Man u against lille - Close to another tragedy
Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2007 12:47 pmFirst of all I just want to state that I come from Warrington, and at school the football fans were split right down the middle - probably 49% Liverpool, 49% Man U and 2% Everton, Blackburn, Man City.
As a result, being a Liverpool fan I've never been short of people in my peer group to tussle with. There's both scouse and Manc blood in my family as well, which has historically meant that siblings haven't been short of a barney either.
So I've grown up with a real dislike of Man U. Really arrogant fans when things go well, a manager that never fails to make me squirm, always at least one or two players that make you want to throttle them. I don't like Man U.
But when I got home from work late last night to hear there had been crowd problems during their game against Lille, my heart well and truly sank. I must admit I woke up today half-expecting to learn of deaths, and from the sound of it it's luck rather than design that kept this from happening.
In 2007 there should be no football club anywhere that aren't able to guarantee the safety of the fans that pay to watch a game. I don't doubt for a second that some of the hardcore Man U fans I went to school and college with were at that game, and it breaks my heart to think that they may have come close to dying simply for being unfortunate enough to love their team so much that they'd cross the water on the continent with them.
I don't know how many more lessons there are to be learned that don't involve more innocent people dying. There are clearly still stadiums out there, particularly elsewhere in Europe, that either need their capacities reducing, need radical safety work, or - frankly - need to be closed down until fans can simply turn up, file in and watch in safety until it's time to go home.
So many football fans in England thought themselves lucky that it wasn't them their team that were involved in that fateful FA Cup tie at Hillsborough. I really hope to god that we, having suffered so much, never have to think ourselves lucky that it's another football team and not ours that mourn the loss of their fellow fans. Governing bodies everywhere should count themselves lucky, and act immediately. From the sound of it last night was a very, very close call.
As a result, being a Liverpool fan I've never been short of people in my peer group to tussle with. There's both scouse and Manc blood in my family as well, which has historically meant that siblings haven't been short of a barney either.
So I've grown up with a real dislike of Man U. Really arrogant fans when things go well, a manager that never fails to make me squirm, always at least one or two players that make you want to throttle them. I don't like Man U.
But when I got home from work late last night to hear there had been crowd problems during their game against Lille, my heart well and truly sank. I must admit I woke up today half-expecting to learn of deaths, and from the sound of it it's luck rather than design that kept this from happening.
In 2007 there should be no football club anywhere that aren't able to guarantee the safety of the fans that pay to watch a game. I don't doubt for a second that some of the hardcore Man U fans I went to school and college with were at that game, and it breaks my heart to think that they may have come close to dying simply for being unfortunate enough to love their team so much that they'd cross the water on the continent with them.
I don't know how many more lessons there are to be learned that don't involve more innocent people dying. There are clearly still stadiums out there, particularly elsewhere in Europe, that either need their capacities reducing, need radical safety work, or - frankly - need to be closed down until fans can simply turn up, file in and watch in safety until it's time to go home.
So many football fans in England thought themselves lucky that it wasn't them their team that were involved in that fateful FA Cup tie at Hillsborough. I really hope to god that we, having suffered so much, never have to think ourselves lucky that it's another football team and not ours that mourn the loss of their fellow fans. Governing bodies everywhere should count themselves lucky, and act immediately. From the sound of it last night was a very, very close call.
, but people are human beings first and everything else is second.