Liverpool fans tend to lump together the disasters of Hillsborough and Heysel. Whilst I’ve never sung a Hillsborough song in my life, I see Heysel as fair game. The actions of Liverpool fans lead to the deaths of 39 people, yet after the tragedy, their club washed their hands of the disaster.
They blamed Chelsea fans and didn’t appologise for what happened until 20 years later. The chairman, John Smith, publicly distanced the club from what happened, again, talking of the southern accents heard in the crowd and the apparent number of Chelsea fans there.
Had they accepted the blame, the chants of “murderers” would never have arisen. But their repeated denial and eagerness to blame others lead to outrage amongst other football fans.
The irony of their denial is that throughout this time period they were urging the South Yorkshire Police to accept responsibility of Hillsborough. Justice for the 96, but let’s sweep the 39 under the carpet.
Last season during the Merseyside derby, Liverpool fans could be heard singing “2-0 to the murderers”, making light of the actions of their fans.
In this year’s Merseyside derby, their home fans were seen with “Steaua Bucuresti 1986″ banners, again, mocking what happened at Heysel.
The deaths caused by Liverpool fans meant all English clubs were banned from Europe, and Everton, who were flying high at the time, were denied the opportunity to compete, with eventual winners, Steaua Bucuresti.
It’s good to see those “lovable scousers”, who mourn their own fans, can take the deaths of the Juventus fans they caused so lightly.
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Table showing all the English clubs effected by the ban imposed because of Liverpool fans
Without killing anyone, we’ve won it three times
Empire of the Kop must be having fits
Man Utd News 24/7
There’s a good photo on Stretty Rant about this. Disgraceful behaviour from the Dippers but no less than expected.
Stretty Ender! – http://i46.tinypic.com/11v2mad.jpg
united rant thank you i was wondering if there was a pic
Not heard anything much about this. can someone please tell exactly what happened during the Heysel disaster?. Really disgraceful from the Liverpool fans though.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3vv6x_heysel-disaster-liverpool-v-juventu_sport
dont forget united fans are and were some of the most notorious in Britain and europe. also it wasn’t only liverpool fc fans that behaved as animals during the 70′s & 80′s. The problem affected majority of british clubs during that period. the truth about heysel is that the game should never have taken place in that stadium, and not excusing their behaviour the reason i believe some of the trouble was to do with trouble which was caused by roma fans the year before. when not just liverpool fans but fans from other clubs were targeted and ambushed around italy. this is still evident with the attacks both roma fans and italian police on united supporters in recent champions legaues games.
the dislike that both clubs show for one another is expected. but what both fans need to do is stand up against the yanks. forget journo london, the heart beat of football in britain is the north west, it always was and shall be. the two greatest british clubs are being finacially raped by greedy americans who take all the money back to the US.
we have one common foe.
@ghtt
if i am allowed to say so. Thanks for that.
Dont Liverpool fans feel ashamed of their acts. The Munich chants and now this?.Just when you feel they cant stoop any lower,they show they can do that too.
What really happened at Heysel? Wikipedia it mate. I remember watching the game one Friday night I believe and it all started unravelling. Dirty dipper cunts.
Actually I don’t get it. What has Steau Bucharest got to do with the disaster? Help please someone. I know they were the eventual winners but don’t get this banner. Is it to wind Everton fans up or summat? Poor.
King Eric
Hi mate.
Tried it.The wiki page did not open for some reason. dont know why.The Video makes me feel sick.
Fucking scum. We sing our songs On derby day or when we play Chelsea and the like but there’s a huge difference between John Terry being a twat and mocking the deaths of loads of people. THIS is why the Scousers are truly scum. Lowest of the low.
They’re not mocking anything, surely its just the good ol scouse humour and their native hypocritical ‘wit’….or that’s probably how the media will see it with their ‘it’s such a friendly derby’ bollocks
Fuckin’ bastards these liver”fool” scumbags. I hate their motherfuckin’ guts. Pricks. If i had the powers of nature..i would bloody well send an earthquake to their stupid ground “antfield”…hallucinating, disillusioned twats!!
@ King Eric.
Everton won the old first division and would have entered into the European Cup, they were favourites to win it that year. Because of Dippers actions Everton could not enter, and Steau won the competition that Everton were well placed to win.
