Liverpool a total disgrace

By Stephen 18
October 28 2004

With ten minutes of the game remaining, a reasonable looking Millwall supporter sitting near the press made a request. He bent his head back and pointed out a finger at the scene 315 degrees from his seat. "Tell the radio what they're doing," he said. "If it was Millwall you'd tell them."

With ten minutes of the game remaining, a reasonable looking Millwall supporter sitting beneath the press box in the West Stand made a more than reasonable request.



He bent his head back and pointed out a finger at the scene 315 degrees from his seat. "Tell the radio what they're doing," he said. "If it was Millwall you'd tell them."



He was, of course, referring to the behaviour of Liverpool supporters in the North Stand, and no doubt mindful of the huge Anfield contingent within the national media as well as the less than glamorous image of his club, demanded that there were no double standards at play when it came to pointing the finger at troublemakers.



The radio commentators, to whom he was directing the orders to, maintained their placid expressions and carried on broadcasting.



It was too loud in the stadium to detect if his comments had been taken on board and translated through the airwaves, so just in case eager-eared listeners missed the visual imagery, let's have an attempt at deciphering what actually happened.



First off, we'll deal with what was clearly visible and audible from our perspective in the West Upper from the 70th minute onwards.



The atmosphere within the stadium was noisy and passionate from the off, yet at no point did it seem to have the potential to go over the line and descend into violence.



But all that changed after Milan Baros gave Liverpool an unassailable 2-0 advantage. The away fans, for whom you would think would now be content with life, suddenly became aggressively aroused.



Chants of 'off, off, off, off' were directed towards the Millwall supporters in the West Stand, and within minutes, a gang of 100 supporters tried to force their way into the seating area of their home counterparts.



As well over hundred armed law enforcers in the form of riot police, unmarked officers and fluorescent attired policeman all gathered to separate the two sets of fans, Liverpool followers looked for other ways to make an impact.



Dozens of seats were torn up and hurled at seemingly random targets in protest at being gagged by the efficient police officers.



Debris was thrown, fights ensued between supporters and officers, and a disabled fan in a wheelchair was trampled on and had to receive treatment for minor injuries.



The scenes were ugly, and mirrored the last time the lower tier of the North Stand seated away supporters when West Ham tried to attack Millwall fans earlier this year.



Just like on that April afternoon, the anti-racism banner behind the goal was torn up, and it came as a relief to all concerned that the violence began to abate as the game reached its climax.



As those of us who follow Millwall to all ends of the country in cars with operational radios will be more than aware, Liverpool supporters are kings of the post-match phone-in.



Stories from visiting supporters were soon relayed via these channels explaining that the violence was in retaliation to alleged chanting from Millwall fans mocking the Hillsborough tragedy of 1989 that saw 96 Liverpool fans crushed to death.



Yet we were sat a similar distance from the accused Millwall supporters as the Liverpool contingent that tried to attack them, and not one member of the media remarked on hearing a chant of this nature.



The press box was not a place for shrinking violets either. None of the big names from the world of football, including Neil Ruddock, Alan Curbishley, Alan Smith and Richard Sadlier, or former Liverpool greats Ray Houghton and Phil Neal, leapt to the defence of the away fans.

They were as perplexed as the rest of us.



If - and it is an if with a capital I - these chants had been made by Lions supporters, then it was understandable that Liverpool supporters would have reacted with some degree of anger, but the lack of people throughout the stadium who heard them would suggest that it would have been only a small minority of fans dishing it out.



And as vile and disgusting as these chants would have been, could they have excused the reaction of the Reds’ travelling army?



The answer is no. Unfortunately, there are people in society who would stoop to any level to gain and advantage or get a reaction - and football fans are no different.



The recent example was Billy Connolly's sick stand up line where he urged the Iraqi terrorists to 'hurry up' and kill British hostage Ken Bigley.



What was the best way to react to that? To ignore it. To treat Connolly with the contempt he deserved by not even making the condemnation he desperately sought.



Why bother? He is an irrelevance that wants to stir people's emotions in whatever way he can, and by sparking the fire of criticism in his direction, it simply fuelled another hundred low-life publicity trips in the future.



So why did Liverpool fans - who forever pride themselves on honour and integrity - react in the way any goaders would have wanted?



Perhaps we should also ask why West Ham's supporters did the same at the Den last season.



Come to think of it, the question needs to be raised as to why so many visiting fans treat Millwall's home with such contempt.



Don't forget that Lions travellers did not retaliate one iota to the sickening racial hatred from Ferencvaros fans directed at their black players one month ago.



And you could not imagine these scenes at Anfield, just as there were none in Millwall's recent trips to Old Trafford and the Millennium stadium, regardless of what songs were sung by rival supporters.



It appears that away fans view the Den as a place where they can get as violent as they want without any repercussions.



Maybe it is because of Millwall's reputation, or the unglamorous train lines, waste incinerator and working class streets that greet visitors to South Bermondsey.



Either way, it is an attitude that stinks far more than the nearby SELCHP power station.



Had the radio presenters engaged in dialogue with the furious Millwall fan sitting in front, the following line may have been used to sum up how he felt: "Do it in your own back yard lads, if not, don't bother leaving it."