Liverpool and Man Utd's foundations have combined to provide better education on football tragedies to school children. The two foundations invited children from Liverpool and Manchester to a school in Huyton to teach them more about the tragedies that both clubs have suffered in the past and to explain why mocking them and singing about them to score points is wrong.
Liverpool legend, Phil Thompson, and Man Utd legend, West Brown, joined the session to speak with students about the Hillsborough disaster and Munich air disaster ahead of the upcoming match between Man Utd and Liverpool at Old Trafford on April 7th.
The most recent clash between Man Utd and Liverpool featured significant amounts of tragedy chanting from Man Utd fans in relation to the Heysel and Hillsborough disaster of the 1980s while Liverpool fans have been guilty of mocking the Munich air disaster for over 60 years.
The new programme was developed in partnership with the Premier League and it is set to be an annual occurrence from now on as part of the league's engagement with young people.
Time to stop ‘unacceptable' tragedy chanting
During the event, Wes Brown spoke about his personal experience of seeing the ‘sadness' in the eyes of the late Sir Bobby Charlton, a survivor of the Munich air disaster, when he heard chants about the tragedy. Phil Thompson, meanwhile, labelled the whole thing “disappointing”.
Matt Parish, CEO of LFC Foundation, said:
“This is a hugely important event which both clubs are committed to making happen every year. Our two proud Foundations coming together to show young people, and all others, how we stand united against tragedy chanting is a very powerful message.
“Education is key, alongside appropriate action, to eradicating vile tragedy chanting in all its forms forever, and we’re delighted to be able to do our bit to help.”
John Shiels, CEO of Manchester United Foundation, said:
“It is unacceptable to use the loss of life, in relation to any tragedy, to score points, and it is time for it to stop.
“We are proud to come together with LFC Foundation as we believe education will break the generational cycle on this issue and help thousands of young people across this region understand the impact tragedy-related abuse has.”