UPDATE: Martin Tyler apologises for Hillsborough comment and issues statement to explain
Sky Sports commentator Martin Tyler has been urged to clarify and apologise for comments he made when mentioning the Hillsborough disaster on BBC radio this morning.
Tyler was speaking on the Today show on Radio 4 earlier on, to mark the return of the Premier League season tonight 30 years after the English top flight was rebranded.
Asked for his thoughts looking back to 1992, he made comments which could be seen as linking Hillsborough to wider 'hooligan-related issues'.
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Tyler, 76, said: "It was very pioneering. We didn't know quite how the [new] structure of the league would work, we certainly didn't know how satellite television as it was called in those days would work. But it was a great adventure. 3,000 live matches later...it does seem that it worked.
"You've got to remember that football was in a bit of a crisis at that time. We weren't that long after Hillsborough, and other hooligan-related issues as well. It was very much a difficult time for the game generally.
"It was seen as a bit of privatisation - taking it away from the public. In fact it's brought it back to the public I think. I would say that wouldn't I from my position? But I think it has worked extremely well.
"We've got better grounds. We've certainly got better training facilities. I think we've probably got better players although the old-timers would disagree a little bit. But the truth is, I think it's been very good for the industry and it's been a great export for the country as well."
Since the comments were made, the BBC posted a statement on Twitter which read: "We regret that we did not robustly challenge Martin Tyler on a comment which appeared to link Hillsborough & hooliganism. Martin has since apologised for the comment & clarified that these were separate examples & he did not intend to conflate the two."
It has been categorically shown that Liverpool fans played no part in causing the 1989 tragedy, which claimed the lives of 97 victims. An inquest concluded in 2016 that those supporters were unlawfully killed after a series of failures.
After Tyler's comments, the Hillsborough Survivors Support Alliance account on Twitter posted in response: "@BBCr4today this needs correcting immediately. Martin Tyler must apologise".
And Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, also called for an apology from the veteran broadcaster: "Hillsborough and 'OTHER hooligan related incidents'. Exceptionally crass comments from Martin Tyler on @BBCr4today - a man who should know much better.
"Even now, people whose careers are built on football still spread these foul smears. I hope there'll be an apology sharpish. "
The ECHO has contacted Sky for comment.
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