I’ve been given two apologies in the past fortnight from organisations that chose to smear me with lies.
Almost 34 years ago I went to an FA Cup semi-final in Sheffield where 97 people died, and the police claimed for decades that it was supporters like me, turning up late without tickets, who killed them. Even though, like the vast majority of fans, I arrived early with a ticket, and reports and inquests cleared us of all blame.
Two weeks ago, the National Police Chiefs’ Council finally admitted the police had caused the Hillsborough disaster, apologised for their “profound failings” and the “suffering” that they caused to the bereaved. Which, along with the families, is everyone who survived that day.
You may understand why that apology was taken with a skip-full of salt and a shedload of contempt.
Nine months ago, I went to a Champions League Final in Paris and arrived two hours before kick-off with a €150 ticket, only to be kettled for an eternity in an underpass where local gangs mugged families as police looked on.
I was pepper-sprayed by cops as a crush formed outside a locked gate, and watched petrified kids crying, pensioners retching, and fellow fans talking down anyone trying to scale fences.
When I eventually made it to my seat, organisers UEFA had placed a message on a giant screen saying the kick-off had been delayed because fans had arrived late, and in the immediate aftermath French politicians blamed the chaos on ticketless fans.
It was a haunting flashback to Hillsborough for people like me, and once again it was a pack of lies. Thankfully people carry mobile phones today so video evidence pieced together the truth.
Which is why, this week, an independent report placed all blame on an “absence of overall control”, “oversight of safety” and a “defective” police operation, which included the “life-threatening” use of tear gas. Us fans were not just cleared of any responsibility, we were told our actions had prevented another Hillsborough disaster and the authorities were accused of a “reprehensible” attempt to “deflect responsibility for the failures”.
There followed an apology from UEFA for ruining our night, putting us in physical danger and blaming us for their shambles. It had taken nearly nine months for the people in charge to change their cowardly, bigoted narrative and publish the truth.
Naturally, once again, it was greeted with a skip-full of salt and a shedload of contempt.
And anger that yet again an officially approved lie had gone around the world before being corrected and we had been smeared for crimes we didn’t commit.
Anger that, while we were waiting for the apology, two Hillsborough survivors who were triggered by Paris and its aftermath, took their own lives.
Anger that they think apologies will suffice. Well, I don’t want to hear sorry, I want to see the head of UEFA resign, the French government admit their failings, and the sorry way football fans are treated by those who organise and police it, here and in Europe, changed for good.
I want them to stop viewing 100% of football fans as the 1% of morons it attracts and, instead, treat them the way they treat other citizens who pay big money to watch the likes of a Coldplay gig or Wimbledon.
I want them to stop treating us all as an ugly threat that needs nullifying.
