Liverpool FC have banned journalists from the Sun from attending all the club’s premises over the newspaper’s infamous coverage of the Hillsborough disaster.
The newspaper, then edited by Kelvin McKenzie, ran a story four days after the Hillsborough in 1989 which accused Liverpool fans of pickpocketing and urinating on the victims as well as attacking policemen on the scene.
The infamous story, which used the headline “The Truth” has obviously since been proven to be a load of utter, nasty rubbish.
The infamous story, which used the headline “The Truth” has obviously since been proven to be a load of utter, nasty rubbish.
Last year, after an arduous 27-year legal battle, a jury finally found that the 96 victims of the disaster were unlawfully killed.
Now, after discussions between Liverpool FC and families of the victims and covers games and press conferences at Anfield, the club’s Melwood training ground and any interviews with players or staff.
Responding to the ban, which was announced on Friday, the Sun has called the decision”bad for fans and bad for football”, which is rather ironic.
Here’s the Sun’s statement on the ban:
The Sun and Liverpool FC have had a solid working relationship for the 28 years since the Hillsborough tragedy. Banning journalists from a club is bad for fans and bad for football. The Sun can reassure readers this won’t affect our full football coverage.
The Sun deeply regrets its reporting of the tragic events at Hillsborough and understands the damage caused by those reports is still felt by many in the city. A new generation of journalists on the paper congratulate the families on the hard fought victory they have achieved through the inquest. It is to their credit that the truth has emerged and, whilst we can’t undo the damage done, we would like to further a dialogue with the city and to show that the paper has respect for the people of Liverpool.
One wonders why, with this “new generation of journalists” at the Sun, they still refused to include any mention of the unlawful killing Hillsborough verdict on its first edition front page last year (as did its sister paper the Times)?
No doubt the decision by Liverpool to shun the Sun will go down very well with the club’s fans and with football fans in general.