This thread will be used to help educate Liverpool supporters of the boycott of The S*N newspaper. As liverpool fans we do not read or buy that rag. I hope this thread becomes the most viewed thread on this site and never let us forget our 96 Redmen who lost their lives on 15h April 1989. Justice For The 96 The Sun, April 1989 lies printed in this days issue led to a boycott that is still going strong. Don't buy The Sun Written by Jim Boardman and submitted with Jim’s approval. A surprising number of people seem unaware of the boycott of The Sun by supporters of Liverpool Football Club. Some don't seem to know it is boycotted, others don't know why. Some people rather disturbingly know why the boycott exists but still choose to buy it. If you choose to continue to buy The Sun after reading this article, and the articles it links to, then you ought to stop calling yourself a Liverpool supporter. Collect any shirts or scarves you have, and hand them in to a charity shop. In fact you can't really call yourself a football supporter. The lies printed in The Sun that you will read about below were aimed at Liverpool supporters, people from Liverpool, people from the North of England, football supporters of any club. If you fall into any of those categories you certainly shouldn't be buying, reading, or visiting the website of that newspaper. If you are a decent human being you will be steering clear of it from now on, even if you've not done so before. If you buy the paper regularly already, print off all of this information, and save your money tomorrow. Read these articles instead. If you still want to buy that paper the following day I would be surprised. The boycott of The Sun goes back to April 1989. At the time of writing that is almost 17 years ago. On April 15th 1989 a disaster took place which resulted in the deaths of ninety-six Liverpool supporters at Hillsborough, the home ground of Sheffield Wednesday, during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. Ninety-six people had their lives crushed out of them. Many more are said to have ended their own lives since as a consequence of that disaster. A lot of injustices came out of that disaster, far too many to list here. For more information visit the Hillsborough Justice Campaign website at http://www.contrast.org/hillsborough and please try to support them. This article concentrates on one piece of injustice that could so easily have been avoided. That could so easily have been made a little better, if not fixed, in the intervening years. Lies were printed as fact in a British newspaper, and that newspaper has still not made an unconditional apology for what it printed. Its editor of the time has never made an unconditional apology in all of that time. The headlines and sub-headlines on the front page of The Sun newspaper on the Wednesday following the disaster were as follows: “The Truth. Some fans picked pockets of victims Some fans urinated on the brave cops Some fans beat up PC giving kiss of life.†So just four days after their loved ones had died, four days after they had narrowly escaped death themselves, Liverpool supporters were confronted with those headlines. People actually believed those headlines. Those who were there did not believe the headlines of course, nor did those who knew people who had been there. Unfortunately though a lot of people did believe those headlines; people who were not Liverpool supporters, perhaps supporters of another team or people who did not follow football at all. The headlines sewed seeds in so many people’s minds that the 96 supporters died at the hands of their own kind. All lies, all proven to be lies, yet never put right by that publication. For more on the media coverage, visit http://www.contrast.org/hillsborough/history/media.shtm, http://football.guardian.co.uk and Wikipedia . The Wikipedia article says: “The story accompanying these headlines claimed that ‘drunken Liverpool fans viciously attacked rescue workers as they tried to revive victims’ and ‘police officers, firemen and ambulance crew were punched, kicked and urinated upon’. A quote, attributed to an unnamed policeman, claimed that a dead girl had been abused and that Liverpool fans ‘were openly urinating on us and the bodies of the dead’.