Steven Cohen, co-host of the World Soccer Daily radio show, has been at it again.
While the rest of the world last week was paying tribute to the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough Tragedy, Cohen was complaining on his U.S. radio show that Liverpool fans failed to take responsibility for Hillsborough as well as claiming that if 6,000-8,000 ticketless fans had not shown up, the Hillsborough Disaster would never have happened.
The problem is, he’s wrong. Dead wrong.
Steven Cohen’s Statements About the Hillsborough Disaster
So what did Cohen say that was so wrong? Here are three statements that Cohen made about the Hillsborough Disaster on his Monday, April 13, 2009 episode of World Soccer Daily (note, you can listen to the entire audio clip at the bottom of this post):
“People showing up without ticket, hell bent in getting into somewhere where they shouldn’t be going because they don’t have tickets, is the root cause of [the Hillsborough Disaster].”
“I’m yet to read anybody write in this weekend’s Sunday papers in England, where they’re all doing big commemorations about the 96, and why we should never forget and how it’s changed the game, nobody discusses the 6-8,000 who showed up without tickets and my argument has always been, if those people don’t show up, this never happens.”
“[Hillsborough] is a stadium that week-in week-out, Sheffield Wednesday used without incident.”
World Soccer Daily Playing With Fire
Hosted by Steven Cohen and Kenny Hassan, the Los Angeles-based show is broadcast nationwide each weekday on Sirius Satellite Radio and also available as a daily podcast, which is one of the top 10 most popular sports podcasts on iTunes.
Without a doubt, Cohen is the voice of soccer in America. Since the launch of his network in May 2002, Cohen has succeeded in growing World Soccer Daily into the must-listen show about soccer in the United States. Coupled with his weekly co-host slot on Fox Soccer Channel’s Fox Football Fone-In show, 46-year-old Cohen has built a sizeable following, many of whom are impressionable fans who are relatively new to the sport and hang on his every word.
That’s fine when it’s fun and games, but when Cohen (a Chelsea supporter) spews out misinformation about the Hillsborough Disaster, it’s dangerous. One, because his beliefs about Hillsborough are completely wrong. And two, because by making his beliefs public, he’s giving many newbie soccer fans false information and thereby spreading the wrong information about the cause of the disaster. With such a large audience on radio and television, he has a responsibility to educate listeners on what really happened on April 15, 1989.
The Facts About The Hillsborough Tragedy
To dispel his myths, here are the facts:
- “The immediate cause of the gross overcrowding and hence the disaster was the failure, when gate C was opened, to cut off access to the central pens which were already overfull,” — The Interim Taylor Report, paragraph 265.
- “Planning apart, however, it should have been clear in the control room where there was a view of the pens and of the crowd at the turnstiles that the tunnel had to be closed. If orders had been given to that effect when gate C was opened, the fans could have been directed to the empty areas of the wings and this disaster could still have been avoided. Failure to give that order was a blunder of the first magnitude,” — The Interim Taylor Report, paragraph 231.
- “I have already found that there was not an abnormally large number of fans without tickets on this occasion. With one or two exceptions, the police witnesses themselves did not subscribe to the ‘conspiracy’ theory (of a large number
of late-arriving ticketless supporters). I am satisfied that the large concentration at Leppings Lane from 2.30 pm to 2.50 pm did not arrive as a result of any concerted plan. There were, I accept, small groups without tickets who were willing to exploit any adventitious chance of getting into the ground. They, together with the minority who had drunk too much, certainly aggravated the problem faced by the police. But that main problem was simply one of large numbers packed into the small area outside the turnstiles,” The Interim Taylor Report, paragraph 208. - “The police witnesses who most impressed me did not consider the number of ticketless fans to be inordinately large. This accords with two other sources of evidence,” The Interim Taylor Report, paragraph 200.
- “Sheffield Wednesday FC’s own admission count system showed the terrace did not exceed its 10,100 capacity (for the Leppings Lane end). As part of their analysis, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) counted the number of [Liverpool] supporters entering the ground, including those through the turnstiles, through Gate C and even those who climbed over the turnstiles. They gave three admission figures based on their analysis. Their first figure was 9,267, their ‘best estimate’ was 9,734, and their third figure was a ‘maximum estimate’ of 10,124. The HSE report stated it was unlikely that the terrace exceeded 10,124 and that total admissions were approximately equal to the designated capacity of 10,100 people. Taylor surmised there was no substance to the allegation that ticketless fans caused the Disaster,” The Hillsborough Football Disaster: Context And Consequences, page 17. Also watch video evidence of the fans walking through the turnstiles and walking into the tunnel.
- The Taylor Report exonerated the Liverpool fans of any culpability. “The main reason for the disaster was the failure of police control,” The Interim Taylor Report, paragraph 278.
- Leppings Lane stand was deemed unsuitable in 1981 after 38 Spurs fans suffered crush related injuries. Sheffield Wednesday never carried out the work required. In addition to the 1981 incident, crushes also occurred at Hillsborough in 1987 and 1988. In fact Liverpool played Nottingham Forest in the same stage of the tournament one year prior at the same ground where Liverpool fans were crushed. Liverpool filed an official complaint prior to the 1989 FA-Cup semi final to air their concerns about safety.
Cohen was absolutely wrong on his April 13th show regarding the statements he made about the Hillsborough Tragedy. There were not, as he claimed, 6,000-8,000 ticketless fans. Cohen was emphatically wrong when he claimed that Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough Stadium was used week-in week-out without incident. And the reason none of the English newspapers last Sunday discussed the “6-8,000 who showed up without tickets” is because they didn’t exist. The vast majority of English journalists and pundits know better because they’ve taken time to study the facts rather than to believe the lies told by The Sun and the South Yorkshire Police.
Sure, there were a very small minority of ticketless fans at the ground. And sure, some of the supporters were drunken (as at any football game or sporting event), but the fact of the matter is that Cohen is living in the 80s with the inaccurate statements he’s spewing out.
The Liverpool supporters were a victim of a combination of mistakes by the South Yorkshire Police (for failing to notice that the central pen was overcrowded while the pens to the left and right had room for more spectators, as well as not directing the Liverpool fans who came through the turnstiles away from the central pen), Sheffield Wednesday Football Club (Leppings Lane was ill-suited to admit the 10,100 fans, had too few turnstiles and the club failed to fix those and other issues between 1981-1989 even though they were well aware of them) and the Football Association (for deciding to play the semi-final match at Hillsborough despite previous crushing incidents).
Cohen’s History of Blaming Liverpool Fans For Hillsborough
Cohen’s comments last week aren’t the first time he’s created controversy on American airwaves regarding Hillsborough. On December 5, 2006, he appeared on the Fox Football Fone-In TV show on the U.S. network Fox Soccer Channel and claimed that Liverpool fans were responsible for Hillsborough. He then apologized on the December 12 episode of Fox Football Fone-In, but the damage was clearly already done.
In April, 2007, he again blamed the Liverpool fans for causing the Hillsborough Disaster, this time on his radio show.
He may have apologized on Fox Football Fone-In December 12, 2006, but his views haven’t changed one iota — rendering his 2006 apology virtually meaningless.
Comparisons to Kelvin MacKenzie
Cohen’s misinformed views about what caused the Hillsborough Disaster are similar in context to those of Kelvin MacKenzie.
On April 19, 1989, MacKenzie, the former editor of The Sun newspaper published a sensationalized account of what happened at Hillsborough. MacKenzie’s newspaper that day alleged that ticketless and drunken Liverpool F.C. fans were responsible for the disaster, having supposedly tried to fight their way into the stadium by rushing the turnstiles and attacking policemen outside the ground.
It’s taken 20 years of education in the United Kingdom to try to get the public to understand what was the real cause of the Hillsborough Disaster.
Then in November 2006, just days before Cohen said basically the same thing, MacKenzie again claimed that drunken Liverpool fans caused the disaster.
“I’m still reading the same old stuff about who’s responsible. And it’s the police, it’s the stadium, it’s whatever,” said Cohen in the April 13 radio episode. Cohen then inferred that the Liverpool fans don’t take responsibility for their own actions regarding the events that led up to the Hillsborough Tragedy. Despite his December, 2006 apology, he obviously hasn’t changed his controversial beliefs and he continues to appear on the Fox Football Fone-In show week-in week out.
It’s fitting that on the April 13 episode of the Fox show, it was co-host Nick Webster who paid tribute to the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough Disaster in a pre-recorded segment at the end of the show. Cohen wasn’t included.
Conclusion
Twenty years after the Hillsborough Disaster, we’re still hearing the same old lies about what happened on that fateful day. It’s time for people to educate themselves about what really happened and stand up against those who fabricate misinformation. For our current generation and future generations, we owe it to them and the 96 who died to tell the real truth of what transpired in Sheffield on April 15, 1989.
To learn more about what really happened at the Hillsborough Disaster, read the Interim Taylor Report, and visit the Hillsborough Football Disaster and Hillsborough Justice Campaign websites.
Also, read the follow-up article to this one entitled Steven Cohen Offers Liverpool Fans No Hillsborough Apology.
UPDATE: On May 18, 2009, Steven Cohen apologized on World Soccer Daily for his unfortunate and inaccurate statements he made about the Hillsborough Disaster.
UPDATE 2: The comments regarding the Steven Cohen controversy have been closed. It’s time to return the discussion to football.
UPDATE 3: Fox Soccer Channel announced on July 29, 2009 that Steven Cohen’s position on Fox Football Fone-In has been filled by Eric Wynalda.
UPDATE 4: Steven Cohen announced on August 21, 2009 that his World Soccer Daily show that day would be his last.
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{ 335 comments }
He’s stands by his beliefs and views of Liverpudlians in a bad light. Whilst most pundits or journalists would let their feelings known about their dislike for a certain football club, he takes his obsession of Liverpool to a new high. He did once wear a t-shirt with the print proclaiming his “hud-caps off his car where robbed at Anfield” or something similar on a live show last year. There’s just no point in correcting or defending him. A leopard never changes his spots.
Cohen probably blames Liverpool FC for causing the Recession and Global warming too, the sort of character he is.