Hence scum bastards are mocking the Everton fans as they stopped them from competing
You guys make it sound like all LFC fans are scum because of a few bad apples.
We all have bad apples in our clubs.
However over 2,100 LFC fans recently joined the following Facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=63794072844
And last weekend we posted the following tributes.
http://www.empireofthekop.com/anfield/?p=9353
http://www.empireofthekop.com/anfield/?p=2809
Unfortunately this blog does not seem to mention the good that thousands do it only mentions the bad from a few bad apples.
-Antoine
Scum bastards. Just when you think they can stoop no lower, they come up with something.
They really are a self pittying bunch of rat muching scum.
And still now they campaign for justice for the hillsborough 96. Yet they all turned up late and pissed and tried to force their way in.
Scum.
Scott The Red said “It’s good to see those “lovable scousers”, who mourn their own fans, can take the deaths of the Juventus fans they caused so lightly.”
I hate to embarass you but actually on Liverpool’s official website,in the history section,they recognise the Heysel disaster.
RE: King Eric
mancstan summed it up. steau were a pretty poor side and the final with barcelona was one of the dullest in history. IIRC, Schuster who was the captain of Barcelona had a stinker. Everton would have very likely won it that year had they been allowed to enter.
There’s bad apples in every support, but liverpool fans blame every1 for heysel, and at the same time want justice for hillsboro.
RE: Ashish
you haven’t embaressed Scott mate, only yourself.
Of course Liverpool’s official website will recognise Heysel. As far as I know the website is run by the club (not the fans) and is professional.
So tell me, how does that excuse ’2-0 to the murderers’ being chanted by Liverpool fans (not all but still some) and that banner?!
Empire of the Kop:
Well said; All clubs have some bad apples who sully the name of the club. Admitadely there are less these days than there were in the past, but it’s still a problem. You only need look at the beer bottle thrown by one of ours at Bellamy a few weeks back.
I think the main bone of contention on Heysel, is the refusal by LFC to accept any liability following the event. It was very shameful; the hypocrisy of crying foul in one-instance while ignoring the other, is a serious indictment of the club.
I agree with your sentiment though, let’s not tar a bunch of fans with the same brush. I’ve got a good load of Pool fans myself and I know they’d be disgusted if they saw those actions as a representation of themselves.
Do we really have to sink to the level of ‘fans’ who do this? There are idiots associated with every club and things like this don’t exactly endear us to anyone. It makes us look stupid.
@ Ashish, Empireof the kop etc.
You are right, bad apples in each crowd.
Still, it’s nice to mock dipper scum. We all need a hobby!!
LFC fans = hyporcites
they really are scum of the earth!! surely the ‘good apples’ at anfield could have had something done regarding the banner?? no thats because they are all cunts and support it
Lads,
There is no doubt that these Fans are Mindless Idoits, Away from Football they are Idiots and unfortunitaly they give their club a bad name.
Every Football Club has Idiot Supporters who let the team and club down.
We had a simular situation where our Fans Caused 15k worth of damage and Steeling from the Canteen / Food Area the place was a total mess!
@spencer:Scott said Liverpool fans take the death of 39 Juve fans lightly.But the fact that Liverpool FC have mentioned about this disaster on their official website surely contradicts this claim of his……..does it not?
It shows that neither Scott nor you have done your homework.
If you can’t recognise that chanting “2-0 to the murderers” is made in sarcasm then you ought to recognise that !!
I mean,when Liverpool beat us 4-1 at Old Trafford last season,many Liverpool fans chanted “Rafas cracking up”.Surely you’re not telling me they REALLY meant it do you?
@Ashish
Whats sarcastic about chanting “2-0 to the murderers!”? You taking the piss?
Its just completly wrong.
So hypotheticaly speaking, If a retired Police officer who was at Hillsborough commented on Facebook…. “hillsborough 96 Dead but they were the lucky ones, They dont have to watch liverpool play the shit they do!” That would be sarcastic and i guess you would be fine with it!
how the fuck can you compare a quiet riot at barnsley to the mocking of the dead???????
Scott was also the same person who is selling “without killing anyone “shirts without taking into account the deaths of a Palace fan in the 90′s,a boro fan in the 80′s and 3 Barca fans in 2009.
You’ve embarassed yourself,even you have to realise that.