†Read that last bit again, it really was printed in a national newspaper. Liverpool legend and the manager of the club at the time Kenny Dalglish was greatly affected by the tragedy. He attended numerous funerals and visited people in hospital, some of whom were in comas; he spent time with those that had lost their loved ones. In his autobiography he talks about the Disaster and recalls the media coverage: “The press coverage was difficult to comprehend, particularly the publication of pictures which added to people's distress. There was one photograph of two girls right up against the Leppings Lane fence, their faces pressed into the wire. Nobody knows how they escaped. They used to come to Melwood every day, looking for autographs, and that photograph upset everyone there because we knew them. After seeing that I couldn't look at the papers again. When the Sun came out with the story about Liverpool fans being drunk and unruly, underneath a headline 'The Truth,' the reaction on Merseyside was one of complete outrage. Newsagents stopped stocking the Sun. People wouldn't mention its name. They were burning copies of it. Anyone representing the Sun was abused. Sun reporters and photographers would lie, telling people they worked for the Liverpool Post and Echo. There was a lot of harassment of them because of what had been written. The Star had gone a bit strong as well but they apologised the next day. They knew the story had no foundation. Kelvin MacKenzie, the Sun's editor, even called me up. “How can we correct the situation?†he said. “You know that big headline – ‘The Truth’?†I replied. “All you have to do is put ‘We lied’ in the same size. Then you might be all right.†Mackenzie said: “I cannot do that.†“Well,†I replied, “I cannot help you then.†That was it. I put the phone down. Merseysiders were outraged by the Sun. A great many still are. There is no excuse for buying or reading The Sun. None whatsoever. If you read that newspaper, or worse still you buy that newspaper, after reading this article and those other articles that are linked to, then you are not fit to call yourself a Red. If you support another team, you should still be able to see why that newspaper should be boycotted. No matter what competitions they are running. Regardless of any “exclusives†they claim to have, even if it is the only paper left in the shop. Saying you bought it to get some tokens to help your daughter’s school to buy a new computer is not going to get you off the hook. It’s really simple: Don’t buy the Sun. http://www.anfieldroad.com/
I would like to thank Peter Etherington for letting me post these poems on his behalf. The Sun's dead sound, it's got birds with big knockers." Take them in work and decorate your lockers. The sport in it's boss, especially the racin'. And the 'oroscopes tell us the day we're all facin'". "Don't you remember, you ignorant swine? All the lies they told in eighty-nine. Let me remind you just what they said. We pissed on the bizzies and robbed our own dead." "But the telly page's sound, they've got bingo and lotto. And on one of the pages there's a nice little motto. Anyway Evo I just didn't know. It doesn't matter now it was so long ago." "It does fuckin' matter! It matters a lot. People had children they've no longer got. People had fathers they'll no longer see. They said that I killed them, they said it was me!" "Shut up will you Evo. You're always bangin' on. Hillsborough and justice, all that carry on. Anyway Evo get out of me face. It's only a newspaper in any case." "It's not a newspaper. A newspaper has news. Not made up stories with which to abuse. What they said was "The Truth" were all scurrilous lies. We got no apology. What a surprise!" "All right then Evo what should I buy?" Tell me one, give me the reason why. Which one do you think stands out from the rest? The Mirror, The Echo, which one's the best?" "Don't buy the Sun. It's fit only to burn. Don't buy the Sun. There's nothing you'll learn. I'll say it once more and then I'll be done. Buy what you want but DON'T BUY THE SUN." -------------------- I BELIEVE IT. DON'T YOU? We all turned up late, without tickets and bladdered, even a ten-year-old boy, well that's what I gathered. We forced open a gate and started to push Towards the front of the pen, caused the terrible crush. Two girls at the front, screamin' and cryin'. "Open the fence! There's people here dyin'!" "Get back in there, you bloody Scouse yobs!" South Yorkshire Police just doing their jobs. Then they all realised something was wrong. Scousers stopped singin' their