Manchester United Fans Chanted "Murderers" At Liverpool In The First Match At Anfield After The Hillsborough Report

Yesterday's match, a controversial 2-1 loss to United, was Liverpool's first time back at Anfield since the release of the Hillsborough Independent Panel's findings. The report absolved Reds supporters of any blame in the 1989 stampede that killed 96 fans, and the day was sure to be an emotional one. It was, at the start—both team captains took part in a release of 96 balloons, and even Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra were moved to shake hands and bury their (comparatively) petty grudges.

It was only after the match that things turned ugly. When the stadium emptied, the United supporters' section remained full, serenading Anfield with chants of "murderers, murderers" and "it's never your fault, always the victims, never your fault."

These weren't new chants cooked up for the special occasion. "Murderers" has been a standby against Liverpool over the years, from United and other clubs. (I don't know if that makes it better or worse.) And some United supporters were insistent that yesterday's chants were not in reference to Hillsborough, but the Heysel Stadium disaster of 1985 that resulted in the deaths of 39 Juventus fans. What's more, the witnesses claim, they were goaded by Liverpool fans imitating airplanes—a reference to the Munich plane crash that wiped out United in 1958.

Regardless, it was a complete failure of an attempt at civility. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson, in remarks echoed by the Manchester United Supporters' Trust, had called for an end to anti-Liverpool chants, or at least a cessation for this one week.

"We agree 100 per cent with the statement made by Sir Alex Ferguson and wish to leave no room for doubt – we unequivocally condemn chants mocking the Munich air crash, Hillsborough and indeed any other human tragedy," reads the MUST statement.

Yeah, that didn't happen. Now there are calls for lifetime bans for the offending United fans. Then after that maybe they can ban anti-Semitic chants against Tottenham, and all the racist chants against everyone. What I'm saying is, 70,000 Ravens fans chanting "bullshit" is like a ladies' day in the Premier League.