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We may be bitter rivals come matchday, but outside the stadium we share a common enemy
Prompted by ugly scenes at Anfield last week, JAMES NALTON writes on the importance of football fans showing solidarity with one another
Graffiti pictured in the concourse of the away end at Anfield, which references the Hillsborough and Heysel disasters. Justice for the (JFT) 97 is a slogan referring to the 97 Liverpool fans who died due to police action at Hillsborough stadium in 1989. JFT 39 appropriates this to the deaths of the 39 people who died in the 1985 Heysel Stadium disaster in Italy, after which 14 Liverpool fans as well as several top officials and a police captain were convicted of manslaughter – unlike with Hillsborough

LAST Sunday’s meeting between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield was a thrilling game of football between two of the best sets of players in the world.

But instead of being a game celebrated for its frenetic, high-quality play, the fallout focused on unsavoury incidents away from the sport of football itself.

The afternoon featured a number of flashpoints, from Jurgen Klopp bellowing in the ear of the referee’s assistant, for which he was duly and deservedly shown a red card, to Liverpool fans throwing £2.50 worth of coins at Pep Guardiola as he egged them on from the touchline in true pantomime fashion.

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