favourite song. That poor Scouser Tommy who took the King's shilling. That poor Scouser Tommy who was ready and willing. That poor Scouser Tommy who fought in the war. Gave his life for his country. I wonder what for? Brave bobbies put up with so much that day. Even got peed on, that's what they say. It was us! It was our fault! We killed our mates! A manslaughter charge surely awaits. But hey, don't worry! We won't go to jail! We'll do a deal with the Judge; British justice won't fail. How do I know all this is true? It said in the Sun. I believe it - don't you? Peter Etherington. NINETY-SIX DEAD: NO-ONE TO BLAME "THEY ROBBED THEIR OWN DEAD. WHAT A TERRIBLE SIGHT." "THE TRUTH," SAID THE SUN, SO IT MUST BE RIGHT. "DRUNKEN SCOUSE YOBS FORCED OPEN A GATE!" SCREAMED THE BILE FROM THE SCUMRAG WE ALL HATE. "YOBS PEED ON BOBBIES TRYING TO SAVE THEIR MATES LIVES." HOW MUCH MORE WILL THEY TWIST THEIR KNIVES? NO SCOUSER ON EARTH SHOULD EVER BE SEEN WITH THAT PIECE OF DIRT, THAT RAG SO OBSCENE. NINETY-SIX LIVES, NINETY-SIX GONE. YET THE PEOPLE TO BLAME STILL CARRY ON. EVERTON, LEEDS, SPURS AND UNITED EVERY CLUB'S FANS WANT TO SEE THE WRONGS RIGHTED. "IT COULD HAVE BEEN US," EVERYONE SAID "WHOSE FANS WERE LEFT CRUSHED, INJURED AND DEAD." WE ONLY WANT JUSTICE, WE DON'T WANT REVENGE. WE ONLY SEEK ANSWERS, NOT TO AVENGE. ADMIT YOU WERE WRONG (IT'S NOT TOO LATE) IN GIVING THE ORDER TO OPEN THE GATE. NINETY-SIX DEAD, "NO-ONE TO BLAME" SAID A JUDGE UP IN LEEDS: BRITISH JUSTICE IN SHAME. "THE TRUTH" WAS ALL LIES AND DISGRACED OUR GOOD NAME. NINETY-SIX DEAD. NO-ONE TO BLAME. NO POLICEMEN CONVICTED, THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERED. NINETY-SIX FAMILIES LEFT BROKEN AND SHATTERED. NINETY-SIX LIVES LOST WATCHING A GAME. NINETY-SIX DEAD. NO-ONE TO BLAME. Evo (Peter Ethrington) -------------- WE'LL NEVER HEAR THOSE WORDS Thirteen years later. Thirteen years on. We've all cried for justice but we've had none. We've had platitudes, condolences and "Never mind dear" But we've never heard the words we so long to hear. "We were wrong. It was our fault. We shouldn't have opened the gate." We'll never hear those words no matter how long we wait. "We didn't have enough ambulances, stewards or men." We're not hearing it now and we didn't hear it then. "Okay, we were wrong. You should have had the big end." They'll never take the blame for our 96 friends. "We didn't want a mix of Forest and Scouse." They're all throwing stones from their big glass house. "People WERE alive at six minutes past three." They'll never admit it but they'll always be free. "Well I can retire now. I've got a nice fat pension." Said the horrible pig whose name I can't mention. "We should have delayed the kick off, even if it was for an hour." We'll never hear those words from their Ivory Tower. "We know it wasn't your fault. We shouldn't have called you drunks." We'll never hear those words from the reprehensible skunks. What they're really saying is, "Yes, it was your fault, you trouble-causing Scousers. Drunken and thieving you moaning mickey mousers." They don't give a toss about us and our kind. I wish they could have the demons in my mind.
Not many of us need educating over that Liamo in fairness but anyone who buys the s*n does need some educating! All if not all fans knows of McKenzie and what lies he told and how he gained financially off the back of it. He is sc*m of the sc*m, the likes of him paved the way for imrepsonsible journalism going on.
Its okay Liam, great to have an educational thread for a change, seriously though the rag has even started saying they sold an extra 20,000 copies in Liverpool, no chance, its got its little sell and thats it, i would love to have an 100% no sell but its impossible, don't forget they do these surveys around merseyside, means nothing I work in St Helens merseyside but loads of Mancs who buy the rag, please dont buy or even read that scum rag, you know it makes sense.
I agree, probably a few young fans out there who are aware of the issue, but don't know a whole lot about it. A good educational post for them only reading about it for the first time. Fair play.
It's a wonderful post, the horror of the day comes back to me. Don't you think you should remove or at least amend your tagline? YNWA
Good stuff liam we need to make sure everyone knows the score with this rag ! big thanks to murph and evo too for letting us put them pieces on here !
