That FA Cup last four meeting in 1989, as we all know, went down in history for all the wrong reasons. It wasn't played at the picturesque Wembley surroundings (yes that was a different stadium, but a gleaming one for its time) but in the considerably smaller Sheffield venue of Hillsborough. After the event, nobody was talking about managers' jobs being saved or goal frenzies. It was a day when football did not matter in the wider context of things, after incompetent policing in an unsuitable setting led to a crush which left 96 Liverpool fans dead.
The loss of life was made even harder to bear for families and friends, if that was imaginable, by sickening and shameful allegations by a tabloid newspaper that Liverpool supporters confronted police, pickpocketed the dead and even urinated on corpses. The authorities who failed miserably in their duties that day were absolved of all blame by an inquest which put the fatalities down to 'accidental death'.
What resulted was an incredibly moving and courageous campaign by the victims' families to prove that their loved ones died because of neglect, rather than their own doing. 'Justice for the 96' became a phrase enshrined in football folklore, and thanks to the unrelenting quest by the Hillsborough Justice Campaign to have the wrongs of 15 April 1989 put right, the truth was finally laid bare. A 2012 inquest concluded that the authorities did screw up and there was a disgusting cover-up by then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a spiteful individual at the best of times.
From the outside looking in, it is impossible to comprehend what the families of 'the 96' have been through over the previous 25 years. It seems fundamentally wrong to associate anything positive with the tragic events of that awful day in Sheffield, but if any good has come from the atrocity, it is in the actions of the worldwide football community, particularly in recent days, in showing solidarity with the victims of Hillsborough.
Club rivalries are forgotten when something like this occurs. Everton fans are not slow to poke fun at their Merseyside neighbours, but the conduct of the Goodison Park club in the wake of the disaster has been 100 per cent first class. The scenes before their fixture against Newcastle in September 2012 after the landmark inquest, and those prior to the game against Crystal Palace during the week, were quite moving and Everton fans rightfully paid total respect.
Celtic also proved their worth in the weeks after Hillsborough, coming to Anfield to play in a special fixture to show their respects. Manchester United, whose followers frequently express strong dislike of Liverpool (whose fans are well able to pay it back too!), demonstrated solidarity on their official website and social media channels on the day of the 25th anniversary. It's a club that has been blighted by tragedy itself after the Munich air crash of 1958. While there have been isolated incidences of Liverpool and Man United 'supporters' mocking one another's lowest moments, any right-thinking follower of either club is able to distinguish between football banter and despicable hatred, and will stop well short of the vile chants that have occasionally emanated from the terraces. I stopped in my tracks the other night while browsing Twitter upon seeing a picture of a Man United fan in his club's colours sporting a 'Justice for the 96' badge. Proof that football rivalries are irrelevant in the greater scheme of things.
Manchester City fans who travelled to Anfield on Sunday paid appropriate respect in the emotional pre-game tribute to the Hillsborough victims, with Oasis legend Noel Gallagher shown on camera brandishing a 'Justice' badge. The one-minute silences before each game in English football at the weekend were impeccably observed by almost all, save for a scattering of hell-bound idiots who have no business attending a football match, and who were roundly ostracised by those around them.
The behaviour of football supporters can sometimes leave a lot to be desired. The bitter abuse directed at players and managers, the firing of projectiles at players and other supporters, and, in some regrettable cases, outbreaks of violence give the impression that those who actively support their team are Neanderthal creatures of destruction. I am not going to bury my head in the sand and trumpet the notion that football supporters are angelic - I called Martin Demichelis a "f***ing tosser" in a fit of rage on Sunday - but the widespread displays of support, respect and genuine class by the football community at large proved that the overwhelming majority of those who love 'the beautiful game' will park their subjective opinions to one side when it comes to standing hand in hand with those who, ultimately, are also football fans, the only difference being the subject of their devotion.
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