Ashish
are you crazy.city fans will say the munich chants is just sarcasm.liverpool site can mention whatever they want,the fans must respect it which sadly some fans dont which is shameful.
@Trevor
I’m not making any excuses for the Liverpool fans.I’m a United fan !!
The Everton fans were the people to label the Liverpool fans as “murderers” so sarcastically,Liverpool fans started chanting “2-0 to the murderers”.
Surely there is more than a hint of sarcasm in that is there not?
@aig,
No chant which mocks the dead can be sung sarcastically.
Is there any bunch of fans who would like to label themselves as murderers?
Is there any bunch of fans who would like to claim that their manager is cracking up?
Oh and btw,you claim that the Liverpool fans don’t respect Heysel right?
Well there is this Liverpool blog named empire of the kop which has an article about this banner.At the end of that article he writes,”If however these fans did this with the intention to use Heysel to mock Everton fans then I strongly condemn it and I hope the club will investigate this incident to find out the truth.”
So it’s not as if Liverpool fans don’t respect the victims of Heysel.
Again,let me make it clear I’m a United fan and I’ve observed both sides of the story.
Just shut up Ashish!!
Do Liverpool fans run the club??? NO! The website??? NO!!
Your point is pathetic, and you have proved nothing but the simple fact that even if someone explains your own comment to you, you still don’t understand it!?! Pathetic.
At least Empireof the kop can say something ‘sensible’ ;O)
Still NO excuse! Everton & Juventus fans didn’t deserve that, rivals or not! It’s one thing when the club finally ‘accepts’ blame for a mistake, but for the fans to gloat about the deaths affecting a ‘rival’ is an absolute dishonour!
The munich chants @ their poxy chrimbo/EOY party took the biscuit.
niente perdono
@Ashish
With that explanation i can understand where you are coming from, the Banner Highlighting the 1986 Cup with the club that won it was more in my mind.
I know football is all about Winding the players up, winding their manager up and there is nothing better than winding up their support!
But sometimes Fans Overstep the Mark!
When wenger was getting the pedo chant at Old Trafford, it was catagoricaly wrong. But……… I fucking loved it! Plus the Twat should have known where to go if he got sent off He is not a bloody baby and should have listed to his briefing!
Empireof the kop has already been here mate…. ^^ there…
read first before you throw up on your keyboard!
United fan or not!!
wasted 2 minutes of my lunchbreak! soppy mug.
Ashish
the liverpool fans unfurled that banner to mock everton because evrton never qualified for the champions league due to the heysel disaster in 1985.they had qualified for the cl in 85-86 but due to the disaster all english clubs were banned.to ridicle everton fans over that the banner was there.hence the retaliation of ‘murderers’ by everton fans
Ashish
the liverpool fans unfurled that banner to mock everton because evrton never qualified for the champions league due to the heysel disaster in 1985.they had qualified for the cl in 85-86 but due to the disaster all english clubs were banned.to ridicle everton fans over that the banner was there.hence the retaliation of ‘murderers’ by everton fans
I dont like talking about any disaster and i think we have more class about us than talkimg about others lack of it.
Great clubs steeped in history have a period in time they wish was not there!
We have the flowers of Manchester a team tore apart in the midst of greatness.
Liverpool have two sour periods in Hillsborough and Heysel in which fans like all of us lost their lives.
That said I think we should not commit to much time to this thread and just hope days of disasters like this are long gone!
“Liverpool fans ignore their role in Heysel while talk a lot about getting justice for the 96.”
This seems to be the common theme among you guys.
But,as I pointed out that the owner of a prominent liverpool blog is himself showing the willingness to condemn those liverpool fans who displayed that Bucuresti banner to mock Everton by using Heysel shows that all your talk that Liverpool fans don’t respect Heysel does not hold water.
On a side note,on this very blog,Scott justified selling the “without killing anyone” t-shirts his main argument being “We want to confront liverpool fans over their denial of their role at Heysel” but neglecting the actual words that was printed.which was “without killing anyone”.How can he deny that we killed a Boro fan in the 80′s,a Palace fan in the 90′s and 4 Barca fans last year?
I remember Scott had this interview with Ollie Irish on whoateallthepies.com and at the end of that interview,Ollie called Scott a one eyed hypocrite.
