Comfort for the bereaved, equality in the workplace, evolution and a remarkable career
Wednesday September 12th 2012 was historic. 450,000 documents related to the Hillsborough disaster, and subsequent cover up, were finally released into the public domain. In the House of Commons, British Prime Minister David Cameron formally apologised to the families of the victims. It’s possible that younger people have no idea of what happened on that terrible day in April 1989. No idea of the contempt we, as football supporters, were held in by all tiers of authority… especially the police. No idea that for several years the moment we associated ourselves with a football match all civil rights were immediately lost. It was former Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police John Stalker in the 80s who said he was aware that many police knew that football matches were one time they were “Let off the leash”. Anyone who regularly attended matches knew that the mismanagement and victimisation we received would be deemed unacceptable in any other area of society. Hillsborough was a tragedy for all football supporters. Sadly, the police cover up and scandalous tabloid lies led to many people, including football fans, just reinforcing their own prejudices about people from Merseyside. Hopefully the release of documents has helped to enlighten people regarding the terrible incidents of that day. Most importantly, we can hope that the families and friends of the bereaved can gain some comfort and that this is a step towards justice. RIP the 96.
The Stoke City evolution maintained steady progress against champions Manchester City. Steve N’Zonzi made an encouraging start to his Stoke career with some neat incisive passes and Garcia’s equalising goal aside, we defended with discipline and characteristic tenacity. We were fortunate that the officials didn’t spot Crouch’s handball in the run up to the goal, but any Stoke supporter who remembers Alan Wiley’s hopeless catalogue of errors when Manchester City visited the Brit in the 2009/10 season won’t feel too guilty! Man City’s equaliser arrived in the 35th minute when a free kick was floated into our box and we failed to pick up Garcia, who nodded home. From that point we were satisfied to get to half time at 1-1. Stoke started the second half in the ascendancy. We kept the ball in the opposition half well and managed to assert pressure on the visitors. In all fairness to Man City they absorbed our pressure well. The main aspect where their technical superiority was noticeable was when they played from the back. We pressed and hassled but they were rarely flustered and usually kept the ball. A frantic finale saw Asmir Begovic make a remarkable reflex save from Garcia’s header. The last kick of the game was Ryan Shawcross’ impressive last ditch clearance off the line following Dzeko’s lob over Begovic. The most poignant moment of those crazy final minutes was Michael Owen making his Stoke City debut to a rapturous welcome! All in all a draw was a fair result and we thoroughly served the point. One negative aspect to the game was Andy Wilkinson foolishly lashing out at Balotelli. Had Mark Clattenburg, or any of the officials spotted it, Wilko may well have seen red, jeopardised our point and he still risks an FA penalty. Our right back is 28 years of age and should know better than to react to any provocation.
To her credit German Chancellor Andrea Merkel has told gay footballers they should have no fear of publicly announcing their homosexuality. As in most nations, no high profile German player has ever ‘come out’. Sadly, Merkel’s words are unlikely to encourage many gay players to open up. An anonymous gay Bundesliga player recently stated that if he was to come out he’d feel his personal safety could be at risk. Other employers have structures in place to ensure equality in the workplace. Sexuality based prejudice shouldn’t have to be an issue in this day and age. In 2012 this is a very dark stain on football’s character.
Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid have made a shaky start to the season. 4 points from 12 is not what was expected at the Bernabeu. Combine poor form with Cristiano Ronaldo strangely informing the world of his sadness, all is not well. 10th place in the league and 8 points behind Barcelona, their Champions League campaign could be the only road to redemption. When Mourinho was appointed the Galactico was the manager. Mourinho was appointed to bring the European Cup to Madrid and was the one that couldn’t possibly fail. When they face Manchester City on Tuesday more than points will be at stake.
Benfica start their Champions League campaign without captain Luisao who has been banned for two months for physically attacking a referee. This story is odd on several levels, one being that this incident actually occurred during a pre season friendly against Fortuna Dusseldorf. A friendly! How would he cope with the intensity of a Champions League Final? Luisao is actually the Benfica captain. While other nations aren’t as preoccupied with captaincy as the English, surely more responsible leadership than that is to be expected. Why is the ban so short? An offence of such magnitude should be treated with the utmost seriousness, instead he’ll be back in the team by December. Combine that with the meagre two match touchline ban Alan Pardew received for manhandling a linesman officials could be forgiven for feeling authorities are failing to support them adequately.
An increasing focus on statistics removes some of the warmth from football. There are times when they are worth mentioning though. On Saturday, in his 700th game for Manchester United, Paul Scholes completed 41/45 (91%) of his passes and scored a goal. Scholes scored in his 100th, 200th, 300th, 400th, 500th, and 700th games for Manchester United. A bucketload of medals are the spoils of a very impressive career, but did he have an off day when he made his 600th appearance??