Row Erupts over Steven Cohen’s Hillsborough Remarks

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Fox Presenter Blames Liverpool Fans for Hillsborough and Sparks Boycott of Advertisers

Local Companies Caught up in Campaign

May 12

Hicks Jr Resigns from Liverpool Board after Sending Fan Offensive Email- January 12, 2010

Fox Football Phone-in presenter Steven Cohen is in hot water with some Liverpool Football Club fans over remarks he made about the Hillsborough disaster.

What is the Hillsborough Disaster?

Last month, around the week of the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough Disaster, Cohen on his Monday, April 13, 2009 edition of his World Soccer Daily radio show said that part of the cause was 6000-8000 fans turning up without tickets trying to force their way in. He said in particular that “Liverpool supporters should ’share responsibility’ for the deaths of the 96.” This comment has caused outrage among Liverpool fans on both sides of the Atlantic.

There is a history here. Mr Cohen first made comments about the issue in December 2006, for which he apologised a week later. However, his comments made last month have sparked a whirlwind of activity, which is having a ripple effect on the soccer economy already.

Nicol was in the Liverpool Side That Day

A group of Liverpool supporters in New York decided to act, and they have called for a boycott of the advertisers on Mr Cohen’s show. New England Revolution Manager Stevie Nicol was due to play for Liverpool at Hiillsborough on that day in 1989 and, according to the Liverpool Fans New York website, he has notified Mr. Cohen that he will have no more to do with any of his shows. A New England Revs spokeswoman told us, “Steve let us know that he will not participate personally in any of Steven Cohen’s shows if asked until an apology for his comments about Hillsborough has been issued.”

Furthermore, Fado’s Irish Pubs, FourFourTwo magazine and the World Soccer Shop, who are current advertisers, are said to have complied with the boycott. One company which hasn’t, according to the Fan Group, is Seattle firm Ruffneck Wear.

President of Ruffneck Wear Jeff McIntyre told Prost Amerika “We’ve received thousands of emails, mostly from fans in England, asking us to pull our ads immediately with World Soccer Daily. However, we have a contract that ties us in until the end of the World Cup in 2010. I’ve asked Steven Cohen personally to issue an apology. I don’t know if he intends to.”

We asked him if he would consider withdrawing advertising at the end of his contract over the issue, and he said categorically that he would, but no-one had requested that.

We are trying to reach both Fados and members of the Liverpool Fan Club of New York for comment.

The Email Calling for a Boycott

Here is the email, the North American Liverpool Supporter Branches sent to Mr Cohen and to his advertisers a week ago (excerpts reprinted from their website):

“Email sent to Mr. Cohen and his advertisers 5/5/09:
Official Notice Of Boycott by North American Liverpool Supporter Branches

Dear Advertisers:

Previously you were notified of a potential boycott by Liverpool supporters in North America. We are now ready to make this an official position. We will be notifying our members through the branches and through multiple supporter websites of this action including the official Liverpool FC website.

We have given Mr. Cohen ample time to review the facts presented to him or for him to present his documentable evidence which supports his position as requested. Mr. Cohen and I have exchanged emails for the past 9 days. They have been civil. However, he has stated we have nothing further to discuss. He has not presented any evidence to support his position.

You are probably wondering what has led to this action:

New York Based Reds have Called for a Boycott
History:

On December 5th 2006 on the Fox Football Fone-in television show, Mr Cohen made these remarks:

“Liverpool supporters are directly responsible for causing the two worst disasters in English football history, Heysel and Hillsborough”. That “there is a disgusting side of Liverpool’s history that he would be happy to talk about.”

He was also quoted on his Sirius radio show of making the comment; “They have five stars on their shirts but should have 39 coffins.”

These comments and others caused outrage by Liverpool supporters and many emails were sent to Fox Soccer Channel and Sirius Satellite Radio. The facts concerning the disasters were sent to offset these outrageous claims.

