Opinion | Can Liverpool ever escape its past? Success breeds scorn as rivals ramp-up stereotypes of the club, and the city
- Manchester City staff are recorded singing an offensive song after their title win and offer a tone-deaf justification
- Vitriol for the club, and the city, is heightened during successful periods
Liverpool are prisoners of their own history. That was never clearer than this week, when footage emerged of Manchester City players singing a version of “Allez, Allez, Allez”, the song that was the Kop’s signature tune on the run to the Champions League final in Kiev last year.
The City version contains the line “battered in the streets” and refers to Liverpool fans as “victims of it all.” Even though the Premier League champions released a robust statement defending the players, the reference to supporters being brutalised is in bad taste. Sean Cox was beaten with belts by Roma ultras outside Anfield and suffered life-changing injuries. The Irishman has not fully recovered even though it is more than a year since the attack.
Even if the line is not about Cox and concerns supporters who were assaulted in Kiev as City suggest, it is bizarre that a club would find the sentiment defensible.
The “victims” line is even more problematic. The words “always the victims, it’s never your fault” are frequently directed at Liverpool supporters. Almost everyone who uses the phrase denies it is a Hillsborough slur. They are deluding themselves. It is the clearest dog whistle in the history of high-pitched whines.
Few clubs have as many enemies as Liverpool. The local rivalry with Everton grows more unpleasant by the year. A generation of Evertonians has grown up to believe that the Heysel stadium disaster ended their team’s hopes of being one of England’s dominant clubs. Liverpool supporters played a significant part in events that led to 39 deaths at the 1985 European Cup final against Juventus but those who post “justice for the 39” on social media neglect to mention that 14 Liverpool fans were jailed for involuntary manslaughter. A thorough investigation took place in Belgium and a number of officials were forced to take responsibility for lapses that created the deadly environment at Heysel. Fault was apportioned and the red half of Merseyside had to accept a significant share of the blame.