On the anniversary of the Hillsborough Stadium disaster, it was fitting that representatives from the club paid their respects at Anfield – including Jurgen Klopp and Virgil van Dijk.

As reported on liverpoolfc.com, those present were: ‘LFC CEO Billy Hogan and Sir Kenny Dalglish, and the respective managers and captains of the club’s men’s and women’s teams…

‘So too did representatives of the Reds’ U21s and U18s squads, as well as club ambassadors Ian Rush, John Barnes and Natasha Dowie, and later the Lord Mayor, Cllr Mary Rasmussen, and Leader of Liverpool City Council Cllr Liam Robinson.’

This is always a day when the club, the city and the football world reflects on events that led to loss of 97 lives in 1989 – whilst the search for justice continues after all this time.

The thoughts of everyone at Empire of the Kop are with those who lost their lives that day, their families, the survivors and every affected by this disastrous event in football history.

You can view the images of the club representatives at Anfield via liverpoolfc.com:

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Manchester United fans had every reason to celebrate their dramatic victory over Liverpool in the FA Cup but one supporter has been captured taking it much too far.

Following the game, X user @JLFC892 shared a video of one home ‘fan’ in Old Trafford mocking the Hillsborough disaster with abhorrent face and hand gestures.

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This come in the midst of the FA releasing a statement stating that they are ‘aware’ of the tragedy chanting that was going on throughout the quarter-final tie.

By all means celebrate a victory but why does the death of 97 innocent people even come into your mind, never mind thinking why you would ever act upon it.

You can watch the video of the Man United ‘fan’ via @JLFC892 on X:

And this pic.twitter.com/LR6r9QJnPR

— Jay (@JLFC892) March 17, 2024

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Following a six year wait, there has finally been a response to calls for a ‘Hillsborough law’ but it’s not news that will be gratefully received.

As reported by David Conn for The Guardian: ‘Ministers have rejected the “Hillsborough law” reforms that are central to a campaign by families of the 97 people killed in the 1989 disaster to prevent future police cover-ups.

‘Instead, in its long-delayed response to the 2017 report commissioned by the government from James Jones, the former bishop of Liverpool, the government has signed a “Hillsborough charter”, that states a commitment by departments to openness and transparency after public tragedies.’

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Following the tragic events of 1989 in which 97 people were unlawfully killed, there has been a constant fight to ensure that the truth and justice is provided.

This ‘Hillsborough law’ was looking to ensure that police officers can no longer mislead a public enquiry without it being an offence, something which is remarkably still not in place.

This failure to adhere to a request that is something that can only be seen as an obvious improvement, is as upsetting as it is sadly familiar.

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The families of those who died following the FA Cup semi-final events have fought so hard and this is just another speed bump in their never-ending battle.

A charter is nothing but an attempt to appease the loud voices who are campaigning for what is right, for real change to happen.

There needs to be a  Hillsborough law for the sake of everyone within the nation, as those who are supposed to look after us clearly cannot be trusted to do so.

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As much as we see idiots around the country using the Hillsborough disaster as a stick to beat our supporters with at times, Everton have always been the club that have been the closest allies when it comes to remembering the 97 supporters who sadly passed away.

Thanks to a video shared on the club’s X account, we can now also see the floral tribute that stands as a permanent fixture within their training ground.

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The club’s groundsman explained how an unexpected growth of poppies led to the brilliant idea and it shows the togetherness that can still be felt across the city.

Sometimes football doesn’t have to be a tribal war between clubs and it can be used as an opportunity for fans and clubs to come together over a collective message.

You can watch the video via @Everton on X:

A little-known feature at Finch Farm… pic.twitter.com/ocATMMwwIc

— Everton (@Everton) August 9, 2023

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James White made headlines as he proudly showed off his ’97 not enough’ Manchester United shirt for the FA Cup final, before being arrested and seeing his name plastered around social media.

The 33-year-old appeared in Willesden Magistrates’ Court for ‘displaying threatening or abusive writing likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress’, leading to a four-year ban from attending matches.

As reported by The Independent: ‘[James White] smiled and chuckled after the banning order was made, and was also fined £1,000 and ordered to pay a surcharge of £400 and £85 in costs’.

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It’s sickening to picture the man laughing in the face of the verdict being given, after he pleaded guilty in court, and really goes to show what type of person he is.

Pictures of him arriving in London showed how relaxed and non-fussed he was, smiling for the cameras present and seemingly enjoying his time in the limelight – rather than showing any remorse for his actions.

It really is an insight into the darkest side of football, with some thinking that this is fair space for banter – when great hurt and pain is being caused to those affected by the Hillsborough Stadium disaster.

