Fury as Liverpool fans boo National Anthem in front of William at FA Cup final
LIVERPOOL fans sparked widespread outrage yesterday for booing Prince William and the National Anthem at the FA Cup final.
Jeers rang out around Wembley as the Duke of Cambridge, who is president of the Football Association, was introduced to Chelsea and Liverpool players before kick-off.
Fans made obscene hand gestures while the Prince sang God Save the Queen. The outburst by thousands of fans was last night denounced across the political spectrum.
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said: ‘I utterly condemn any fans who booed Prince William.
‘The FA Cup final should not be ruined by a minority of fans’ totally shameful behaviour. In this year of all years – the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee – this is dreadful.’
Tory MP Karen Bradley said: ‘It is utterly disgraceful that fans booed Prince William. I would urge the FA to take all necessary action and pursue those responsible.’
Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: ‘We have the most wonderful Monarch and those fans who booed do not represent their clubs or our country.’
The jeers started during a rendition of the hymn Abide With Me by the B Positive Choir, whose members have sickle cell disease or who have close friends or family suffering from it.
It erupted again as Prince William was introduced to the crowd and began shaking the hands of the players. The booing and jeers reached their peak during the National Anthem.
Connor O’Neill, a writer for the Liverpool Echo, said Liverpool fans ‘are well known’ for booing God Save The Queen and claimed the reasons date from Margaret Thatcher’s government in the 1980s. He said: ‘The Conservative Government’s “managed decline” of the city was then followed by the failings of the Government after the Hillsborough disaster, which further entrenched those feelings.’
There were also reports of supporters booing the National Anthem earlier this year, when Liverpool played Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final, also held at Wembley.
Former BBC Royal Correspondent Michael Cole urged the FA to take action. He also criticised BBC football commentators for failing to even mention the Liverpool fans’ ‘repulsive behaviour’.
Speaking last night to The Mail on Sunday, the broadcaster – who had more than 25 years’ experience with the BBC – said: ‘There is no excuse for that sort of behaviour.
‘I’ve been a football fan for 67 years and never heard such a thing. We don’t want sycophancy in this country, but we want respect. And respect is due to the Queen, particularly at 96. It’s bad manners.’
Sally Bedell Smith, who has written a biography of the Queen, said William would have found the outburst ‘dismaying’. She said: ‘Prince William is the head of the FA and only wants to do well by the sport.’
Left-wing trade unionist Howard Beckett, who last year stood to become general secretary of the Unite union before pulling out, praised Liverpool fans for ‘rejecting blind patriotism and the establishment’, adding the outburst was ‘pure quality from socialist fans’.
But he was condemned on Twitter. Paul Embery, a firefighter and fellow trade union activist, said: ‘This guy came within a whisker of leading Britain’s second largest trade union. Thank God he failed.’
Liverpool’s German-born manager Jurgen Klopp has previously refused to be drawn into the issue of fans’ booing the National Anthem. He said in 2019: ‘I don’t think I’m the right person [to ask]. It’s not for me to judge.’
Following the match, which Liverpool won after a penalty shootout, Prince William gave out medals to the victorious team. No further booing was heard.
‘There is no excuse for that sort of behaviour’