Sean Cox’s brother criticises Manchester City over celebratory flight song
The brother of Sean Cox has described a chant sung on the plane carrying Manchester City players and staff back from Brighton on Sunday as offensive to all victims of football-related violence. Martin Cox, who was with his brother the night he suffered serious head injuries outside Anfield last year, also criticised City over their reaction to the tasteless song.
Footage emerged on Tuesday of a version of Liverpool’s Allez, Allez, Allez song being sung as City’s players and staff travelled back from clinching the Premier League title on the south coast. The City version refers to Liverpool going “all the way to Kyiv” only to suffer defeat in last season’s Champions League final. It adds: “Crying in the stands, and battered on the streets. Kompany injured Salah, victims of it all, Sterling won the double, the scousers won fuck all.”
The Premier League champions described claims that the chant mocks Sean Cox or the Hillsborough disaster as “entirely without foundation”. Martin Cox accepts the song is not about his brother, who was attacked by Roma supporters before last season’s Champions League semi-final first leg, and refers to Liverpool fans who were targeted by local hooligans in Kyiv. But he admits the song “hit a raw nerve” and insults everyone affected by footballrelated violence, including the Manchester City fan Paul Worth, who was left in a coma after being attacked in Germany in February.
Martin Cox told the Guardian: “I know the song isn’t about Sean. I’ve listened to the lyrics of the song and it is not aimed at Sean but at what happened in Kyiv where other people were victims of football violence. The song mentions people being ‘battered in the streets’. Sean and I were walking down a street that night when he was attacked and something like this brings back painful memories. And not only for us.
“Sean is a high-profile case but what about the people who were attacked in Kyiv and their families, or any other victim of football-related violence? It was not long ago that a Manchester City fan was attacked and seriously injured at a Champions League game. Why would you sing a song like that?”
A City spokesperson said: “The song in question, which has been a regular chant during the 2018-19 season, refers to the 2018 Uefa Champions League final in Kyiv. Any suggestion that the lyrics relate to Sean Cox or the Hillsborough tragedy is entirely without foundation.”
Martin Cox believes City’s failure to condemn the chant has made the matter worse. He added: “This is about people being attacked going to a football game. That hit a raw nerve with me and the City statement makes things worse. The City statement is on the defensive rather than apologising. They need to have a look at themselves.
“I would have thought City would have been gracious after just winning the league on Sunday. Jürgen Klopp must have felt on the floor after the Wolves game but he congratulated Manchester City on their achievement. City should be singing about their club and the euphoria of winning the league. It is hard to understand why you would bring up a song about Liverpool and people being hurt when you should be singing about Manchester City. Obviously there is banter between football fans but people being battered on the streets is not banter. This is tarnishing their achievement.”
Sean Cox, a father of three, suffered permanent injury last April and continues to receive treatment at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire. His brother added: “Everything is still so raw for us as a family. What happened to Sean turned our lives upside-down and something like this hurts. At the moment we are looking for the best places for Sean for the next phase of his rehabilitation. We are trying to find the best care we can for him. Manchester is one of the options.”