The Manchester United and Liverpool managers have come together again to call on fans at the meeting of the teams tomorrow at Old Trafford to refrain from “tragedy chanting”.
The FA Cup meeting between United and Liverpool last month was marred by fans singing songs relating to the Heysel and Hillsborough disasters, and Erik ten Hag and Jurgen Klopp have asked for supporters to refrain from such actions.
“The atmosphere our fans generated was incredible that afternoon, and if we can produce the same noise levels around Old Trafford then we have already seen what a positive force it can be and the impact that it has on the players," Ten Hag says in his programme notes for the match.
"As such, it is part of my duty to remind every supporter fortunate enough to be at the game that it must be enjoyed in the proper way, and not used as an excuse for abusing rival fans about Hillsborough, Heysel or any other historic tragedies.
"This is one of the truly great rivalries in world sport, for so many of the right reasons, and it is our responsibility to keep it that way.
"Whether the clubs meet at Old Trafford or Anfield, all supporters must focus entirely on backing their team and both Jurgen and I trust that we can count on that happening today [on Sunday]."
Klopp added: “It is super important [this stops]. I heard after the game that it happened and it obviously is not great.
“I just see two of the biggest clubs in the world, so let’s just show a bit of class in these moments, don’t sing this or sing that. Just show class. Let the teams fight on the pitch, let’s play football, that is all fine. Besides that, just show a bit of class — that would be my wish for all of us.”
Since the FA Cup tie the two clubs have refreshed their efforts to educate the fans about the impact that “tragedy chanting” has.
The Foundations of Liverpool FC and Manchester United have come together to deliver an education programme on the impact of tragedy-related abuse and why it must stop.
Joint education programmes
The two clubs’ Foundations invited schoolchildren from Manchester and Liverpool to Lord Derby School in Huyton for an afternoon learning about the tragic histories of the two great football clubs.
Phil Thompson and Wes Brown – who won 12 league titles and five European Cups between them for Liverpool and United, respectively – joined the session and spoke with students about the huge impact the Hillsborough and Munich disasters had on the two clubs, their fans, and the cities.
In addition to measures to educate fans, both clubs are committed to action against those found to have committed tragedy-related abuse, whether in stadiums or online. Club bans have been imposed on several fans after the FA Cup meeting at Old Trafford and tragedy chanting is also liable to criminal prosecution.
New tough measures
The Premier League, clubs, The FA and EFL, are committed to working together to address tragedy chanting as a priority.
New tough measures were introduced at the start of the 2023/24 season, which mean people who are found to have committed offences face stadium bans and potential criminal prosecution. This applies to abuse occurring in stadium or online.
As part of this package of new measures, in November 2023, the Premier League launched education resources to help primary schoolchildren understand the hurt and impact of negative behaviour such as tragedy-related abuse.
The in-classroom lessons are available to more than 18,000 primary schools and 60,000 teachers in England and Wales as part of the Premier League Primary Stars programme.