Never Forgive Never Forget! RIP the 96 John Alfred Anderson (62) Colin Mark Ashcroft (19) James Gary Aspinall (18) Kester Roger Marcus Ball (16) Gerard Bernard Patrick Baron (67) Simon Bell (17) Barry Sidney Bennett (26) David John Benson (22) David William Birtle (22) Tony Bland (22) Paul David Brady (21) Andrew Mark Brookes (26) Carl Brown (18) David Steven Brown (25) Henry Thomas Burke (47) Peter Andrew Burkett (24) Paul William Carlile (19) Raymond Thomas Chapman (50) Gary Christopher Church (19) Joseph Clark (29) Paul Clark (18) Gary Collins (22) Stephen Paul Copoc (20) Tracey Elizabeth Cox (23) James Philip Delaney (19) Christopher Barry Devonside (18) Christopher Edwards (29) Vincent Michael Fitzsimmons (34) Thomas Steven Fox (21) Jon-Paul Gilhooley (10) Barry Glover (27) Ian Thomas Glover (20) Derrick George Godwin (24) Roy Harry Hamilton (34) Philip Hammond (14) Eric Hankin (33) Gary Harrison (27) Stephen Francis Harrison (31) Peter Andrew Harrison (15) David Hawley (39) James Robert Hennessy (29) Paul Anthony Hewitson (26) Carl Darren Hewitt (17) Nicholas Michael Hewitt (16) Sarah Louise Hicks (19) Victoria Jane Hicks (15) Gordon Rodney Horn (20) Arthur Horrocks (41) Thomas Howard (39) Thomas Anthony Howard (14) Eric George Hughes (42) Alan Johnston (29) Christine Anne Jones (27) Gary Philip Jones (18) Richard Jones (25) Nicholas Peter Joynes (27) Anthony Peter Kelly (29) Michael David Kelly (38) Carl David Lewis (18) David William Mather (19) Brian Christopher Mathews (38) Francis Joseph McAllister (27) John McBrien (18) Marion Hazel McCabe (21) Joseph Daniel McCarthy (21) Peter McDonnell (21) Alan McGlone (28) Keith McGrath (17) Paul Brian Murray (14) Lee Nicol (14) Stephen Francis O'Neill (17) Jonathon Owens (18) William Roy Pemberton (23) Carl William R!mmer (21) David George R!mmer (38) Graham John Roberts (24) Steven Joseph Robinson (17) Henry Charles Rogers (17) Colin Andrew Hugh William Sefton (23) Inger Shah (38) Paula Ann Smith (26) Adam Edward Spearritt (14) Philip John Steele (15) David Leonard Thomas (23) Patrik John Thompson (35) Peter Reuben Thompson (30) Stuart Paul William Thompson (17) Peter Francis Tootle (21) Christopher James Traynor (26) Martin Kevin Traynor (16) Kevin Tyrrell (15) Colin Wafer (19) Ian David Whelan (19) Martin Kenneth Wild (29) Kevin Daniel Williams (15) Graham John Wright (17)
Another good red & friend has kindly given Irish Kop permission to share in her powerful story Thanks Jo hope your enjoying yer holiday. The effects of Mackenzie’s lies… Been thinking for a while whether I could ever begin to write how the lies printed by Mackenzie affected me. There has been some amazing and brave stories written recently & standing on the Kop singing Justice for the 96 against Arsenal was one of if not the proudest moments of my life, I never thought that I could feel so proud and so sad at the same time. My story is probably not that different to anyone else who was at Hillsborough but as part of the OTK family I just felt I wanted to talk about it. Why now? Dunno, suppose it’s the memories stirred up by Mackenzie. My Story I was always mad on Liverpool, strangely enough me Dad wasn’t into footie and my younger brother was too young. Didn’t stop me harassing me mum & dad for a season ticket for me fourteenth birthday though. They knew I was a tomboy but I reckon they thought I would grow out of it. Amusingly enough no-one seemed to really bat an eyelid when I started to go the match on me own. I didn’t care that I had no-one to go with, off I trotted with me Season ticket (princely sum of £55)! I didn’t grow out of it, I just loved it even more. Slowly they got used to it but as I was only fourteen they wouldn’t let me go to any Away games, fair do’s I suppose especially as I was a girl! The first away game I ever went to was Hillsborough in ’88 I was 15, the ticket as I recall was £6 and £7 for the train. Me mum got me up at the crack of dawn and made me a packed lunch. Thought I was the bees knees, going all the way to Sheffield on me own. Can still remember the walk down Leppings Lane, seemed miles from the train station! That was the year I went to my first Wembley and shed me first tears as we lost to Wimbledon. I was in one of the side pens at Hillsborough in ’88, I remember looking across at the two pens behind the goal & thinking how chocca they were. Madness I thought as I was standing in acres of space, looking back now the exact same thing happened in ’89, why didn’t they see it coming? When it came to ’89 I was beside myself with excitement, I was really friendly with one of the teachers in school, we used to have loads of banter about the footie. He was a bluenose and I remember us both leaving school on the Friday afternoon. I wanted them to win for a change. I was too young to go to the final in ’86 but this was my chance to go to Wembley and see an all Merseyside Cup Final. I didn’t go on the train that year, went on the coach from Picton Clock, Home James I think the firm was called. Me mum took me to the coach (even though I was 16 now)! I don’t remember too much about the journey except for two things that stand out, the first one that our coach for some reason went though Manchester and everyone started singing the Munich song. I joined in blindly not really appreciating that I was singing about a tragedy. The second thing was the coach got stopped and searched for alcohol on route. That seemed to hold us up quite a bit as I remember panicking about missing kick