Looking at Scott’s denial over the fact that United fans,no matter how angelic we would like ourselves to be,have been involved in deaths of other fans,I would have to agree with Ollie’s assertion that on this issue,Scott is indeed the one eyed hypocrite that he makes him out to be.
I’m a United fan but I don’t enjoy this two faced hypocrisy of Scott.Other articles he has written on this blog are good no doubt.But I don’t agree with him on this issue.
A “United fan” in Nigeria kills four Barcelona fans and you think that is our burden to carry? Honestly? lol.
Thousands of Liverpool fans were calling themselves “murderers” at the Merseywide derby last season. You could hear it on the telly. Would we refer to ourselves as Munichs? Course not.
apparently Tony Blair supports Newcastle, so by Ashish’s logic, all Newcastle fans are responsible for the illegal invasion of Iraq.
Ashish Said,
February 9th, 2010 @15:17
You are missing the whole point- Liverpool fans caused the Heysel incident and then denied it for 20 years by blaming Chelsea fans. They then apologised for the Heysel incident 20 years later and now are back to their old roots of mocking it again by having a banner, rubbing it in Everton fans faces knowing because of them Everton missed out on playing in europe. Most United fans apologised about that Nigerian idiot who killed them 4 Barca fans, but Liverpool fans are stooping so low by A- Blaming other people for a tradegy B- Taking them 20 years for saying sorry towards a tradegy C- Wanting justice for 96, but also mocking Munich and Heysel. Scott is not the hypocrite here, as the only hypocrites I see are the Liverpool fans who want justice for their own fans death but fail to give it to others. According to most the media are United fans, but if that was United fans with banners mocking the dead, then the media would certainly have a field day. Just like they did when some united fans chanted about wenger being a pedo, although most Chelsea and Spurs fans chant it aswell, but United fans the bad guys in this, as usual.
Aishish
Gosh, so much time defending bin dippers and then slating the guy who runs this blog!
WHY?
Time to be quiet son.
Find a nice corner and have a word with yourself.
Another tidbit regarding those loveable Scouse rogues, though it is not the fans I’m talking about here, it’s the club itself.
In 2005 when they played Juventus at Anfield they laid it on real thick, extending the hand of “friendship” to the Juve fans with an embarrassing PR exercise which culminated in Ian Rush and Michel Platini walking across the pitch towards the Juve fans holding a ludicrous plaque depicting the Liverpool and Juventus badges side by side with the word “friendship” underneath, while the Kop created a huge mosaic spelling out the Italian word for “friendship”. The Juve fans were unmoved, most of them turning their backs on the cringeworthy gesture, many of them holding up their middle fingers in defiance. (Though in the official Liverpool 2005 season review DVD, it was edited to appear as though Juventus fans had applauded the gesture!) Anyone watching the spectacle who was unaware of what had happened in 1985 would have thought Liverpool fans were graciously forgiving Juventus fans for something the Italians had done! This is because LFC’s PR department were very careful not to accept any blame for Heysel, the theme of the night was “friendship” remember, not “we’re sorry.” LFC had made it seem like they were being the bigger man, so to speak, by offering an olive banch to Juventus.
Fastforward to 2009. Away to Fiorentina in the CL, Liverpool fans are met with a banner that has words to the effect of “thankyou for Heysel” as Fiorentina fans disgustingly mock their Bianconeri counterparts who had been crushed to death by rampaging LFC fans in 1985. Come the week of the return match, LFC’s official website has an article proposing a gesture of appreciation for the visiting Fiorentina fans, in honour of the banners they displayed in Florence! YCNMIU! Anyway, decent Liverpool fans were understandably shocked by the idea and contacted the club to stop the club’s plan. The webpage was taken down but threads about the debacle still exist on Liverpool messageboards if you need proof. Here’s a news story about it: http://www.clickliverpool.com/sport/liverpool-fc/127177-liverpool-scrap-tribute-mosaic-in-row-over-masked-hatred-from-fiorentina-fans.html
Oh Fred – you couldn’t make that stuff up, what absolute gold. Knitwits those scousers are!
thanks for the knowledge!
Spencer and Mancstan – Cheers lads. Thought it was that.
Trev – Oh please mate. I was at Oakwell and a few fucking pies being slung around hardly amounts to Heysel .