The events in Sheffield in 1989 are too often used by opposition fans and teams as a stick to beat our supporters with, something which is simply not tolerable.

Only by making examples of the mindless, cruel and insensitive individuals, like James White, will we see an end to this behaviour and finally now we have seen some retribution for the obvious and public deplorable actions we all see on a far too regular basis.

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Premier League clubs are set to introduce new measures to combat the depressing prevalence of tragedy chanting at top-flight matches in England.

A working group to deal with the escalating issue was launched six months ago, with full details on the proposed action due to be announced prior to the start of the new season on 12 August.

A statement from the EPL read: “Premier League clubs unanimously agreed at the Annual General Meeting today to a series of new measures to address the unacceptable rise in anti-social behaviour involving football tragedy-related chanting, gesturing, graffiti, online abuse and other behaviours last season.”

It continued: “The issues have continued to cause significant distress to the victims’ families, survivors and affected club supporters, in addition to damaging the reputation of the clubs involved and football in England and Wales.

“The action will focus on criminal prosecution, the regulatory environment, enforcement, online abuse, education and communications.”

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The 2022/23 season was sadly marred by sickening chants intended to insult the victims of past tragedies at football stadia at numerous matches, with Liverpool fans having to endure multiple instances of disgusting references to the Hillsborough disaster.

The issue reared its ugly head again at the FA Cup final recently when one spectator wore a shirt with ’97 Not Enough’ on the back, a clear reference to the tragic events in Sheffield on 15 April 1989. Thankfully, that individual was swiftly arrested for their reprehensible gesture.

Elsewhere, a so-called Tottenham supporter was given a three-year banning order for mocking the Hillsborough disaster on the day of the London club’s visit to Anfield at the end of April, so it does seem as if affirmative action is finally being taken to punish those who indulge in such disturbing behaviour.

Banter of other teams will always be part of football, and that’s very much a two-way street, but offensive chanting and gestures about people who lose their lives at matches – and the family and friends they leave behind – is not banter. It has no place in the sport, or in society full stop.

Today’s announcement from the Premier League is very welcome and hopefully will lead to the administration of punishments which are severe enough to act as a deterrent for any twisted individual who may think that it’s fair game to mock victims of tragedies.

There are steps being taken in the right direction, but only once tragedy chanting is banished forever will it be mission accomplished in the fight against this stain on football.

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Liverpool supporters see and hear every week opposition supporters using Hillsborough as a weapon to beat our fans with and thinking that using the death of 97 people is fair game for banter but finally we have seen some action.

Taking to Twitter, the Premier League wrote: ‘A Tottenham Hotspur fan has been banned from attending matches for three years and fined after mocking the Hillsborough tragedy during Spurs’ trip to Liverpool in April.

‘Football tragedy abuse has no place in the game’.

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There have been countless incidents shared on social media when we see supporters singing or making gestures and so it’s interesting to see that this supporter has been found more guilty than the rest.

However, this is a hugely positive step in the right direction and will send out a message to everyone else who thinks that tragedy chanting is acceptable, because now doing so will lead to bans from attending matches.

We should applaud the league for becoming the first governing body to take serious action on these abhorrent scenes we see so often and let’s hope this is a sign of the times for the future.

Not only should these punishments be in place for what happened in Sheffield in 1989 but also any other football or tragedies otherwise, as everyone needs to learn that there is a line for the tribal nature of the sport that we all love.

You can read the statement from the Premier League via their Twitter account:

A Tottenham Hotspur fan has been banned from attending matches for three years and fined after mocking the Hillsborough tragedy during Spurs’ trip to Liverpool in April.

Football tragedy abuse has no place in the game.

https://t.co/hMp0wyw1uB pic.twitter.com/dQCESr2me0

— Premier League (@premierleague) June 13, 2023

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The Metropolitan Police announced on its Twitter account that an unnamed individual has been arrested ‘on suspicion of a public order offence’

The Manchester United fan, who had been attending the FA Cup final at Wembley, was spotted wearing a shirt with highly offensive messaging mocking the Hillsborough disaster.

It goes without saying that we hope the individual in question feels the full weight of the law for his deplorable actions.

An event in which 97 Liverpool fans were unlawfully killed at a game of football owing to gross negligence of the police force on the day is not, and should never be, considered fair game for banter or club tribalism.

As ever, our thoughts are with all those affected by the Hillsborough tragedy.

You can catch the photo and the Met Police’s response below:

#ARREST | We are aware of this and have worked proactively with officials at @wembleystadium to identify the individual.