Of course there is a point in correcting Cohen. His views are not only ignorant and ill-informed, they are lacking in the slightest shred of human decency. To most right-thinking people the death of 96 innocent men, women and children at a football match transcends club rivalries – particularly since the true causes (if not individual culpability) of the disaster have been well-documented for nigh on two decades. His views and prejudices are an unforgivable insult to those affected, to decent people everywhere and to his own listeners.
Ignorance is bliss, isnt it ? ?
Cohen is a buffon and needs to be called out, particularly because of where his show is aired. Cohen is broadcasting to an American audience who maybe only somewhat familiar with Hillsborough or hearing about it for the first time while watching/listening to him. The lack of mainstream soccer coverage in the US means that Cohen becomes a large voice and has a greater impact. His mistruths and bias can more easily influence unknowing listeners. Not everyone will seek out the good reporting on such a story and will simply buy into the crazy English/Liverpool fans caused the problems myth. How can Cohen look at the images of that day and blame the fans?
That phone in show was the worst piece of broadcasting I have ever watched. 12 year olds calling up asking if Man U should bring back Becks etc.
How anyone can blame anyone but he police and the way fans where treated back then is beyond me. Having been at games back when you where cattle and had the surge forward and back, I can say that this event was a long time coming.
The positive that can be taken from this disaster is that you no longer need fear for your life going to a football match. That and the filth where exposed for the backward corrupt bunch they where.
These misconceptions, or just pure ignorance, need correcting before a new generation of fans believe these lies.
What a complete imbecile this character is.
His employers should look very carefully at what this tool has said and decide where they stand. Are they Pro ‘Shock Jock’ or Pro TRUTH???
this man is an idiot, surely someone in his position should know the facts.
unfortnately a few people will believe this rubbish and take his word as gospel.
to make the same mistake over and over just shows how ignorant this man is
It is unforgivable that such inaccuracies are voiced about such a well documented event.
I’m sure that if such derogatory comments were made on the basis of race or religion there would be a not-to-be-unexpected outcry.
Mr Cohen and WSD must not be allowed to get away with the distribution of such appalling misinformation.
Steven Cohen is a disgrace and epitomises everything that is wrong with Chelsea fans and coverage of soccer in the States – poorly informed and his bosses will do nothing to stop him because they are wimps.
Disgrace.
Mr Cohen look at the facts they are readily available to all and as a Journalist (sic) you should find them easier than most, so how about this “6 million jews caused there own death it had nothing to do with Hitler, Mengle,etc they caused it all themselves” that last statment is a pile of rubbish and we all know it to be rubbish no research just a bigoted opion, so before you make anymore damning and bigoted statements please research, you have had twenty years to do it, yet you havnt maybe you do not like the facts maybe they do not suit your twisted agenda
What an ignorant missinformed Chelsea t—-r
where’s the pictures of him in his arsenal shirt?
Dear Sir What a sad person you really must be to try and drag an already disproved rant out of the toilet that you must dwell in . These sad rants av been disproved by countless evidence and the Taylor Report. I can just imagine you walkin to ur sad radio station with the Scum hanging out of ur back pocket . Your station must of had a real sad life to be blessed with the likes of you !!!!
I wrote to Steve Cohen earlier this morning and would like to share with everyone the contents of my email to him, along with the vitriolic reply that i received shortly thereafter which I feel all the readers should be aware of:
Attention Steven Cohen:
Mr. Cohen,
Your comments on WSD on April 13th, 2009 are disgraceful.
Your assertion that the Hillsborough Disaster in 1989 was due to 6,000-8,000 Liverpool Fans without tickets is outrageous and typifies the type of sheer reckless unsubstantiated and uninformed statements that Kelvin MacKenzie also spouted in The Sun Newspaper in England 20 years ago. Have you even read the Taylor Report? Were you even in attendance that Fateful April Day? I was Mr. Cohen, and I, along with thousands of others, take offence to your ignorance. To use your public forum to vent your own misguided beliefs that have no basis of fact and serve only to air your inflated ego and fill the minds of young impressionable soccer fans in America is even more disturbing. Was it not bad enough that you had to apologize for your long-held beliefs the first time you verbalized your “Conspiracy Theory” in 2006? Not only are your comments and long-held misplaced beliefs a disgrace to the families directly affected by the disaster, as well as the rest of us that will never forget what happened that day 20 years ago, but your professionalism and objectivity (or lack thereof) further call in to question your self-inflated reputation as being some sort of authority on soccer here, especially here in the United States, where for reasons unbeknown to me, someone actually thinks you warrant having a microphone and an audience. You are in the wrong Mr. Cohen. Ordinarily a sincere apology would be appropriate, but that’s a road you have traveled down before and it clearly hasn’t changed your perspective one iota.
If you would like to actually speak with someone who was there that day, please give me a call here in Florida and I would be only too pleased to give you an informed eye-witness first hand account. Not that i think for one minute that would, nor do i think that you have any desire whatsover to understand and become informed of the facts, which are well documented.
Grant Freer
Boca Raton, Florida
The reply I received from Steve Cohen rather quickly was as follows:
“No i am not and you should consider the facts. Liverpool are at the center of almost every serious human violation of conduct. Hysel, Hillsbrough, Alan Smityh, Singing about Munich 58, throwing shit on United fans at Anfield, Michael Shields…are you seriously telling me that you are not guilty of any of this.
2 events
4 years
2 different cities
2 different countries
2 different stadium
135 dead
Only common link….well have a guess.
This not meant as disrespect for the 96 or their famalies but Justice…waht justice are you looking for…to be relieved of the shame and guilt and if you can get the South Yorkshire police to admit something juust to get you off their backs…that is what you are talking about.”
Cheers,
Steven.
Thanks for listening to World Soccer Daily
1-866-925-8255
WSD@worldsoccerdaily.com
I guess someone should have pointed this out to Trevor Hicks before he told Sky that Liverpool supporters have to share some of the blame..
Having been to Athens and many European Liverpool games there are so called fans that try to get into the ground at any cost most fuelled by alcohol!
Having said that this is the reckless minority and it is the police job to weed out the troublemakers/create crowd control!!!
fsquid – when did Trevor Hicks say that you ball bag? He lost both his daughters at Hillsborough. Were they to blame? Idiotic comment
Trevor said it last Tuesday.
I have a few points to make as I know the family of a lad that dies at Hillsborough.
Firstly the guy certainly has a face for radio.
Secondly he has got the attention he craved.
Thirdly what goes around comes around so he’ll probably end up with a tumour.
Fourthly I wonder whether people like him ever stop to think about the death and misery their own countrymen cause?
I know a few Chelsea fans and whilst they couldn’t generate an atmosphere anything close to that found in a library they are usually fairly decent people (apart from those that hunt heads) so it is quite rude to describe him as one.
I think he should stick to burgers, watching athletes on steroids and being a long-distance “saccer” ‘fan’.
fsquid – when on Tuesday? At the memorial service? You’ve either misunderstood him or misheard him because if he had said that, or anything like that, there would have been uproar in Liverpool.
Funny how short a memory these new Chelsea fans have. Don’t forget that their notorious hardcore element Chelsea Headhunters were for the longest time the scourge of football and society in general. http://macintyre.com/content/view/62/105/ This of course was pre-Abramovich and therefore isn’t to be associated with their glorious 6 year history and I’m sure they’ve all gone away now that the club has been sanitised, right?
I’m not taking sides in this issue, but Alan Green on the BBC which many probably love on this site takes his hatred of a manager and club to an extreme also.
Passion and half truths, bad reporting seem to be a staple of the UK based football media. As someone who follows world football I find more objectionable and wholly inaccurate things in UK papers than anywhere else.
So for some of you to pretend it’s just Steven Cohen or just in the US is flat wrong. Clearly Steven Cohen does not like Liverpool. That’s an established fact that he doesn’t hide. Again I am not weighing in on this Hillsborough issue. I have previously posted my tribute to Hillsborough’s 96 victims on another site and have stated I regularly disagree with Mr. Cohen on a host of issues.
But for some to act like this is some sort of isolated case of pundit bias shows your shortsightedness. At least Cohen appears as an opinionated radio host. Real “journalists” and writers in the UK covering football often times end up simply as uninformed gossip mongers and very biased. Moreover, they don’t attempt to learn the facts or understand the world game. To me they are much much worse than Steven Cohen could ever be.
Cheers,
Kartik
he is a yank and a prick who knows nothing about football or in his case soccer only sad ignorant ppl like him wud blame liverpool fans everybody in the whole of britain know that the yorkshire police are to blame. him sayin all of those things is an insult to the 96 and every other liverpool fan that was there that day
JUSTICE FOR THE 96 YOU’LL NEVER WALK ALONE
Excellent article Gaffer. Cohen seems to have some hatred of Liverpool that makes him spew these outrageous comments. Makes you wonder if Fox Soccer Channel should be considered the biased, tabloid-esque equivalent of Fox News?
Matt-
Not at the memorial service, that was on Wednesday. It was a sit down interview and he said that Liverpool supporters had the responsibility of behaving, but the interviewer didn’t push for him to be more specific.
This pointless twat say probably say that Jews were responsible for the holocaust given his lack of logic and bizarre argument.
fsquid – you have misunderstood. That comment was not a reference to the cause of events at Hillsborough.
It was a reference to the fact that 20 years (officially a generation) have passed since Hillsborough, and a lot of younger fans have come into the game since then. He said that it is up to the older fans to set an example and ensure that the vast majority continue to behave well at football matches. As I said, it was not a direct reference to Hillsborough, though I can see why you might think it was, given the context.
If you want to find out more about the causes and consequences of the disaster, visit hfdinfo.com
for cohen read c**t
charley uniform november tango
brilliantly written. JFT 96
While I agree that this man needs to be put right on the facts of that day really this is the second time now after he was forced to say sorry the first time when facts were pointed out to him and his employer now this shows that he is not interested in facts when being a BIGGOTED LIAR are much better for me this man should be sacked if he cannot read or do research before he opens his mouth he should be on tv or radio just goes to show how little certain parts of the us still don’t get football
Cohan you prick, It is the job of the police to control crowds hence the term “policing a crowd”. Have you even read the Taylor Report? No didn’t think so. All this from a person who doesn’t have the faintest idea how the system is mean’t to work in the UK. Your personal views and opinions no matter what should be put to one side when reporting, focusing on facts is what separates great journalists from shit like you. It was people like you, ill informed, liars and ignorant to the truth that caused a war in Iraq. Do you really think we are that naive, to trust something someone like you says. Some people crave attention even if it is a backlash to something they say. You fit the bill.