Top post fred.
Fred – Superb pal. I can clearly remember that night at Anfield with the mosaic and Platini and Rush. Juve fans were furious. I also saw the banner at Fiorentina but did not realise that had happened. As you said you could not make it up.
J.F.H…….Justice For Hysel………………..
King Eric Said,
February 9th, 2010 @18:59
Trev – Oh please mate. I was at Oakwell and a few fucking pies being slung around hardly amounts to Heysel .
PMSL! That’s exactly what I thought when I read Trev’s comments.
RE; Ashish – All I can say is you really haven’t got a clue, time to fuck off
This article is pretty unpalatable. It’s petty mud-slinging masquerading as gravitas.
Fred, you’re right the 2005 friendship ‘gesture’ was genuinely stomach-turning material. Outside of football, I wonder how many friends and relatives of murder victims want to be all matey with the offender? H’mmm. Maybe not the best metaphor, but you get my point I hope.
Back to the original article. Whether it’s intended as ‘humour’ or otherwise, any banners or chants that reference a tragedy in an attempt to get under the skin of the opposing fans is in exceptionally bad taste and cannot, cannot be justified or excused.
It’s a fair comment to point out that it is down to a minority – it usually is. But when it happens, the majority should be quick to intervene and stop it, then come out afterwards and condemn it. Otherwise they are I’m afraid, effectively condoning it.
“Life is very short and there’s no time for fussing and fighting, my friends.”
Maybe it’s time we heeded the words of those most famous of Liverpudlians, Lennon & McCartney.
And as John once said: give peace a chance.
Goodnight, God bless.
I am a man utd fan from nigeria living in nigeria. Anyone who thinks fans outside england are not true fans should think again. 5 nigerians died on that night: 4 barca fans and the man utd fan whose life is effectively over. We love our football and we love our teams. I was heartbroken when i heard the news and i apologise to all barca fans. We should not mock the liverpool fans. Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
scott I enjoy your blog but I find this post ever so hypocritical:
“I’ve never sang a Hillsborough song in my life but Heysel, I see as fair game”
- Fair game? The deaths of nearly 40 football fans fair game? I think you need to reconsider how you word certain things.
In addition, as someone pointed out here, the “without killing anyone” t-shirts etc – these are just crass and stopp to EXACTLY the same level as those who do the chanting. I think this post was severley misjudged Scott.
Ok so Ashish is getting some stick for his comments. Liverpool fans putting up that banner is just inexcusable. But how hard is it to understand that every club probably has a few nuts who go about singing disgusting songs? Why mock the dead? Why does it have to reflect on the entire support?
Even if the Liverpool fans were being hypocritical, why the fuck should we care?
I would rather compete with them on the field rather than on such issues. Why try to score brownie points over such a tragic incident?
The pictures from Hillsborough, the pictures from Heysel, the pictures from Munich should make you sad regardless of the club you support. And even if some supporters from the concerned clubs sing pathetic songs we should keep the 96+39+23 in our minds.
NC – Singing about Heysel isn’t mocking the dead like singing about Hillsborough and Munich is.
Read the links at the bottom of the page and then comment. It gets boring having to explain the same things to people over and over again.
This is the difference between us and them. We are the RED DEVILS,they are THE REDS ANIMALS !!!
You people say that Liverpool fans have no remorse for what happened at Heysel.
Empire Of The Kop is willing to condemn those fans who were mocking Everton with what happened at Heysel by displaying that Bucuresti banner.
This contradicts your claim that Liverpool fans don’t feel sorry for those 39 Italians.Because I’ve found one owner of a prominent Liverpool blog show his contempt at those who displayed that banner !
2 of the worse footballing disasters in history with one common denominator = scousers!!
I was a lad workin the turnstiles at Hillsboro that day and the behaviour of them was disgraceful,they turned up in there hundreds if not thousands late,drunk,without tickets,climbing over the roof of the styles and causing a crush outside. People would have died outside so the gates were opened. The LFC fans want to blame everyone else for what happened that day when in truth they only have there own ignorant fans to blame
Seems everyone’s affraid to speak the truth for fear of upsetting the poor scousers!!
I was in a pub in lpool in2005 when they played juve I heard people saying its 20 years ago why don’t they give it a rest. Sad arrogant bastards