their fans is not relevant when it comes to Hillsborough where I am concerned. It never has been and never will be. I remember the feeling that I had watching City away at Blackburn Back on 15th April 1989, and in the weeks and months after. I walked from Hillsborough to Anfield with 2 other football supporters (a Darlington supporter and a Sheffield Wednesday fan) to raise money (albeit a very small amount) for the families affected. I still think about that terrible tragedy and my thoughts are with those who lost their lives and those who love them. People shouldn't die at football.

The victims of Hillsborough deserve support without a doubt. It is a national disgrace that they still have not had justice 34 years on. That tragedy could have happened to anyone back then.

City supporters have demonstrably supported the Hillsborough campaigners from Liverpool, going so far as holding up banners and taking an advert in the Liverpool programme in 2014 affirming solidarity with those affected by a terrible tragedy. That support was thrown back in City supporters' faces with several attacks on City fans that day. Brendan Rodgers  Liverpool's manager at the time had irresponsibly talked about "unleashing" their fans.

Wind forward to this week when some Liverpool supporters twist the "Always the victims" chant, choosing to make it about Hillsborough.

The "Always the victims" chant is not about Hillsborough. It's about Liverpool FC and Liverpool supporters' failure to take responsibility for their own poor behaviour, and play the victim. No one was arrested for the 2018 attack on City's coach, for which Liverpool FC and Merseyside Police offered little or no protection. Such violent behaviour is common from a large minority of Liverpool supporters and they are protected by a wall of silence and a Merseyside Police force that allows it to happen with impunity. There have been several attacks on City supporters in the last decade, even including a minibus carrying disabled people and lone supporters making their way back to their cars and coaches. Pep Guardiola was showered with coins at Anfield this season and again their club failed to act accordingly. They have a been club out of control for some time now. After Luis Suarez repeatedly racially abused United's Patrice Evra, Kenny Dalglish and his Liverpool players wore T-shirts in support of Suarez. That is not an exhaustive list, and I don't intend to list all their misdemeanour here.

Liverpool have behaved poorly and irresponsibly like this for decades.

Joe Corrigan was knocked out by a bottle thrown from the Anfield Kop during City's 3-1 win over Liverpool in late December 1981, and the perpetrator was protected by a wall of silence. Yet the media has often referred to the 'sporting' Kop.

In 1985, 39 Juventus supporters were killed after a section of Liverpool supporters charged at them. Yet then Liverpool Chairman John Smith blamed the Heysel disaster on Chelsea supporters, and there has been no evidence of this, as affirmed by balanced, fair and well respected Liverpool supporters such as musician Peter Hooton of The Farm and John Williams, of the Sir Norman Chester Centre for Football Research at Leicester University. This accelerated a trend in blame shifting and poor behaviour by their club that has manifested itself several times over the decades. Some Liverpool supporters hold up a banner "Steaua Bucuresti 1986" in matches and in their coaches to annoy Everton supporters. Everton's greatest team were the reigning champions at the end of 1984/85, and would have been prime contenders to win the European Champions Cup in 1986, had it not been for the 5 year ban that had been imposed on all English clubs after Heysel. Steaua Bucharest won the 1986 European Cup after winning the most boring, tedious Final after playing for penalties from the word go against Terry Venables' Barcelona (2 hours of my life that I will never get back). So, Liverpool Football Club think it is acceptable for banners to be displayed by some of their fans taunting Everton, after some Liverpool supporters caused the deaths of 39 Italians.

How can this be?

This appalling behaviour continues to go unchecked, because Liverpool FC allow it, and the media turns a blind eye to it.

The irresponsibility within Liverpool FC is ongoing, and possibly chronic.

Whilst the Parisian authorities certainly mismanaged the crowd with some brutal treatment of supporters at last season's Champions League Final, Liverpool have to take some responsibility for the unmanageable crowd.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp overtly encouraged Liverpool fans to go there because Paris is "big enough".
He said
"If you don't get a ticket, I don't want to invite people to Paris but this time it's big enough and I did this last time for Basel in Switzerland and it was 'oops'.

"But I think Paris is big enough to go there without a ticket and have a good time, behave yourself but be in the best possible mood."

The flies on the face in the face of official football bodies and governments, advising people not to travel to events when you don't have tickets.

I wish that the relationship between City and Liverpool wasn't so toxic, especially as, like many Blues, I used to admire them as a club in the 70s and 80s, even though they used to thrash us every year in the late 70s and early 80s.

However, this toxicity is because of the poor behaviour of Liverpool FC, Liverpool supporters and a media that gives them carte blanche to do so.

It is not just City. Talk to fans of other clubs and often they will say that they are heartily sickened about the behaviour of Liverpool and their fans, and the free pass they are given by most of the self-serving mainstream media.

How can this change?

Liverpool FC and their supporters need to take a long look at themselves, show some humility and take responsibility, whilst moderating their behaviour. That means Liverpool FC taking the lead and dealing with perpetrators rather than ignoring the fact that there is a problem.

Phil Banerjee

[gavin]

I think that could be from MCIVTA

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Anyway, I agree with the gist. Just because Liverpool fans were not to blame for Hillsborough does not mean that they are not to blame for anything. They can and should be blamed for a lot. Throwing dangerous objects at fans from the tier above is not acceptable. Then they have the temerity to complain that their allocation is cut!

[lee]

My wife hates them.
Her dad and brother went to Heysel and lost friends that day.
I cant stand the entitled cunts either but i hope they beat Arsenal today.