To each one that e-mailed me, I explained the story behind our song, and was quick to distance it from the sick chants fans sing about Munich and Hillsborough which mock the dead. Several were clueless about the behaviour of Liverpool in the aftermath of Heysel and stopped replying once I pointed them in the direction of a couple of Liverpool websites which gave them an education in their own club’s actions.
Red and White Kop: John Smith had told reporters that he believed the trouble to be the fault of ‘Chelsea fans’ – it was nonsense, clutching at straws. There had been fans of other clubs there, there always is in major cup finals, but not in any significant numbers.
These rabid e-mailing Liverpool fans took great glee in telling me that the designs had been taken down from the shop, which is hosted by Spreadshirt. I e-mailed Spreadshirt to ask them what was going on, to which they responded letting me know the design had temporarily been taken down due to masses of complaining e-mails they received. It immediately reminded me of the Liverpool fans reaction to American pundit Steven Cohen, who received death threats and anti-Semitic hate mail following his claim that Liverpool fans had caused the Hillsborough disaster.
I e-mailed the owner of the Liverpool website to explain what the song was all about, which he then published on his website.
The families of the 96 have every right to be fuming and sickened with the South Yorkshire police after their inept behaviour lead to the deaths of so many people. The idea of seeking ‘justice’ for their deaths is one we can all understand. I fucking hate the police regardless and if one of mine had died at Hillsborough I’d be as nutty about getting justice as the families of the 96. By failing to accept responsibility they are denying the families the chance to grieve properly.
Likewise, after Heysel, your club denied any responsibility for the deaths of the 39. John Smith (the chairman) blamed Chelsea fans and said it was nothing to do with Liverpool. This was a front your club kept up for 20 years until you met Juve again. You said sorry and put on a big fuss and their fans turned their backs to you, stuck up their fingers, and whistled. 20 years too late and 20 years of pain for the club, fans and families of those that died.
Without Killing Anyone we won it three times is not mocking the dead (like Munich and Hillsborough songs do), it is confronting your fans and club with something you denied for 20 years, something you blamed on Chelsea. It is also praising our clean conscience for not having the blood of others on our hands.
The very fact that your die-hard fans, the ones who were able to get tickets for Liverpool away at Goodison (so not some jonny-come-latelys from London, but season ticket holders with plenty of loyalty points), were singing “2-0 to the murderers” makes your campaign against me entirely pointless. Your own fans refer to your club as murderers.
It was sick for your club to deny Heysel was your fault, it was sick for your fans to mockingly refer to themselves as “murderers” but it is not sick to confront your fans with your past, a past you denied for 20 years. Would Juve fans want attention brought to the behaviour of your fans that day? Given how much attention Liverpool fans have wanted drawn to the South Yorkshire police, I’d argue yes.
The chant isn’t in good taste, certainly, just like so many chants up and down the country, but I’d never class it as sick or disrespectful. United players were singing it after we won in Moscow and whilst that was picked up in the press, there was little to no fuss made about it. If they had been singing about Hillsborough though, it would have been a completely different matter, and rightly so.
Whilst I imagine the Liverpool fans who were there that day have a heavy heart about what happened and several of the fans involved were prosecuted, the fact is Liverpool FC’s official stance was it was nothing to do with them, and it took them 20 years to say otherwise. Had they accepted their responsibility, instead of pointing a finger at Chelsea and the stadium, the chant probably never would have been created, but that’s not what happened. You could argue that because Liverpool FC accepted blame four years ago when the clubs met, the song should no longer be sung. But now it is more about our European Cup record, winning our third in 2008, than anything to do with Liverpool or Heysel. I can’t imagine many people who sing it are doing so in reference to the actions of Liverpool fans, rather see it as a song which celebrates how many European Cups we’ve won.
You could also argue that Heysel has nothing to do with us so we have no place to sing about it, but I disagree. Firstly, I think that any footballing tragedy has an effect on football fans. Whilst we don’t know what would have happened if our fans had been at Hillsborough that day, we do know that better performances from United could have meant we were there that day. It’s something you can relate to. When the anniversary took place last year and you saw parents of children who died at Hillsborough, you’d be a monster not to feel any compassion for them. When you’re a football fan, an incident doesn’t have to happen to your club for you to have a reaction to or opinion of it. Secondly, they are our rivals, and football fans sing about their rivals. Liverpool fans sing about Chelsea not having any history, but what’s that got to do with them how many trophies Chelsea have won? Thirdly, Heysel denied us, amongst many other English clubs, the opportunity to play in Europe, after their fans got our clubs banned.
Essentially, the song may not be for you, I’m not trying to force it down your throat or tell you that you should sing it, rather I’m explaining the reason why it is sung by our fans and why we do have that design in the shop. You may not agree with it and that is fair enough, but this song is not about mocking the dead, it’s about remembering them, remembering what Liverpool FC denied, celebrating our success in Europe, as well as our clean conscience.
very well said scott..