What a week that was: death threats, character assassination and turning off the entry phone because our two-year-old was becoming frustrated with our refusal to answer the front door. The week culminated with a letter from the House of Commons.
Steve Rotheram, MP for Liverpool Walton, wrote that he had read my comments about Liverpool FC refusing to play on April 15, the anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, with incredulity.
I was speaking on a podcast and the excerpt is on YouTube, under “What Alan Davies actually said about Liverpool”.
The podcast is unscripted, unedited, free and done for nothing. Fans of other teams listen, despite the ridicule of their clubs. We ridicule our own team, Arsenal, the most. We don’t use the F or C words, so we’re not considered “foul-mouthed”, as has been reported.
When discussing the scheduling of the weekend’s FA Cup semi-finals, Hillsborough was mentioned. This was where I made a mistake. I needed to change gear and take a more considered tone. Instead I was insensitive. For that insensitivity in tone I have apologised.
My remarks were quoted by an anonymous blogger who circulated his piece via Twitter, which led to it being picked up by the red tops.
More than 91,000 people have viewed the clip on YouTube. Eighty-one have posted that they “dislike” the content, 442 have said they “like” it. That’s more than five to one.
A poll was held on The Daily Telegraph website last week asking whether Liverpool should be “forced” to play on April 15. Sixty-eight per cent of respondents answered yes to that strongly worded question.
None of those people should be accused of being disrespectful to the dead.
Mr Rotheram wrote that I could only hold the view I do, that Liverpool could sometimes play on April 15, because I am ignorant of the events at Hillsborough. It is the belief of some in Liverpool that people outside that city are unaware of the circumstances of the disaster.
Yet it is widely known that the police: denied a request to delay the kick-off; opened an exit gate to admit fans; did not direct fans to pens that had room. Opening the gate was caught on CCTV but the footage was stolen; police told the press and Government that the fans forced a gate.
In a previous podcast I stated that I support the Hillsborough Justice Campaign (HJC). I hope all relevant government papers are released. I expect they will show that the Government of the time supported the police on principle, as they did throughout the miners’ strike.
It was suggested to me by a Liverpudlian on Twitter that a donation of £1,000 to the HJC might be appropriate. I went to the HJC website and donated privately via paypal. This was not to buy favour or because I was receiving death threats.
The HJC, I learnt from a tabloid front page in my local Budgens, is intending to return the money to me.
I was at Highbury on April 15, 1989. Arsenal were playing Newcastle. I had a radio with me. I heard every piece of news that afternoon as it came through. People gathered round after I relayed the shocking information that one person had been killed at Hillsborough. The suspicion, as always back then, was that there must have been crowd trouble.
I was caught in frightening crushes many times at football matches in the 1980s. Many times I felt my feet lift off the ground as I lost control of my body, afraid of falling underfoot. I was twice involved in terrifying crushes outside Tube stations after games. I watched the news about Hillsborough with the realisation that it could have been me; it could have been any of us.
In early May 1989, I had a stand-up gig at Liverpool Polytechnic. I read the local fanzines and talked to students up there. The impact of what happened was not lost on me.
At Highbury there were never fences around the pitch. In 1982, at a game against West Ham, a smoke bomb was let off on the North Bank, close to where I was standing, and a fight broke out. Hundreds of supporters escaped on to the pitch, averting a tragedy.
The FA told Arsenal that, without fences, they would no longer be allowed to stage semi-finals. The FA policy was to cage the fans.
Those fences scared me whenever I went to grounds that had them. Whoever decided that fans should be caged at semi-finals ought to be held accountable.
This year Liverpool could have played Everton at Wembley on April 15. The annual memorial service could have been postponed and instead 90,000 people could have gathered to stage the biggest service in British history. Wreaths could have been laid on the pitch. There could have been two minutes’ silence. Abide With Me could have been sung, as it is on the day of the final. Everyone who is ignorant of the disaster could have learnt about the HJC. And a derby could have been staged in memory of 96 people who loved football.
At no point did I “mock the dead”, as I am accused. What I have been subjected to is alarming. Vile and hateful messages by the hundred. Death threats to me, my wife and children.
Menacing warnings and threats to maim. I am worse than a serial rapist, than a paedophile. And some people are rejoicing that my mother is dead. It’s difficult to contemplate anything I could say on any subject to generate a similar furore.
To comprehend the viciousness of the response, I’ve tried to understand the desire to mourn for so long, and so publicly, the deaths of those fans. The Justice For The 96 campaign is ongoing, but the reality of bereavement is not reflected in the staging of memorial services each year.
The reality of bereavement is that the loss of a loved one is with you all year round.
The reality of bereavement is that the day of the loved one’s death may pass by in some years without even being remembered, but that other days may bring on a wave of unexpected grief.
The reality of bereavement is that the desire to visit the grave of a loved one, or to speak to them quietly when you are alone, can come at any time. The day of their death is less important than private memories inside.
There is a loss of perspective and a distortion of genuine emotion over Hillsborough.
Those attacking me with such hatred don’t speak on behalf of the dead and should be ashamed to claim that they do.
Perhaps Mr Rotheram could now write to those people, possibly his own constituents, who want me to contract cancer so my “children will never enjoy Christmas”, who want to urinate on my mother’s grave, who would take pleasure in seeing my wife sexually assaulted, and suggest that it is they who have truly caused offence.