This person is a real lowlife. In his position he has a morale responsibility get know the facts. His opinion can influence thousands of people who may take his comments as the truth. His version of the truth is about as real as Kelvin Mckenzie’s
Your a despicable human being Cohen
I do not know Steven Cohen. I do not listen to his show anymore as I work when it is on. I do not agree with his comments. I just thought I would correct some mistakes being made in this comments section.
Steven Cohen is in fact English not a “Yank” as someone put it earlier. He is from London. Also, he is Jewish so I doubt your reductio ad absurdum about the Holocaust really works. (not that it ever does)
Liverpool supporters (and others WBA, etc etc) who sing songs about Munich are despicable. As are United fans and others who sing about Hillsborough and Heysel etc etc. Every club has this element which is unfortunate. Cohen is obviously misinformed so I encourage you all to continue to email him and call his show telling him your views and hopefully he will change his opinion.
Have you ever listened to any opinionated radio host and agreed with everything they said? Me neither. Steven has plenty of things wrong about him, his hatred and blame for Liverpool is just one of them. I listen to his show because it’s informative. They have many guests such as Tim Vickery and Graham Poll who will tell you exactly what they think and what is going on all over the world. Both of them (Steven & Kenny) can be real annoying at times. They constantly interrupt each other. I don’t believe they ever discuss what questions they are going to ask their guests. They are clearly not on the same page at times.
Every club has people that you wouldn’t want to be associated with. You can’t blame everyone for the actions of a few. Even if that few is, in Steven’s opinion, thousands. That, to me, is exactly the same as blaming all Jews for the actions of a few, or all Germans for the actions of a few, or all Conservatives for the actions of a few. Wrong in every case.
I’ll get off my soapbox now.
even the picture of this gobshite makes me feel sick.
Cohen – you are an ugly hate filled monster, i can only hope you dont have children, for their sake, i can only imagine the pure shame that they would face everyday knowing that they have pondscum like you for a father.
fsquid has a career in tabloid journalism with that sort of twisting of comments..
Kartik Krishnaiyer , to compare Alan Green’s highly opinionated comments with those of this lying, slanderous d**khead is like comparing a slap with homicide.
I wish someone would censor the racist comments on here btw.
Wow at some of the comments here, to have a tumor?
I don’t know much about the Hillsbourough incident, and it’s already been pointed out that Cohen did get some facts wrong, but the hatred and venom elicited here, really show how classless you fans are as well.
Two wrongs don’t make a right, the correct way is to point out the mistakes made, but not what’s been said here.
Take off the blinders and read what’s been posted, what’s been said here is just as wrong, as what Cohen said.
Steven Cohen is clearly one very silly c**t!
Here’s his contact information:
Email address: steven@worldsoccerdaily.com
cohen is a great entertainer, smart businessman, and a football fan. his show is fun and some days i find myself agreeing with him, other days i have to turn it off cause he is so wrong. but its a show, and the reactions ive skimmed over here are so typical of liverpool fans. they deserve everything he says, and plenty more. until they realize that their self promotion is the reason for the hatred from the likes of cohen, they will continue to ensure the treatment is kept up.
having said all that, the facts are disputable. having a different take on history is nothing new and anyone who tries to tell you the “facts” about a historical event, rejecting any other possible theories is not giving the whole story. i dont care if you watched something happen with your own eyes, its important to have perspective with history. if he is wrong on the actual numbers, then that may be proven, but the sentiment cannot be ignored simply because popular opinion rejects it
Steven Cohen is a dangerous individual, spouting lies about Liverpool and the Hillsborough disaster. If he doesn’t watch his step, he will find himself in deep trouble. Legally, he can/should be sued for the lies he has spouted.
He must be one of the lowest human beings on the planet!
I think you’re embellishing his influence…
Fox Soccer Channel has yet to post one-tenth of a national ratings point in their history. Their highest coverage area rating was a 0.4 (four-tenths of one percent of FSC’s distribution) for a Man U-Chelsea match. The highest rated Fox Football Fone-in of all-time was a 0.1 coverage area rating (one-tenth of one percent of FSC’s distribution).
Likewise, WSD may be on the top 10 of downloads, but it reaches less than 100,000 people (on average). That wouldn’t get them in the top 50 in Los Angeles radio, let alone the country.
Sent today……………………
——————————————————————————————
It’s quite sad really. North Americans have struggled for decades to overcome the perception that they are ‘johnny come lately’ soccerettes that haven’t got much of a clue regarding the beautiful game.
Thankfully that myth has generally been exposed as being unfair and patently untrue.
Then along comes Mr Cohen with his thinly veiled bitterness and an ignorance that only the truly moronic can display so eagerly.
Try reading a few accounts of what really happened before you feel the urge to spout your next stream of bile Mr Cohen.
I recommend The Day Of The Hillsborough Disaster, A Narrative Account” by Rogan Taylor, Andrew Ward and Tim Newburn, or “Hillsborough, The Truth” by Phil Scaton. You might find the reading a little more complex and demanding that the tabloid ‘gutter press’ that is obviously your preferred mode of research, but I’m convinced that with some effort on your part you may end up sounding less ignorant and ill informed.
Mike Humphrey.
Toronto Branch President.
The Official Liverpool F.C. Supporters Club Of Canada.
Liverpool fans are scum, they did the same in Athens and blamed the police,
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-457160/Liverpool-fans-injured-ticket-scramble-boils-Athens.html
My advice to you steve after our email exchange – just keep your opinions to yourself as you aint doing you or your show any favours with such uneducated remarks , like I asked Have you read the Taylor Report ?
You didnt answer the first time so perhaps try again , its a very simle question .
Todd, to support Cohens comments by saying the facts a disputable is completely and wholly incorrect. I’m not a Liverpool fan, but I suggest you read the Taylor report.
The police lied, covered it up and blamed the fans for something they didn’t do. They stopped ambulances getting into the ground. They claimed all the fans were dead at 3.15pm. They claimed the fans had pushed the gate open. They knew the ground shouldn’t have been chosen for the game. They knew it’s safety concerns had been discussed since 1981. They lost the footage of the pens. The police inside the ground wanted the game delayed but were ignored. The fire brigade were told at 3.10 they weren’t needed.
All these facts were proven as police lies in the independent Taylor Report. Quite what part of that is disputable I cannot see.
I agree with Steve, Liverpool fans are generally to blame for most issues at games they go to, whether or not Hillsborough was their fault entirely or not, they contributed to it (alongside all other elements in the Taylor report) – they also contributed to Heysel.
As with those two events, Michael Shields, attacking an ambulance with an injured United player in it, throwing sh*t and p*ss at disabled Chelsea supporters at Anfield, and more recently, the European Cup final where they (again) rushed the gates and stole tickets from their own fans, the one common problem is Liverpool supporters.
What rankles, and I assume Steve feels the same, is that they never take the blame, it’s always someone else’s fault – take the EC final, again they blamed poor policing and stewarding for the fact many of them got through – yet again it wasn’t ‘their’ fault, but everyone else’s(despite another fact that the Milan end suffered no issues).
I personally have been threatened, abused, called at all hours and issued with death threats, just for being a Chelsea supporter who happened to write on a popular Chelsea site – the fact my number was online meant an endless barrage of abuse every time our teams met, they swarmed to our site, abused our staff and one even hacked it and caused untold damage – yet of course, it was none of these lovable rogues fault, was it?
Many Liverpool supporters are honest and decent, and I do respect them – my heart also goes out to the families of the 96 as no-one should die at a match, and I agree that every team has their bad apples – not just Liverpool, it just seems that Liverpool’s really are the scum of the earth and outnumber nearly every other team in the world, bar none.
Yet, it’s never their fault -and everyone else is to blame. Sorry, but after 20 years of the same old sh*t, it just doesn’t wash any longer.
Ps. Interesting that Hillsborough is now a profit making industry, how is that justice for the 96?
For me, this proves that individual responsibility plays no role in our society anymore. We know that people without tickets showed up and tried to get in, this was obviously a contributing factor. Now the police didn’t do their job to keep fans out but the fans that day aren’t completely blameless. I feel awful for the majority who had tickets and brought their families and such, but those assholes who tried to get in without tickets have gotten away with murder (literally) the last 20 years. They are in part to blame, so are the police.
WSD has some really good interviews, but otherwise isn’t worth a listen. Great thing they podcast and state what’s on so I can FFD to the appropriate spot – or simply delete when nothing’s worth listening to.
Sorry but in 1989, incredible as it may seem, it was very, very common for fans to arrive at the last minute without tickets, or cheapers tickets than they were entitled to. Not just liverpool fans, but fans everywhere.
The police said the fans broke the gate down and ran in. They didn’t, the police opened the gate. A policemans job is to protect and serve, to keep the public order. It’s there job not to let them in. They refused to delay the kick off against requests from officers inside the ground. There is no evidence to suggest that a majority were ticketless, none at all. It’s another lie peddled by the police.
By refusing to delay the kick off, opening that gate and lying about it, they reneged on those ideals.
As a Chelsea fan living in the UK, you get used to the many, many faults of Liverpool fans – the self-righteousness, the idea that they are the model to follow, that anyone outside of their provincial shit pit of a city cares what they think about any matter, they’re ‘the best fans in the world’, special and different to anyone else etc etc etc.