One week later on December 12th 2006 on Fox Football Fone-in television show, Mr Cohen opened the show with this:

“But first, last week here on Fox Football Fone-in, in the heat of the moment, I made some very disparaging remarks about Liverpool Football Club and their supporters. I know that I’m a passionate Chelsea fan and it takes up almost all of my waking hours . I also know that when I’m wound up over comments against Chelsea, like many fans, I resort to insults that can be very hurt full. As a broadcast professional I should know better and not let it get to this stage. I’ve apologized on my radio show World Soccer Daily and I’ve also apologized to the management here at Fox Soccer Channel. But most importantly I wish to apologize to all our viewers.”

At that point in time most supporters were satisfied that our concerns over his comments of laying blame to Liverpool supporters allowed him to reflect on his “opinion” and he had realized his error due to the facts presented to him.”

However, Cohen’s comments last month have sparked the issue all over again, and resulted in an awkward situation some companies.

What is the Hillsborough Disaster?

On 15 April1 1989, Liverpool were playing Nottingham Forest in an FA Cup semi-final. Semi-finals in England are played on neutral grounds, and Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough was the chosen location. It had been used often for such games. Because of the motorways from which fans from Nottingham and Merseyside approach Sheffield, Liverpool fans were allocated the Leppings Lane end of the ground.

What unfolded that day has stayed in the minds of those who witnessed it. Ninety-six people, all Liverpool fans, died of injuries as a result of being crushed against barriers commonly used in England in those days as a method of crowd control. English football had a terrible problem with football hooliganism in the 1980s, and in fact English clubs had been banned from all European competition four years earlier because of another incident involving Liverpool fans.

Thirty-nine Juventus fans were killed in the European Cup (now Champions League) Final in 1985 when Liverpool fans charged into a section of the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, occupied by Italian fans. Cohen’s suggestion that the five stars should be replaced by 39 coffins on Liverpool’s shirts, quoted in the Fans’ email, is a reference to the victims of the Heysel tragedy.

Hillsborough – the Aftermath and the End of Terracing

In the aftermath of the tragedy, England’s Conservative Government asked Lord Justice Taylor to produce a report on football grounds in the UK, which resulted in the Taylor Report. This recommended the abolition of terracing and is responsible for the all-seater stadiums which you see on television coverage of EPL today. However, the financial repercussions of being forced to do this still reverberate around the clubs affected.

Allegations were also leveled by Liverpool fans at the South Yorkshire Police, and many on Merseyside feel that “Justice for the 96″ has still not been achieved. Even 20 years on, emotions run very high, and at a recent commemorative ceremony, UK Sports Minister Andy Burnham was heckled by some relatives of the victims over the issue.

The Recriminations Start

Immediately after the tragedy, there was a widespread wave of sympathy for the bereaved families from football fans all over England. Minute silences for the dead were observed at all grounds. It wasn’t universal. The tabloid newspaper the Sun is owned by Rupert Murdoch (who also owns Fox Soccer Channel which employs Mr Cohen). On the Wednesday following the disaster, the Sun ran a story accusing Liverpool fans of pick-pocketing the dead, urinating on policemen trying to help, and even beating up a policeman giving a fan the kiss of life. The newspaper was boycotted by most news agents in Liverpool, with many refusing to stock it and large numbers of readers cancelling orders and refusing to buy from shops which did stock the newspaper. The Sun has never produced any evidence of this, and the story was seen by many as politically motivated by the Conservative supporting paper against the heavily Labour voting city.

In 1992, then Liverpool manager Graeme Souness was nearly forced to resign after giving an interview to the Sun, so high did feelings still run. The Sun’s sales in Merseyside have never recovered from the incident.

It is possible that the success of this boycott has inspired the North American Liverpool fans.

Further Coverage:

Liverpool Fans Reject Cohen ‘Apology’ – May 18

Cohen Releases Public Apology – May 18

“We Want Him off the Air” – May 13