The Hillsborough Survivors Support Alliance has slammed the 'despicable' behaviour of a Manchester United fan who appeared to mock Liverpool over the 1989 tragedy.
The supporter was pictured wearing a United away shirt with the number 97 on the back with the words 'not enough' across the top. The words appear to be a mocking reference to the 97 Liverpool fans who died following the Hillsborough disaster. They died as a result a crush at the stadium in Sheffield during Liverpool's FA Cup semi-final with Nottingham Forest on 15 April 1989.
After a picture of the fan began circulating on social media, the Metropolitan Police Events Twitter account revealed officers had arrested a man on suspicion of a public order offence during the FA Cup Final at Wembley, in which Man City beat Man Utd.
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The Liverpool Photos Twitter account shared a picture of the fan and wrote: "A Man Utd fan at Wembley today. Get this man’s face spread across social media ASAP, he needs to face repercussions."
The Met Police replied to the post, announcing that they had made an arrest.
The post said: "We are aware of this and have worked proactively with officials at @wembleystadium to identify the individual. He has been arrested on suspicion of a public order offence and taken into custody."
In recent years, the authorities and football clubs have made efforts to stamp down on some fans who taunt rivals with vile chants about tragedies such as the Hillsborough and Munich disasters.
Today (Sunday) the Hillsborough Survivors Supporters Alliance (HSA) condemned the 'abhorrent message' across the back of the fan's United shirt and thanked the police for their swift action, the Liverpool Echo reports.
They also thanked 'genuine Manchester United fans' for their messages of support.
The HSA statement reads: "On Saturday 3rd June 2023, the first ever all Manchester cup final took place at Wembley between Manchester City and Manchester United.
"It was the opportunity for Manchester as a city to show itself in its best light but unfortunately this was marred by a so-called Manchester United fan wearing an away shirt that mocked the deaths of the 97 unlawfully killed at Hillsborough, the families and the survivors of the tragedy that took place on April 15th 1989.
"On the back of the shirt was the number 97 and above that, where players' names are normally displayed, were the words Not Enough.
"HSA was alerted to this despicable act on Twitter and we at Hillsborough Survivors Support Alliance would like to thank the FA, Metropolitan Police and security staff at Wembley for their swift action and arrest of the so-called Manchester United fan who wore an away shirt with such an abhorrent message targeting family members and survivors of the Hillsborough disaster back in 1989.
"Let's hope the justice system can be as swift with the appropriate punishment for this act of hatred. We would also like to thank the messages of support that we have received from all genuine Manchester United fans, and fans from other clubs for their support."
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