They also do have a rather nasty history of getting in at any cost, and not just at the CL final in Athens, but at grounds up and down the country. You only have to watch videos of the 1989 Cup Final to see ticketless fans climbing into Wembley up home made ropes (made from t-shirts). If you search the Red All Over the Land forum you’ll find one thread about the CL final, and the culture of ‘in’s in, la’ (as well as the level of racism among Liverpool fans that isn’t ever spoken about). This is fact. I, and many other supporters of various teams are sick of the myths and lies about Liverpool and its fans, the constantly having smoke blown up their arse when Anfield is one of the quietest grounds in the country, week in, week out. I also despise the fact they paid nothing but lip service to Heysel for years, and that their record of thievery and hooliganism (glorified in books as boneheaded as hoolie books out there) is completely brushed over. Anyone who’s had to share a stadium with them will know what I’m on about. And that’s before you get onto thier glory-hunting out of towner fans who have the gall to deride Chelsea fans history and support when they cherry picked a successful club off the shelf to support. In short, I f***cking hate them. But a couple of other things are also true:
Hillsborough wasn’t their fault and Steve Cohen is a c*nt.
Jon, I’m not sure how old you are but you seem to be completely out of touch.
Name one big game where supporters didn’t try to ‘bunk in’ without a ticket?
It happened with _every_ club at _every_ big game.
Hillsborough was no exception, a very small minority tried to bunk in, as was the case with every game at that time.
Most normal football fans can realise this (I’m not talking about the likes of T-CFC and the other bitter morons who cling to the lies printed in the Sun 20 years ago) I’m talking about rational footy fans who realise that tragedy could have happened to any other supporters at any other club.
There will always be the scum like T-CFC out to score points or third rate talk show hosts on Mickey Mouse chat shows that nobody listens to or cares about, desperate to create a bit of controversy in an attempt to add a few dozen listeners to their paltry totals.
The rank and file that make up the decent supporters know what happened that day, the scum Sun readers can spout their lies all they want, it only serves to make them look even more pathetic than they already are.
Scum Mike? I base my opinions on my own experiences of the ‘lovable scousers’ – and the fact that Liverpool have been involved in more than their fair share of disasters, and trouble, is indisputable.
I don’t know the full facts of that day, nor does anyone as no-one is omnipotent – all we have is a report that pieced together various pieces of the puzzle, but like any huge puzzle, invariable pieces get lost – so as I said, as much as I feel for the families involved, I don’t think the Taylor report is ‘fact’ – more a convenient truth.
And another thing, Cohens rubbish about Hillsborough being a safe ground is completely untrue, 38 Spurs fans were seriously injured in a crush in 1981 and it was a miracle no-one died.There were also crushing incidents in 1986, 1987 and 1988 at Hillsborough. It was a dump.
It failed on 17 safety inspections.
They are indisputable facts.
I’ve just sent this to Cohen, and his employers.
————————————————————————————————————
Mr. Cohen,
Your comments regarding the Hillsborough disaster, specifically the role played by ticketless Liverpool supporters, are disgraceful and completely irresponsible. You said that there were 6-8,000 supporters without tickets, and that was the “root cause” of the disaster. This is completely false and all investigation has pointed to the contrary. Surely you know this, but don’t want to admit so much, because it doesn’t support your hate for Liverpool, or your “angle”. The fact is that you have made slanderous comments. You are spreading hate and lies. You know that you could not pass off this sort of garbage in the UK, but in the States unfortunately you think you can get away with it. Your arguement is pathetic and has no factual basis. The best thing you can do is make a formal apology on your radio show, and then never mention Hillsborough again. You are obviously out of touch with what is going on at Chelsea, and in the modern footballing World. Arguments like yours are pathetic and antiquated. If you feel like you as a Chelsea fan must have some sort of vendetta against Liverpool supporters (we’re not really rivals) fair enough, but this goes far, far beyond what could be considered acceptable banter. I have also written letters to your employers, alerting them to the fact that you are spreading slander on their channel. I can only hope they have the sense to take some sort of discipline against you, and see that you reflect a very negative image on the channel, which is desperatley trying to gain popularity.
I hope that when you actually take the time to reflect, in the rarest of moments when you let the character you have created for yourself have a rest, and to do the right thing. Apologize, correct yourself, and then never spread these lies again.
Your an idiot! I was in that crush & ticketless fans were not evident. How do you think 6-8000 fans would fit in turnstiles with fans with tickets. I bet when you were a child you worked out how to fit a round peg into a square hole.
Here’s a bit of advice for you. Only comment on things you know about & not about gossip you hear. It might just save your life.
>>I don’t think the Taylor report is ‘fact’
Obviously, because it doesn’t concur with your warped account of events.
If the Taylor report had condemned the Liverpool supporters you’d gradly accept it as gospel.
Ironically Lord Justice Taylor was under pressure to come up with reasons why the Liverpool supporters were to blame that day. And as hard as he tried he found nothing that he could blame on the Liverpool fans, CCTV evidence clearly shows the Liverpool fans calmly walking down the tunnel after Gate C was opened.
There was no indication of ticketless fans, the capacity was 10,100 for the Leppings Lane end and the highest estimate they had that day based on turnstiles and CCTV coverage was 10,124. Those fans died because the police directed over 3,000 into the centre pen (over twice it’s capacity).
There was a desperate attempt to blame alcohol as a factor, the police took blood samples of all 95 bodies (including a 10 year old ffs) none of them were impaired, they even wasted hundreds of man hours collecting information from pubs and off licences hoping to find more incriminating ‘facts’……….. they found that the pubs and offy’s had sold less than usual as most of the Liverpool supporters arrived late due to a concerted effort to have trains and buses arriving as late as possible.
I could go on and on, but would it serve any purpose? you admit to not knowing the facts of what happened that day, it still doesn’t stop you clinging to pathetic lies and innuendos though does it?
You don’t need to be ‘omnipotent’ to know what happened, just read the Justice Taylor report, he had NOTHING to gain by exonerating the Liverpool supporters of blame and everything to lose by implicating the police, he had the courage to do it none the less.
Sadly there will always be the scum who refuse to accept the facts and prefer to believe the lies, whether it’s to sell a few newspapers or get a few extra listeners to a third rate chat show.
T-CFC, if you do not have the facts and like steven cohens, should just keep your stupid opinion to yourself. Stop making false accusations. it is people like you and cohens who took incorrect information and start making false comments. Shame on you both.
As an American who has been a HUGE supporter of the EPL I really despise the fact fact that the footy fans of my country get a reputation as “know nothing yank “soccer” fans’ because of comments like this. I do not like liverpool fc
from a fan standpoint, but to make light of any tragedy is utterly sickening!
I got the same wearing a man utd shirt in west london, its funny how many shots are takin at the munich,hillsborough,and heysel disasters(among others)
The long and the short of it is this,being a fan means giving and taking shit
from different supporters,but these topics of death are HUMAN INTEREST and not about football! GOD BLESS EVERY PERSON AFFECTED BY THESE TRAGEDIES, and please let these ignorant people be, they will have to answer for this garbage one day.
He’s a scumbag…pure and simple!!!
I love this guy (Steven Cohen). He’s got us talking about football!
paul bestall and others… how many times do you need to say ‘have you read the taylor report’ or something to that affect? ill concede its the best document we have considering the events of that day. but calling on it as fact is ignorant of historical perspective. it is impossible to have a definitive primary document of the events that happened on the day of this tragedy. i take no side in the matter, simply that by relying on the taylor report to prove any point is weak. its selective in its use of evidence, and there are a number of sociological explanations for the results they found and how they sought them.
just because you dress something up and call it official does not make it indisputable. you can call it independent, liverpool fans can feel exonerated. but from a historical perspective, its reckless to refer to the taylor report as the end all be all. there can be more to the story, and im so tired of hearing “facts” taken from the taylor report. specific figures or times can be figured out, but when the issue of blame comes up i dont think we should all just turn to the taylor report (or its hypothesis of what happened that day)
so bring it on, tell my why we should all concede to everything the taylor report says. then ask yourself, would you ever take all your information from a man made document? you can tell me the taylor report was the best and least biased thing we can refer to, but that only gives it virtue by comparison. this is a matter of person taste though, i take a cynical look at history
I am a student from UIUC (Near Chicago for those who dont’ know
…. )
and as a resident of this country, I think this blokes view points are always tosh…
He claimed that Drogba didnt’ dive and feign injury at Stamford Bridge in the UCL 2nd Leg quarter finals against Liverpool….
Nuff Said
Yanks have never been held highly in regards to brain usage in comparison to the rest of the civilized world who actually know the names of foreign dignitaries.
Steve Cohen makes no exception why I should reconsider my opinion.
What a twat.
FOR ALL OF U ; STEVEN COHEN IS BRITISH HE IS FROM LONDON,NOT L.A.!
Send an email to wsd@worldsoccerdaily.com telling them how much of an idiot he is. Then boycott. That’s all we can do.
I have been listening to the show for about 6 months and quiet honestly he is a hypocrit, his unconditional support for Israel and their terrorist actions against the Palestinians, goes hand in hand with his hatred of Liverpool and their supporters, to him all things wrong are the fault of Liverpool and everything good is because of Chelsea, he is a disgrace and brings down what is otherwise an informative for the most part show
Highlights from today’s parade of ignorance and hate
bob
equates Cohen’s rants to the holocaust. Seems to be doing so because Cohen is jewish. Class
GBH
hopes cancer upon another human being. Also for some reason talks about the death that Cohen’s countrymen have caused. Cohen is English, so I wonder if GBH has. Killed a lot of Indians in East America with their biological warfare, those English. Sure Asian Indians and Africans have a lot of issues with GBH’s kind too.
kirker
calls him a Yank prick. Assuming this to be a jingoistic comment, kirker is too ignorant to realize that Cohen is a Londoner
Andy Goldberg
also links this too the holocaust. Stupid opinion about a football tragedy is not equal to millions and millions systematically killed for how they were born. Perhaps we are supposed to forgive such stupidity because it’s from a Goldberg. Much like Cohen, this guy also embarrasses his people.
Tony F
makes a comment about his children. Seems like a threat. Glad to see Chris is using this site to insight violence against children
Alan Grant
calls Cohen dangerous because he lies about Liverpool. Lying about a rival club would make us all deranged sociopaths.
Paul Bestall
listened to the most recent Spurs Show with Phil Cornwell
Agnar Juliusson
once again anti-American, when Cohen is British. But glad to see that your hatred of people you don’t know has clouded your ignorance of your own disgusting traits.
and a whole lot of c**s.