He has been arrested on suspicion of a public order offence and taken into custody. https://t.co/PNVzEhKzgZ

— Metropolitan Police Events (@MetPoliceEvents) June 3, 2023

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Liverpool fans know better than most about the condition of the Stade de France, after last year’s appallingly organised Champions League final, and now the Hillsborough Survivors Support Alliance have shared a worrying change to the stadium.

Twitter user Paul Cometto took to social media to write (translated): ‘So there are grids with spades. Are we in the Middle Ages? This is absolutely outrageous and irresponsible’ – alongside an image of newly introduced fencing to the French national stadium.

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To which the HSA responded: ‘To see fences being put up at any sports event is horrendous but even more so at a stadium where they proved they are not capable of running big sporting events. To add to this they also routinely lock doors to the concourse from the stands which was witnessed by our fans’.

It really is upsetting and appalling to see that a stadium that should be trying everything to make amends for the mistakes of last season, are now making further steps backwards instead of forward.

We can only applaud the efforts to spread the word about this and hope that we can see some positive changes happen soon.

You can view the image of the new fencing in the Stade de France via @PaulCometto and @HillsboroughSu1 on Twitter:

To see fences being put up at any sports event is horrendous but even more so at a stadium where they proved they are not capable of running big sporting events. To add to this they also routinely lock doors to the concourse from the stands which was witnessed by our fans https://t.co/DcVxVE42QZ

— Hillsborough Survivors Support Alliance ( HSA ) (@HillsboroughSu1) April 29, 2023

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One of the most forgotten aspects of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 is that Nottingham Forest were the team that Liverpool faced that day, meaning many of their supporters were first-hand witnesses to an event that so easily could have led to the deaths of 97 of their own.

Ahead of facing the Reds at Anfield for the first time in nearly 25 years, a new banner has been unveiled that reads: ‘Respect the 97. Solidarity with Survivors. No to Tragedy Chanting’.

Speaking with The Athletic, Martin Peach – one of the men who helped create the new banner – said: “There’s a line nobody should ever cross. It gets passed off as banter. In reality, it’s unimaginably cruel to chant about any tragedy: Hillsborough, Munich, Heysel, Bradford, Leeds in Istanbul or any other. People dying is not banter.”

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For anyone who has visited our home stadium even a small handful of times, it’s far too frequent that any of us have heard the away section of the stadium using the events of 34 years ago – as a stick to beat our supporters with.

References to the death of not just Liverpool fans but human beings and likeminded football supporters, is never a thing that anyone should be trying to use as mockery against anyone.

Although there will be a strong sense of a rivalry being reignited in the clash with Steve Cooper’s side, given the heated contests between the clubs in their respective heydays of the 1970s and 80s, as Martin Peach says – ‘there’s a line nobody should ever cross’.

It’s a great gesture from those involved in the creation of this new banner and let’s hope we can see a rarity at Anfield – a respectful away section that can put rivalries aside in the place of some decency and humanity.

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Journalist Henry Winter has rightly commended Arsenal as a club, also namechecking some of their players and management, for the respects they paid towards those affected by the Hillsborough disaster.

The Gunners’ travelling fans showed their class by immaculately observing the minute’s silence prior to kick-off against Liverpool, while Mikel Arteta was pictured wearing a 97 badge as a marker of his respect for those who died as a result of the events of 15 April 1989.

Also, as noted by LFC’s official website, the visiting manager and their captain Martin Odegaard paid their respects by laying wreaths at the Hillsborough Memorial at Anfield prior to Sunday’s match.

Those noble tributes were most welcome after a period which has seen other clubs obliged to release statements condemning disgusting and hurtful chants which were heard at recent Liverpool matches.

The Times’ chief football writer Winter was speaking on talkSPORT Breakfast as he said: “The dignity of the Arsenal fans, 3,000 of them, at a time when we’re all talking about tragedy chanting and the issues around that…the Arsenal fans were fantastic in that minute’s silence, as they should be. We should be expecting that sort of behaviour but sadly we don’t always see it.

“Things like Arsenal members of staff wearing the 97 badge, Arteta and Odegaard laying wreaths outside the Hillsborough Memorial…Arsenal dropped two points but I think it’s very fair to say that they left Anfield with so much respect from Liverpool as a club because of how they behaved.

“It’s so important to state that because it’s been slightly lost in all the ‘was there an elbow’, Ramsdale’s magnificent performance, Trent being all over the place, Xhaka’s mistake in deciding to wind up the Kop, all those little things, so I just wanted to say that because it kind of got lost in all the heat around the game.”

Credit is due to Winter for highlighting the importance of these tributes from Arsenal, whose management, players and supporters represented their club tremendously with the respect they showed towards those affected by the Hillsborough disaster.

We would dearly love to see such behaviour becoming the norm, and the north Londoners’ gestures at Anfield are greatly appreciated.