off. Then began the start of a long nightmare, I remember vividly seeing so many people queuing up outside just a mass of fans not even really in a queue. I was really worried about missing kick off by now but that was the least of my worries. I just remember next that someone decided to shut these two outer gates, but they never just shut them they kind of pushed them shut and caused us to be crushed in between the turnstiles and the perimeter gates. I remember thinking I was in big trouble then I was really squashed, on my own, smaller than everyone else. I thought no-one could see me. I really thought I was gonna die OUTSIDE the ground. I suppose because people don’t talk about Hillsborough, myself included I never really knew if anyone else felt so crushed outside. When they opened the gates the first time I remember thinking thank god. They only let a few through at first to relieve some of the outside pressure. I don’t blame the police for that not the lads on the ground anyway. Some of them were getting just as crushed as us, I remember them looking frightened and one of them saw me and put his arm round me. He asked me who I was with and when I said on my own he tried to keep hold of me and stop me getting crushed. He was young and frightened and yes he was a policeman but it was the men at the top who were to blame not him. I heard him on his radio pleading for some guidance from a senior officer; he didn’t know what to do. Then they opened the gates again, this time for longer and relieved we all piled straight down the tunnel. The rest as we all know is history and I don’t want to talk about the horrors that I saw after that. The reason for this post is to talk about the relief I felt when someone opened those gates, I felt relief while m fellow fans at the front were crushed to death. When Kelvin Mackenzie published his lies I believed some of them and I was there. For years I thought it my fault. I really thought that I personally helped to kill the people at the front of those pens. I went back to school on the Monday and got special treatment from the teachers, but I felt a fraud. Here people were being nice to me and wondering if I was okay but they didn’t realise that I wanted to them to open those gates that I was alive and the people at the front were dead. I saw those pictures, the crushed faces against fences and I wept. I helped to crush those people. That is what the lies and the cover up done to people like me, they made me believe that I was responsible. Nearly two years of counselling before I started to believe it wasn’t my fault. People like Kelvin Mackenzie made me think I was a murderer, and if you are reading this you might think well you were there you knew the truth but I was sixteen, an innocent kid going to a footie match. I thought the papers wrote the truth, yeah I knew that some of it was wrong. But I didn’t know what to believe. Whose fault was it? A young policeman helped me, so was it the fault of the police, so many questions. It took me years to find and accept the answers, so to all the liars on that day especially Mackenzie I hope you are proud of yourselves because you made one tragedy into two. You made me believe I was responsible for those deaths when I wasn’t. You ruined my teenage years (although at least I was alive) but most of all you still after all these years cause me pain. The difference? I’m older, wiser and I know THE TRUTH. JUSTICE FOR THE 96 YNWA Jo
Touching story...I remember reading through thousands of pages of cases brought by the families of those who suffered that day, when I was studying Law...
great post- really appreciate the time and effort that went into this & it is a must for fans who are 'Unaware' of the situation.
Excellent post liam, we should never forget what happened on that fateful day and we should educate all red fans about the 96 and make sure that rag is never bought by liverpool fans again. Also all fans that go over to anfield should make a point of visiting the hillsborough justice shop right out side the ground JFT96.
Just to clarify most of the posts I put on this thread are not mine but are brave Redmen & Women who are constantly looking for justice I have just gathered them here so people can see what truly happened. I my friends am only the messenger its them you should applaud
messenger... you are still the messenger Liam and can accept the gratidtude of those who give it... mate sometimes you have to accept the thanks and good wishes of others, it's called pride and pride comes before a fall...!! now, down to seriouis business, yes it is good to have a new site for everything Liverpool FC... as we are a worldwide phenomenon... (shoot, try saying that after a few sherbets..!@!@!)... the young and new supporters need to be educated because there are so many myths and stuff flying around that the truth must be told... here is one site I would like you all to look at... http://justicefor96plus.forumup.net...or96plus&sid=24aa214d52f56ed4de1ef8a0ceef6d62 and in future days I will be posting a lot of information and some of it will shock those of you who do not know what actually happened... but anyone who ever read The Sc*m that day will never forget the impact it had on a whole community, so I will start off by saying that I want you all to go out and tell anyone you see reasding or buying The Sc*m newspaper to take it home and burn it... we will give you a list of reasons why you should do that and tell others to do the same bye 4 now Lemmo...