And if you’re calling someone a c**t you probably know from your daily views in the mirror
And Cohen owns his company with a fellow Liverpool fan. So, just like Chris has done here, he is using shock methods to garner audience.
Funny how it always works.
But the most disgusting thing about this article, and its response is how this tragedy has become a platform for people to say the most vile things about other humans. 96 people dead is not a reason for YOU to behave like an animal whether you agree with Cohen or you’ve memorized some report. These were real lives and the lot of you are using their deaths as a bludgeon to enfranchise your most stupid ideas and foist them upon all of us.
Shame on all of you. You’re truly all scumbags.
SMOOTH-
Actually, Steven Cohen’s got us talking about Steven Cohen instead of our usual course of action, which is talking about football.
Football loses today.
I’ve emailed Apple in an effort to have his show withdrawn from iTunes.
He also works for Fox which is part of Murdoch’s empire so I wouldn’t expect anything from them.
How Nick Geber can consider someone with this view point a friend – time to cut your losses Nick.
@doublepivot perfect.
Steven is not a journalist. And he makes no clam that he is. I believe that when someone from my generation hears any bit of news the look deeper into it. To think that Cohen is like some professor of football for young impressible Americans is rubbish. He may be wrong, but he is just stating his opinion, and callers, Email, and other Pundits have debated with him on this subject.
How about we get on with the football and leave politics and emotions over lost lives out of out opinions. If Steven would put his anger for Liverpudlians at home then he might not have this opinion.
something has to be said about the people writing on here especially the gaf and kartik, that they support steven cohen’s rival radio show, which means that we should not listen to what the gaf has to say or kartik has to say, along with what cohen has to say. they are all bigots with agendas. lets just learn the facts on our own and make our own judgments.
Those who are on the back of dodgy mule of high moral, need to get off and see what actually happened. Liverpool fans with no ticket were the root cause. In any process there is a cause and there is a trigger, resulting to an effect or an outcome. Its is about time people stop milking H. tragedy and come to term with it. People in particular Liverpool fans were directly responsible for the tragedy.
Rubbish. Now he is informing new fans of this rubbish, so they won’t know the facts. He is supposed to educate fans, not spew lies. The fans aren’t at fault, they played a part but don’t blame this entirely on them. And do not say we should just come to terms with this, and let it g o, or “stop milking it” as you say. We aren’t milking it. We are remembering those who were killed, when all they had wanted to do was cheer LFC onto victory. This was a tragic, horrible incident. Let me guess…you support Manu?
Can someone please explain to ArthurArseGooner that this is a football blog where the Gaffer et al discuss footballing matters? Or perhaps we should all just stare at the wall and “learn the facts on our own and make our own judgments.”
ossie’s dream you always go out of your way to criticize me. i think that the gaffer, who is friends with kartik, should also mention in his article that he’s friends with someone who works for a rival radio show/network to that of cohen’s world soccer daily. thats all. i said that we shouldnt take to cohen’s judgments as fact, but we shouldnt take the gaffer’s judgments as fact either. we should all have the interest in learning more and the best way to do that is by finding the information on your own.
todd said:
“ill concede its (The Taylor Report) the best document we have considering the events of that day.”
“relying on the taylor report to prove any point is weak.”
You sort of undid your own argument in your very first paragraph, old chap. Unless, of course, you know that Steve Cohen has some other source of historical information that trumps the Taylor Report, and isn’t a complete and utter ignorant moron, as The Gaffer’s blog post argues.
ossie’s dream oh ossie’s dream you must support liverpool? well lets just say this, if this happened to any other team, say manchester united, would you be here still?
I agree with Steven. Why is it so hard to accept the truth? It’s like American consumers who want to blame everyone but themselves for the economic meltdown. Standing at stadiums is not the equivalent of playing Russian roulette. All seaters have sucked the life out of Football. What happened was a tragedy but the aftermath was horribly overblown. Get over it, move on and bring the passion back to the game.
Don’t take it personal, ArthurArseGooner (I’m having a pop a todd too). However, you do seem to be very critical of this blog and for the strangest reasons. The Gaffer is the friend of someone at a rival radio show? I’m not sure how that is relevant. If someone like Steve Cohen says outrageous things on the radio, what is this – a blog about football and its broadcast coverage in the US – supposed to do? Ignore it?
The Gaffer took great care in refuting Steve Cohen’s idiotic comments by referring to the one definitive report – The Taylor Report. Unless you know of some other report of Hillsborough or another source of information we can use to gain a deeper understanding of that day’s events, your argument doesn’t hold much water.
ArthurArseGooner said:
ossie’s dream oh ossie’s dream you must support liverpool? well lets just say this, if this happened to any other team, say manchester united, would you be here still?
Oh, Lordy! Is it not patently obvious which team I support? How old are you, 12?
todd said:
there can be more to the story, and im so tired of hearing “facts” taken from the taylor report
And…
i dont think we should all just turn to the taylor report (or its hypothesis of what happened that day)
and…
tell my why we should all concede to everything the taylor report says.
Finally, the best bit…
would you ever take all your information from a man made document?
todd – what do you suggest, we take all our information from a report made by…badgers?
If you have another source of information, something other than the Taylor Report (you know, the report by Lord Justice Taylor after reviewing 31 days of testimony and evidence) then by all means, share it with us! Perhaps there was another report made in a parallel universe, where the conclusions reached were quite the opposite. Be a good chap and show us where we can find that. Cheers
ossie, that means youre biased, it doesnt mean im 12.
I.,m a loserpool fan, I love to wallow in self pity, everyone hates us, folk are always ganging up and picking on us, its not our fault, we,re nice. I like to talk about histoooreeee etc etc ad nausiem
Face facts,some Liverpool fans,the ones turning up late without a ticket and pushing/forcing their way in,were responsible for what happened at Hillsboro,the same as some Police were responsible for their reaction to what was happening in the stadium and their decisions not to open the gates on the pitchside fence.
Ossie’s Dream …. you ask Arthur@rseGooner if he is 12 as if that would be the reason he cannot work out your allegiances. I would offer that the reason he is unable to do that is purely and simply because he is a tw@t. My 11 year old and 7 year old can work out who you follow !
JFT96
Forgot to add …. I would like to send an open invite to Steve Cohen to visit Liverpool and have the opportunity to air his views on Hillsborough. should make for an interesting evening !
JFT96
It is tragic to see that once the internet gets involved, both moral and cognitive responsibility go down the drain. I can understand why some outsiders find it annoying to hear about Hillsborough, but that is no excuse to repeat allegations that have been critically weighed and rejected by independent inquiries as well as numerous scholars. Such allegations are extremely painful and cause great distress to the families who lost loved ones on that day as well as to the survivors. We are talking about the families of 96 people, who died, 700 who were injured and thousands who escaped without physical scars but whose lives were forever affected by the events of that day.
I don’t approve of the holocaust comparison, because the scales are so different, and in any case there is a major difference between the negligence and complacency that Taylor identified as the deciding factor at Hillsborough and the deliberate mass murder of millions.
But think of another anniversary that is taking place these days, the anniversary of the Columbine shooting. For all the things that go on in high school, would anyone find it appropriate to blame the students and teachers killed and wounded that day? Would anyone here go to the mother of one those murdered and say: “Your daughter caused her own death”?
The Taylor Report weighs the evidence of previous problems at Hillsborough such as the 1981 crush which led the stadium to be passed over for major events for six years, the known behaviour of football fans (including Liverpool fans), the rate with which fans could pass through the turnstiles, the note on the tickets asking people to show up 15 minutes before kickoff, and the police effort on the day of Hillsborough and on previous occasions. His analysis argues quite convincingly that the main difference between the day of the disaster and other match days lay in the police effort.
In fact, the very same match-up with a similar number of fans had been policed without incident the previous year, when the police had actually blocked the tunnel leading to the central pens and redirected fans to the outer pens, something which they failed to do on April 15th, 1989.
On that fatal day, the police also decided against using the most basic and effective way of dealing with a crush at the turnstiles, which is to postpone kickoff.
Whether or not you like its conclusions, the Taylor Report is a cognitively responsible document, which no responsible person would contradict simply based on personal opinion, preferences or dislikes.
I understand quite well if some people dislike Liverpool fans, especially if they have had bad experiences with them. I understand that some have experienced Liverpool fans singing about Munich in front of a Man Utd crowd. I can assure you that the vast majority of Liverpool fans disapprove of such behaviour as well.
But the death of 96 people, the injuries and psychological traumas to hundreds of other, and the grief that this has caused is no matter for irresponsible opinionating and mud-slinging based on a gross misrepresentation of the event of that fateful day, and on allegations that have repeatedly dismissed by responsible and independent sources and investigations.
If you have a grudge against Liverpool FC and their fans, please find a more appropriate way of voicing it.
Sad to see that this has descended into ‘Brits versus ‘Yanks’ and arguments (or should that be insults) related to club rivalries. 96 people lost their lives that day at a football match – that’s the bottom line. How anyone can use such a tragic loss of life to score pathetic partisan points is beyond me – it just shows a total lack of basic human dignity and respect. How sad.
An up himself yank who supports blue scum and supposedley the ’soccer’ voice of the most hypocrytical country in the world should be shot!! How dare he even have the cheek to turn around and blame the Liverpool fans for what happened that day. 96 fans one as young as 10 lost their lives that day because of the POLICE no one else. So what if fans turned up ticketless it has happened numerous times at many sporting events all around the world for god knows how long. That day the police caused the death of those 96 fans not our own fans. They were useless that day and their failure to control a crowd when that is what there job resulted in those deaths. And the ones responsible have got away with murder for 20 years now. Those families that lost loved ones that day have never stopped campaigning for justice and have been fed lies and stories over those years. The idiots that day who even said at 3:15pm all the people were dead when some were still seen alive at 4pm is sick and disgusting! I’d like to this idiot put in a room with those families and then say what he has to say again. Steven Cohen you are a sick and disgusting man and in future keep your NOT TRUE opinions to yourself and have some bloody respect for the people that lost their lives that day!!!
I’m not sure that ‘descend’ is the right word Matt, this was always going to head in one direction only.
It’s pointless trying to debate with morons, they are not very bright and have generally made up their minds already, usually based on ignorance, bigotry or petty parochial bitterness.