You can see Winter’s comments on talkSPORT below, shared via @talkSPORT on Twitter:

“They left #LFC with so much respect.”

“Staff wearing ‘97’ badges. Odegaard & Arteta laying wreathes. Dignity of the fans.”

Henry Winter praises the tributes paid by #AFC, for the Hillsborough anniversary. pic.twitter.com/h2Xf4bnHX2

— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) April 10, 2023

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Liverpool and Manchester United are two clubs steeped in history, trophies and tragedy, the latter being something that some supporters use against the other when the teams meet and this has led Jurgen Klopp and Erik ten Hag to release a joint statement.

As shared on the club’s official website, our manager said: “We do want the noise; we do want the occasion to be partisan and we do want the atmosphere to be electric. What we do not want is anything that goes beyond this and this applies especially to the kind of chants that have no place in football. If we can keep the passion and lose the poison, it will be so much better for everyone.”

The Dutchman from Old Trafford added: “It is unacceptable to use the loss of life — in relation to any tragedy — to score points, and it is time for it to stop. Those responsible tarnish not only the reputation of our clubs but also, importantly, the reputation of themselves, the fans, and our great cities”.

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It’s really sad that in 2023 we still have to talk about events that occured 65 (Munich), 38 (Heysel) and 34 (Hillsborough) years ago, for all the wrong reasons.

All the people who died during these tragic events should be remembered correctly by all of football and society but never used a stick to taunt a set of fans with.

It’s disgusting that we so often hear references to Heysel and Hillsborough on an almost weekly occurrence at Anfield and, even despite this joint statement, it’s still likely to happen again in our next match.

Statements like this will help but we need to see real repercussions for anyone seen or heard signing about events such as these three tragedies, as this is the only way it will really stop.

The vast majority will know that this is just common sense and so clearly correct but there’s always a few idiots who ruin it for everyone and the sooner they’re banned from attending matches, the better.

Both clubs should be applauded for making this public step in the right direction and let’s hope we start to see real change.

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With the truth exposed about the horrific handling of the Hillsborough disaster by police forces, and the press, one might have hoped for total unity on the matter between Liverpool and Everton fans.

Sadly, it seems that stadium disasters are still considered viable material for ‘match banter’ with one Blues supporter spotted making disgusting gestures in reference to the event that unfolded in 1989.

It’s worth emphasising that the vast majority of the Toffees fanbase has shown nothing but full support in our search for justice and truth, though it makes it no less disappointing to see individuals continue to show a complete lack of empathy for the families, friends and loved ones of the victims directly affected.

A lifetime ban for the individuals identified and a mandatory course educating them on the stadium disaster and the harm caused would be far from unfair in our eyes.

You can catch the clip below, courtesy of footage shared by @truered786:

Lovely fans, making the most of their last trip to Anfield for a few years pic.twitter.com/A2fTEI1Mka

— 19* (@truered786) February 14, 2023

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After nearly 34 years of campaigning for truth and justice and outing the faults and lies told by those in power, another small yet notable step in the right direction has been made by the Hillsborough families as the police have admitted they ‘profoundly failed’ and made a public apology.

As reported by Sky Sports News: “Police in the UK have apologised to the Hillsborough families for their response to the disaster in 1989, it’s the first time that national police leaders have said sorry for how the families have been treated”.

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Many will believe this is too little, too late but when statements like this are made and the tragedy is thrust back into the limelight – it helps ensure that more people become aware of the true events of what happened and that hopefully it will never happen again.

When Liverpool supporters hear chants regarding the events in Sheffield in 1989 and hear them every single week, it shows that so much more needs to be done to educate everyone on the truth – let’s hope this helps make a difference.

You can watch the full report via Sky Sports News on YouTube:

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Within the first ten minutes of the game, several Nottingham Forest fans had gone through their repertoire of ‘Sign on’, ‘Always the victims’ and ‘You Scouse b******s’ but one home supporter managed to restore some class to the proceedings.

As shared by Twitter user Thomas Lee, one home supporter unveiled a flag that read ’97 Never Forgotten’ and featured two flames of remembrance alongside the Forest badge.

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It’s important to note both sides of what happened on the day, as we hope to see punishment for singing about the Hillsborough Stadium disaster and those who died in 1989, whilst acts of empathy and kindness like this should also be celebrated.

One supporter can never represent a whole fan base but when gestures like this are made, they should be recognised.

You can view the image of the Nottingham Forest fan’s Hillsborough tribute via @tomozlee09 on Twitter:

Boss banner for the 97 from Forrest fans pic.twitter.com/FhhqzWQjfP

— Thomas Lee (@tomozlee09) October 22, 2022

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