Tricky

Did the irony of that statement not jump out of the screen at you when you typed it? Is defining an entire group by the negative character traits of a minority within that group not the very essence of bigotry? It's taken me a couple of days to get posting privileges so I apologise if this is a little late but as a Sheffield Wednesday fan I would like to apologise for the moronic, offensive, ignorant, bigoted comments of some of our fans. I can assure you all they're a tiny minority but by Christ they're vocal! I have been convinced from the very start that the justice campaigners were right in asserting that there had been a cover-up aimed at hiding the culpability of South Yorkshire Police and would like to congratulate (maybe the wrong word given the gravity of the events in question but I cannot think of a better one right now) the families, victims and Liverpool fans in general on being vindicated, albeit 23 years too late. Now we have the truth (though I'm not convinced it is the whole truth, I believe it went right to the top, to Thatcher and her cabinet) next comes justice - I hope those culpable will be brought to account and the victims and their families suitably compensated - though obviously no amount of money can compensate for that kind of loss. I believe that even the idiotic minority within our fanbase will, when given time to reflect, be ashamed of the knee jerk, defensive reaction seen in some posts in those threads on Owlstalk. There seems, at the moment, to be an irrational belief that we as fans are being blamed, which is clearly nonsense. The tragic events of that day in 1989 have left an indelible mark on both our clubs. I think that, rather than letting it divide us and cause hatred between our clubs, we should use this shared history to produce bonds of solidarity between the two sets of fans. Given the way all football fans, and working class people, were viewed by the authorities at the time and the way football was policed back then the tragedy was waiting to happen and could just as easily have happened to Wednesday fans - could have happened to me - there but for the grace of God go I. I think it would be wonderful if Owls and Liverpool fans could get together and come up with a more fitting memorial to those who lost their lives that fateful day than the one that is already in place, though I don't really know how that could be made to happen - I'd certainly be interested if anyone has any ideas. Again, I would like to apologise for those disgraceful comments. They are utterly inexcusable. I am sure a few Liverpool fans behaved badly that day - just as a few Owls behave badly at every match we play - but I know the lies in the Scum were exactly that and I think the minority of bigoted Wednesday fans, who are a stain on my great club, have been trawling through the documents released and picking out any evidence of this, some of which may well be of questionable veracity, not realising that it's an irrelevant distraction as even if all your fans had behaved as well as the vast majority did the disaster would still have happened. The blame lies with the police in charge that day and I hope they are made to pay. The morons who made those comments on our Owlstalk forum are, as I have said, a tiny minority and I expect you know as well as anyone how terrible it is when the actions of a few fans are used to smear a fanbase as a whole. Please do not fall into the same trap as those idiots. I hope these comments are received in the spirit in which they are delivered. Yours with respect, Richard. RIP to the 96 victims.