I suppose many would question why would we even bother to respond to Mr Cohen, why give the sad little “nobody” his 15 minutes of fame?
Personally I feel that ‘haters’ like Mr Cohen need to be confronted, their lies need to be exposed, and hopefully for every person who reads and is taken in by his hateful lies there are many more who will take the time to seek out the facts surrounding the Hillsborough tragedy and realise just what happened on that day 20 years ago.
Justice For The 96.
Difficult to add anything that’s not been said already in other posts. However, one thing that IS worth restating is that this boy Cohen is an utter disgrace.
I agree Mike – I just don’t think resorting to abuse is the way to get the point across, and there are plenty of examples of that in these comments. Obviously, this is an emotive issue for some of us and I want to challege anyone who spreads myth and misinformation – that’s why I’m posting on this godforsaken site. I just don’t think that getting into issues around nationality and club loyalty is relevant or particularly helpful
I agree Mike – I just don’t think resorting to abuse is the way to get the point across, and there are plenty of examples of that in these comments. Obviously, this is an emotive issue for some of us and I want to challenge anyone who spreads myth and misinformation – that’s why I’m posting on this godforsaken site. I just don’t think that getting into issues around nationality and club loyalty is relevant or particularly helpful
The man is grade a weapon and utter bellwhiff.
Oh, and just for the record, I’ve heard anti-Munich songs sung at grounds and by supporters up and down the country – more so than I ever have at Liverpool, it must be said. So don’t try to stick that one exclusively on Liverpool supporters.
This exchange of views has quickly become extremely polarised with people sticking everything on Cohen or everything on Liverpool fans. Let’s all step back and take a little perspective and remember what it is we’re discussed here. Was Cohen right to say what he said? My view is no, he most certainly wasn’t. Moreover, I think his expression of opinion was disgraceful. To that I need add no personal attack on him, nor on Chelsea fans, Man United fans, etc. Similarly, anyone with an opposing view ought not to have any cause to attack Liverpool fans. In other words, we shouldn’t be using this discussion as a feeble excuse to ‘have a go’.
Let’s put a few records straight shall we, Rome 1984, European cup final Roma Vs Liverpool, at Roma’s home stadium. Liverpool won a dour game on penalties, the Roma fans did not like getting beat on their home patch, hence after the game roving fans of Roma in scooter gangs stabbing and slashing fans, even young families. One 13yr old boy had to have 300 stitches, fans oout of spite of fear of reprisal were denied entry to their hotels and coach drivers left them stranded. The Rome police were just as brutal and even confiscated valuables. Many. many supporters had to seek refuge at the British Consulate in fear of their lives. Not conjecture but fact, members of my own family had to.
Fast forward 12 months to the Heysel stadium Brussels, a dilapidated athletics stadium that Liverpool officials had prior to the game complained about.
The treatment of British fans the year before was a catalyst for hooligans on both sides, supporting many teams to treat the final as a battle ground, National Front members were clearly visible, southerners with Chelsea and Millwall allegiances there only for trouble ( Words of Liberal councillor Peter Millea ). As Liverpool fans arrived they were pelted with everything from bricks to bottles ( my own 50yr old uncle needed 20 stitches in a head wound ) retaliation came in the same way. Fans seperated by mesh fences = trouble, especially after what happened a year earlier. The main catalyst for the main rush was the fact the Police did nothing to stop the Italian fans and a well documented incidence were upon a gang of adult Italian fans left a 14 yr old Liverpool supporter beaten to within an inch of his life in plain view of the Police and despite other fans coming to his aid. The two parties met, he Italians behind ( innocent fans ) ran, and the wall gave way. Liverpool fans accept a huge portion of the blame en masse. Also, remember the Juve fan with a gun ( starter pistol as it turns out ) or the miraculously produced 20 ft banner proclaiming ‘ Reds Animals ‘ appearing an hour later ? Odd that, almost planned wouldn’t you say. RIP the 39.
Forward to April 15th 1989, Hillsborough stadium, Sheffield, an FA Cup semi-final, Liverpool Vs Notts Forest. Some fans arrive late, some have had a drink, some have no tickets, a very small amount. Inside the ground the middle section at the Leppings Lane end is already very full, under instruction the Police officer in charge agrees to open an exit gate to ease the build up of fans, no pushing, no charging, just the normal behaviour at any top game in the 80’s, excitement and anticipation. Now instead of closing the tunnel to block of access to the middle section, a simple task, and funnelling the fans into the less populated sides the police send the fans down the tunnel, they have no way of knowing or seeing the way to the side sections, and signage was poor and, or none existant, at that point people at the back had no idea what was happening at the front. The rest unfortunately is history.
I lost people there. I have sent e-mails answered ) to steve Cohen with an offer to civilly discuss the tragedy, he accepted and i await further response.
The sun newspaper and Kelvin Mackenzie are a different kettle of fish.
Michael Shields is innocent, another man admitted the assault.
What an incident in a Bulgarian street ha sto do with Hillsborough i don’t know, assault happen everywhere, just another stick to beat us with i guess.
Athens. Poor policing, stewarding ( clubs fault ) and a downright lack of common sense on some fans part. Very poor form indeed, but it happens, in some cases though it goes unmentioned, mud sticks eh ?
No injuries or fatalities, just poor organisation and bad behaviour by a minority.
Whining,moaning,bitching Liverpool fans,it’s always the same with them,it was the Polices fault at Hillsborough,it was Chelseas fault at Heysel,it was UEFA’s fault in Athens.
They will never take any responsibility from the actions of the s.c.u.m who follow them,the same sc.u.m who cause death,destruction and misery wherever they go.
I’ve been at Anfield watching United,whenthe whole of the ground was rocking to the sound of ” Who’s that lying on the runway ” .I’ve seen Matt Busby get abused and spat at by Liverpool fans,the pr.ick.s doing it were probably unaware that Busby was once Liverpool FC captain,the sh.it chucking sc.um are the lowest of the low,who can dish it out,but whinge like fu.ck when they get it served back with interest.
Saying that,nobody deserves to die supporting their club and I genuinley feel sorry for the people who lost their lives at Hillsborough,Heysel,Bradford etc:
An Open Letter to the producers of World Soccer Daily:
I am disgusted by Steve Cohen’s comments regarding ‘the root cause’ of the Hillsborough disaster in last week’s World Soccer Daily Hillsborough special podcast.
It should be of concern to your station/website that either Mr Cohen is at best horrendously misinformed or that at worst he exploits the platform you give him by fabricating hurtful theories and passing them off as fact to suit his own warped agenda. The reason that “nobody discusses the 6-8,000 supporters who showed up without tickets” is because they didn’t exist. Its there in black and white in the government report into the disaster available here http://www.southyorks.police.uk/foi/publicationscheme/significantpublicinterest. And should Mr Cohen’s attention span be too deficient to deal with that then he should visit http://www.hfdinfo.com for a more concise summary about what happened at Hillsborough.
Mr Cohen and his producers must understand that the continuous myth-peddalling regarding the fans behaviour outside Hillsborough (disregarded out of hand in the interim Taylot Report) continues to contribute directly and implicitly to the suffering of relatives of those who died. The pain of losing a son, a daughter, a sister, a brother or a partner killed a football match must be unimaginable. On top of that the bereaved realtives have to deal with the fact that despite the blame for the disaster being layed fairly and squarely at the feet of the police and the match commander on the day, inexplicably, no authority or individual has legally been held to account for what happened, and not even an apology issued. The effect of this has been that families have been denied the possibility of getting any sort of closure on the issue.
Its in the context of these horiffic circumstances that Mr Cohen chooses to shoot his mouth off. Thanks to the irresponsible and innacurate claims regharding the supporter’s behaviour from The Sun’s headlines back in April 1989 right up to Mr Cohen’s ill-informed rant 20 years on, the bereaved families of Hillsborough feel they are still also having to clear the names of their loved ones.
Finally, in the podcast in question Mr Cohen appears to be outraged about people not taking responsibility for their actions. Hmmm. I’ve now read how Mr Cohen has once previously been forced to apologise for stating that Liverpool fans were to blame for Hillsborough in a Fox Football Fone-In. Do you care that World Soccer Daily, in this instance, has become a mouthpiece for such blatant and dangrous innacuracies from a man with a track record of doing so? Does it matter that one of your anchormen continually spreads lies about this emotive subject? I’d be embarrassed to give someone who obviously has some sort of axe to grind a platform from which to do so. Where is your editorial integrity World Soccer Daily?
I think Mr Cohen’s words are an absolute disgrace and as he is so obviously incapable of taking any responsibility for himself then World Soccer Daily should. I propose a podcast that is decicated to educating Mr Cohen, in which he can learn the truth about Hillsborough. For the truth you should try to speak to the likes of Phil Scraton (Author, Hillsborough: The Truth), Sheila Coleman (Hillsborough Justice Campaign), Jim Sharman (Hillsborough: Context and Consequences) and Trevor Hicks (Hillsborough Family Support Group). I’m sure Mr Hicks, who lost both his daughters at Hillsborough, might be able to explain to Mr Cohen the effects that myths about ticketless Liverpool continues to have on the families search for justice and closure.
Cohen speaks the truth,but sadly Stevie Boy,you’re wasting your time,scousers cant stomach THE TRUTH !
Red John. Where and when was the spitting at Sir Matt ?
Incidentally before Heysel Liverpool had no noticeable hooligan element, a few gobshytes like every team i grant you. The Chelseas and Man Utd however were notorious.
Spitting at Sir Matt, elaborate ?
Please stop slandering Liverpool, Liverpool FC and Liverpool supporters.
Now surely is not the time, please have some respect.
I have never heard of Mr Cohen (don’t particuarly want to hear of him again) if he thinks he knows the facts he is very wrong, others should check prior to commenting.
I narrowly escaped from the crush at Hillsborough, I was at Athens and I attended the Memorial service last week, I am a season ticket holder on the Kop.
The facts are available for anyone to read about Hillsborough, re The Taylor Report, the book ‘Hillsborough the Truth’, or via the TV docu drama ‘Hillsborough’ people should do so prior to forming their opinions.
Athens was a poorly organised event at an Athletics Stadium , without turnstiles (i still have my complete ticket) with only 20,000 seats allocated to LFC whilst the Stadium held 80,000+ its UEFA who got this one wrong.
Football’s gala event should be played in Football stadiums of which there has to be 20 excellent venues throughout Europe. UEFA are not the most sensible of organisations, the last few finals read Istanbul, Athens, Paris and Moscow an English team has been involved in all
A number of LFC fans did try to gain entry without tickets that is a fact, the same number however were locked outside with valid tickets, the stadium was not over full. The ‘bunk in’ as a badge of honour is something that our fans need to stop, but do not use this as the norm, how many fans do you actually think can illegally gain entry to a turnstiled stadium?
I do not believe that Liverpool is a self pity city as some people here have said, it is proud of its heritage and culture, it has many faults as does any city.
I do believe that the lives of 96 innocent football fans were lost by the incompetence of others, if you want to use this as a tool to vent your dislike of all things Liverpool then that is up to you.
Just don’t do it on the 20th anniversary of this disaster.
I will say a huge thank you to all the Chelsea fans who have shown their respects by tying their club scarves and shirts on the memorial and gates, other CFC fans appear not to have the same grace.
JFT 96
YNWA
RedJohn – every club has it’s share of moronic fans (Utd included, whether you choose to accept it or not). Liverpool fans, and the club, accept their share of responsibility for Heysel and rightly so – but it should not be forgotten that the chairman of the Belgium FA went to prison for six months as a direct result of the mismangement of the event and the state of the stadium. Ultimately that disaster came down to the behaviour of a minority in both sets of fans in a stadium that was literally falling down – hardly a fitting setting for Europe’s showpiece game. The sad reality is that 38 Italian fans and one Belgian lost their lives as a result – but the causes were a lot more complex than you make out.
Hillsborough was an entirely different situation – largely borne out of the treatment of football fans as almost ’sub-human’ by the football industry and the authorities – fans were packed into ‘pens’ surrounded by barbed wire fences for God’s sake – we wouldn’t even keep animals like that these days. The reality is that those people died because the authorities failed in their duty of care (and then attempted to absolve themselves by launching a smear campaign against the supporters present that day – the S*n coverage now so blighely trotted out by people like Steve Cohen, and long since entirely discredited, being the most famous expression of that).
The truth is that the tragedy at Hillsborough could have happened to any set of fans – beause they were treated as ‘turnstile fodder’ by football clubs and the police. Anyone who experienced football in the 70s and 80s should respect their memory and think ‘there but for the grace of God’.
How do you even manage to have a voice!?
Your credentials are poor at best. A lazy Journalist (for want of a better word). With no facts at all. You’re a disgrace. Heysel was a throw back form the year before when Liverpool beat Roma in their own stadium.. Only for Liverpool fans to be attacked with drive by knife attacks by Roman fans. Belgium had leading gangs from most English, Scottish and welsh clubs there, All set on revenge. The Ground was tired and insufficient. And yet the UEFA panel made that decision to use it post their 4th visit.
And Hillsborough.
The gates were opened by the Police. Someone headed the Police up and gave that order and the order to refuse entry for the emergency services.. As insightful decision as your words.
Yes Liverpool fans turned up hopeful of getting a ticket on the day. And who wouldnt given the significance of the occasion. With no knowledge of how bad things would get. It’s the Polices Job view with the aid of CCTV and Helicopters and word on the ground to make informed, secure decisions beyond any reasonable doubt. That’s what you are missing in your ignorant analyse sat on you comfortable ego inflated chair. How on Gods earth are you given a voice..
I was at both games and Rome the year before. Every breath you take on both subjects is wasted. You are ill informed and Ignorant and misrepresent the hard working real journalist. You lazy freak.
Producer / Editor / Exec Producer / Financier / Angel.. Sack him before he embarrasses you any more… You’re not getting what you’re paying for and he’s lazy..
The internet is a wonderful thing but has created a whole host of keyboard warriors, i would gladly meet with people and debate the rights and wrongs of all things football, my views would be no different in person as they were on here. Bet some cannot say the same. Vitriol and hate are fine hidden behind a computer screen.
96 innocent people lost their lives and until a respectable view of the incident then these families have the right to carry on looking for justice.
Ive read the Taylor report and I for one can not wait until the government open the files and realise that there were a lot of people inside and outside of the ground responsible. I for one certainly believe its a cover up by the Police, and as there was only 2 officers in charge of the event, they froze. They had a split second to make the right decision and unfortunately for the 96 they made the wrong one. 730 people were injured too, lets not forget that either.
The reasns for the cut off point, not allowing ambulances, i have no idea about, thats in the files which should be opened up for public examination.
I for one would hope that the Jury give the erdict of unlawful killing when the next trials start.
On Monday’s episode of the World Soccer Daily show, radio co-host Steven Cohen failed to apologize to Liverpool supporters regarding the inaccurate statements he made about their role in the Hillsborough Disaster that occurred on April 15, 1989.
The inaccurate statements made by Cohen on his April 13, 2009 episode of World Soccer Daily were that:
1. Ticketless Liverpool supporters were the root cause of the Hillsborough Disaster,
2. 6-8,000 ticketless Liverpool supporters showed up outside Hillsborough, and
3. Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough Stadium was used week-in week-out without incident.
Instead of apologizing, he softened his April 13 stance on his belief that there were 6-8,000 ticketless Liverpool supporters outside the ground. During the April 20, 2009 episode, he first said “There were several thousand who showed up without tickets.” But a few minutes later, when co-host Kenny Hassan gave Cohen an opportunity to retract the 6-8,000 number, Cohen replied “If it’s not the right number, it’s not the point. If I’m wrong on the number, then I’ll retract it and apologize. If it’s 25, 2500 or 25,000, my point is made for me. There were people there who shouldn’t have been there because they didn’t have tickets and they were hell bent on getting in. I’m sorry, those are the facts.”
Cohen is barking up the wrong tree when he claims ticketless fans contributed to the disaster. They did not. According to The Hillsborough Football Disaster paper entitled Context and Consequences, page 17, “[Lord Justice] Taylor surmised there was no substance to the allegation that ticketless fans caused the Disaster.”
And while there may have been some ticketless supporters outside the ground — as there are at any major football game or sporting event — “I have already found that there was not an abnormally large number of fans without tickets on this occasion,” said Lord Taylor in his interim report. “With one or two exceptions, the police witnesses themselves did not subscribe to the ‘conspiracy’ theory (of a large number of late-arriving ticketless supporters).”
Cohen has seemingly changed his tune about Liverpool — from the extreme opinion on April 13 that the ticketless fans were the root cause of the Hillsborough Disaster to a twisted logic on April 20 that insists on Liverpool fans admitting that they were part responsible for the disaster because some ticketless fans were hell bent on getting inside the stadium.
According to a report from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), “it was unlikely that the terrace exceeded 10,124 and that total admissions were approximately equal to the designated capacity of 10,100 people.”
So even if there were as few as 24 ticketless supporters who were hell bent on getting into the Leppings Lane end, it would have been impossible for those fans — who were vastly outnumbered — to have an impact on the more than 3,000 fans who were inside the central pen.
“The point is if the people [without tickets] hadn’t been outside, this never [would have] happened,” said Cohen. “This is a stadium that had no problems prior to this particular day. That’s a fact.”
Except that it isn’t a fact. It’s inaccurate. As I reported in Monday’s EPL Talk article, there had been several incidents at Hillsborough prior to April 15, 1989 — most notably a game in 1981 when 38 Spurs supporters suffered crush-related injuries in the same Leppings Lane stand.
It’s time for Steven Cohen to share the facts with us that he claims he has. It’s also time for Cohen to publicly retract his statement that there were 6-8,000 ticketless Liverpool supporters. And most importantly of all, he needs to retract his statement that Liverpool fans were responsible for the Hillsborough Disaster.
There’s no evidence to show that 24 supporters sneaking over the wall at Hillsborough were a factor in the death of the 96 Liverpool fans who died from crush-related injuries. But there are plenty of pieces of evidence that chronicle the list of mistakes that South Yorkshire Police, Sheffield Wednesday and the Football Association committed.
For Steven Cohen to not apologize on air and to carry on about the need for Liverpool to share the responsibility of what happened at Hillsborough is sickening. It’s time for Cohen to admit he was wrong, apologize to Liverpool fans and to read the Taylor Interim Report to better educate himself and his World Soccer Daily listeners.
If he doesn’t apologize to his radio listeners, I’m concerned that he may spread his misinformation about what caused the Hillsborough Disaster to the weekly Fox Football Fone-In TV show that he co-hosts on Fox Soccer Channel. Having a loose cannon like Cohen on live TV is a risk that Fox has to determine whether it’s worth taking.
EPL Talk readers interested in learning more about Hillsborough as well as the chance to see TV footage and interviews should watch the excellent BBC Football Focus video from April 11, 2009 which was a special tribute to the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough Disaster.
I should note that Kartik Krishnaiyer, from our sister site Major League Soccer Talk, had an interview previously arranged with Cohen for this Thursday, so feel free to post your questions for Cohen there. The interview is a golden opportunity for Cohen to respond to direct questions from you about his opinions regarding what really happened at Hillsborough.
You know, I, and others, are just wasting our breath (or rather fingers) trying to be reasonable on here. It seems that no matter how grounded you try to keep the discussion, no matter how civilised, no matter how sensible, people are just going to come on and use it as an excuse to vent deep-rooted (and often irrational) hatred and fan the flames of unwarranted insult and unjust accusation. It’s the sort of thing that makes me realise that, when it comes down to it, humanity sucks. Big time.
Unfortunately for Liverpool fans this guy is just summing up what a lot of other football fans think. Although I don’t think he did it in a desperatley great way.
It may not have been the Liverpool fans fault but they have to accept partial responsibility. They also have to accept that part of the reason the crowds were treated as they were may have been because of Liverpool fan’s reputation after Heysel.
It was a tragedy that should never have happened but everyone including Wednesday, SY Police AND Liverpool fans have to accept some responsibility. Not the fans that died as they were the ones that had turned up early and were innocent but the fans outside the ground have to accept their part.
Its blasphemous to say this but its the unfortunate truth.
Well said Jonty.
Steven Cohen is a wum,he threw out the bait knowing full well it would offend lots of Liverpool fans and lots of them would bite.
Something I would like to say is…
Thank you very much to Everton supporters who stood beside us in 89′,respect to the Everton Manager David Moyes who was sat on the Kop last week at the 20th year service and the other blues in the ground.
Finally many thanks to the Evertonians who took the flags to Wembley on Sunday,highlighting the Hillsborough tragedy.
Complete and utter respect to our Blue brothers and sisters.
Jonty – that may well be what some football fans think, but they, and you, are plain wrong. I suggest you check the facts – there are plenty of official sources listed on this page.
I have emailed Fox Football Fone In at fff@foxsoccer.com and suggest you do the same. Please bear in mind that intelligently worded complaints with no obscenities are more likely to be heard. I will not watch FFFI again until this piece of trash is removed from the air.
Complain to Sirius Satellite Radio, who broadcast World Soccer Daily.
Here’s the link…
http://www.sirius.com/customercare
Being in the States I have watched Fox Football Fone-In, and recently sent them an email advising them I would no longer watch the show (strictly going with Football Matters on Setanta) until such a time as Cohen is no longer employed.
I would emplore everyone who views the show, and cares about Liverpool or EPL in general to do the same. Cohen is using his shows as a pulpit to attack LFC. It shows a lack of integrity to come out with a one-sided view to listeners in the States who may not know the facts and/or how to find the truth.
Cohen clearly has issues with Liverpool Fc. In a previous show he mentioned he happened to be at Anfield for a Chelsea match, and he made it sound like anyone with a London accent was in danger while leaving the stadium. He is complete rubbish.
What astounds me is the amount untrue rubbish being spouted by people who’s hatred of Liverpool has blinkered their minds.
The Taylor Report concluded that no amount of ticketless fans forced entry. The fans didn’t run in to the pen, the police opened the gates, refused the ambulances access, told the fire brigade they weren’t required, there was also no evidence of fans being drunk but the police instructed the coroner to check the blood/alcohol limit of every victim, including a ten year old boy and they claimed every victim was dead by 3.15pm. Hillsborough was a dump that shouldn’t have been used in 1988, never mind 1989.
All discussed using POLICEMENS statements. Damn those lying policemen.
PS, I don’t support Liverpool or hate a Chelsea fan that keeps wearing Arsenal shirts.
Lets hope the following email to the CEO at WSD Radio will prove a point!
Sirs
I write with regard to an output from one of your presenters on 13th April 2009, which has just been bought to my attention. The content of the broadcast, and some reaction to it, can be located at http://www.epltalk.com/steven-cohen-blames-liverpool-fans-for-hillsborough-disaster/5915.
As I am sure you will agree, the comments made by Mr Cohen are deeply upsetting and distressing, not to mention inaccurate and verging on liabless.
As an avid Liverpool fan and knowing persons who were seriously hurt in the Hillborough incident, I am disgusted by the views of the presenter. I accept he may be entitled to his opinion, regardless of how ill-advised he may be, however this should never be aired to listeners in any way given his obvious ignornace to the facts. Mr Cohen has every right to hold a view on the incident, but no right to ill-inform his vast, worldwide audience of soccer fans, given his lack of factual knowledge about the events which occured on this sorrowful day in soccer’s history.
I am sure that, as an iteligent and respected broadcaster, you will understand the need for a full possession of fact before opinion can be given, however the comments made show an evident disregard for this fact and drags the reputation of your broadcasts down to a real base level.
I trust you will investigate this matter and deal with Mr Cohen in such a way that, despite this being a ‘third occurance’ of his ignorant views, they will not, finally, reappear to mislead and miseducate a worldwde audience.
Yours,
Pilot Officer Paul Heath RAF
I ask ANYONE who feels strongly about this to email the broadcaster directly from the link on their homepage!
Below is correspondance between myself and S. Cohen from this morning. The guy just doesn’t get it.
On Apr 21, 2009, at 7:11 AM, TK wrote:
Shame on you.
How can you be so stupid? You completely disrespected the 96 football fans who lost their lives that day. You disrespected their memory, you disrespected their families.
Would you have said the same thing if it was 96 Chelsea fans who lost their lives?
Date: Tue, 21 Apr 2009 07:23:21 -0700 Steven Cohen wrote:
Yes i would. This has nothing to do with club allegiance and that you think it is is the first downfall of your argument.
I am not saying anyone went there with death in thier minds, and of course i will agree that the policing was utter rubbish, but it is not possible to blame simply one group.
I have always maintained that the FA, the police, Sheffield, Hillsbrough and sorry to say it yes the fans contributed, in equal meassure i don’t know probably not, but they contributed to it. There is enough shared responsibility to go around and i am not sold by the Taylor report who puts all the blame on the Police etc…
I am sorry if you are disturbed what i have said, i have been taken somewhat out of context, my position has always been that there is a shared responsibility between several groups.
I made these comments on my radio show, a radio show that i own and i know everyone wants to get me fired but i own the show so i would have to fire myself.
cheers,
Steven
On Apr 21, 2009, at 8:12 AM, TK wrote:
I’m not arguing, I asked you a question. No matter how you look at it, what you said was very disrespectful. Whose fault it was is irrelevant at this point; the fact is 96 fans left home that day to go watch a football match and never returned. What you said was of bad taste and poor judgment.
Frankly, I could give a s**t if you’re fired or own your own radio show or whatever. And I’ll be the first to admit that LFC fan’s aren’t all princes. All I’m saying is that a lot of kids listen to your show and you should be a little more careful with what you say.
No matter whose responsibility, those people didn’t deserve to die. It was a tragedy that’s left a mark on many people, especially LFC supporters. Just pay your respects and move on with your show. No need to play the blame game.
Date: Tue, 21 Apr 2009 011:28:21 Steven Cohen wrote:
Of course they didn’t deserve to die and nobody has said that least/most of all me. Who do you take me for. I am just certsain and convinced that an episode like this does not happen without a confluence of parties all not meaning for the outcome but in some manner contributing to the outcome.
This bloke who has posted these comments has taken much what i have said out of context and clearly has some axe to grind.
FYI, i was in the military here, lost 248 friends and colleagues in a plane crash Dec 12th 1985 because the US Army were too cheap to make sure they were using reputible charter aircraft. I have had no problem blaming them for the loss i still carry with me.
cheers,
Steven
End >>
Cohen is just a pure sh*tbag, would he go into the middle of Liverpool City Center and say the same things I don’t think so. He should be fired for bringing his employers name down along with his scumbag attitude towards Liverpool. He is just an ignorant pig typical bad attitude towards the world’s best known fans.
If it had been his beloved Chelsea the shoe would be on the other foot, he probably has the same views for other disasters such as Bradford. He forgets that Chelsea were onceone of the worst set of fans for hooliganism.
One word describes you Mr. Cohen….C*NT
i generally dislike the man’s ideas, but or the last time:
STEVEN COHEN IS BRITISH.
So the next person that makes their own biased remarks about ‘yanks’ can get lost…
To Liverpool fans :- Quit whining like little girls,just because somebody don’t agree with you,get over yourselves and move on ffs !
Hey Chops ! Whats this ” the worlds best known fans ” bollox ?
Liverpool fans best known for what ? If you mean murdering 39 football fans at Heysel,then yeah,youre spot on,you tit !
As a British Police Officer It is universally accepted here that Hillsborough was “Mis-Management” by Sheffield Police and is a case study of what not to do.
Mr Cohen you will have offended an uncountable amount of people with your comments including the people who lost someone that day and the people who have died as a result of the tragedy your misinformation is painting an incorrect picture for your “fans”.
You are the worst type of sensationalist.
A disgrace.
I wonder if Mr Cohen blames the Jewish people for causing the Holocaust?
can we please get an arsenal-liverpool article up? come on.
Then again, with a last name like COHEN, it’s not surprising he’s intentionally stirring the pot.
It’s always the same isn’t it?
I don’t know why I bother with the internet sometimes.
Idiot says something disgraceful, and in response instead of rational dissection and reference to facts, half the people come on and saying something equally disgraceful. Then the internet lurkers who think it’s an opportunity to wind people up come on and are equally disgraceful.
Heysel
Liverpool fans are significantly to blame. No charge=no mass panic=no wall falling down=no deaths.
The ground is also to blame directly – the wall shouldn’t have falled down.
The Belgian authorities are to blame – the ground shouldn’t have been put forward as suitable.
UEFA are to blame – the ground shouldn’t have been chosen.
The police were to blame – because they did nothing to prevent the situation escalating, or fix it once it had.
Juventus fans were to blame – a minority of their fans were also lobbing bottles/bricks etc.
Hillsborough
The police were to blame. Poor crowd control from the start, they didn’t ensure the pens were evenly filled, they opened the gate without closing the tunnel, they didn’t let emergency services in to help the dying.
Sheffied Wednesday Football Club were to blame. The ground was unsafe – proven unsafe, it required excellent policing to overcome the lack of inherent saftey.
The FA were to blame. They shouldn’t have chosen the ground – Old Trafford was more suitable in many ways, not least safety.
Liverpool fans were not to blame – in any way. The only possible way you could blame Livverpool fans is to say the behaviour of the minority at Heysel helped form the view in the police’s mind that they were there not to ensure our safety, but to stop us causing trouble. Cages were there before Heysel, the Leppings Lane layout was there before Heysel.
Now please, stop talking about the Holocaust. I’m not sure if there’s anti-semitic sentiment there or not, but either way, 6 million compared to 96 means it’s a ridiculous comparison.
And stop coming on to score cheap points.
what a complete disgrace, in general what a complete d**khead, just reading
some of his comments chill me to the bone, his hate for liverpool in general is
mindblowing, just sitting there saying what he wants to say, to line his own
pockets with dirty money. i dont know how? but this pratt needs to be sued.
ah cohen whats next? did the holacost actually happen lets try and rattle you
but then i have relised i dont want to be a scrumbag like you and i do not want to upset the jewish community, but you need to be taken off the air.
Keep winding the scouse bin dippers up Stevie C la !