Alan Davies Pledges £1,000 To Hillsborough Justice Campaign After Criticism From Liverpool Fans

Davies Pledges £1,000 To Hillsborough Justice Campaign
|

Comedian Alan Davies has made a £1,000 donation to the Hillsborough Justice Campaign after he was criticised for comments he made about Liverpool's refusal to play on the anniversary of the 1989 disaster.

The club's policy is to not play matches on the 15 April so that they may mourn the 96 supporters who lost their lives during an FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest 23 years ago.

Davies informed a tweeter of his donation:

Speaking on the Arsenal podcast, The Tuesday Club, Davies expressed his exasperation at the club's aversion to staging matches featuring them on that date.

"Liverpool and the 15th - that gets on my tits that s**t. What are you talking about, 'We won't play on the day'. Why can't they?

"Do they play on the date of the Heysel Stadium disaster? How many dates do they not play on? Do Man United play on the date of Munich? Do Rangers play on the date when all their fans died in that disaster whatever year that was - 1971?"

Thirty-nine fans were killed at Heysel in 1985 after a wall collapsed - which was deemed to be the fault of Liverpool supporters at the European Cup final. English clubs were subsequently banned from Europe for five years as punishment.

Despite the ire directed Davies' way, Juventus have previously played on the date of the Heysel disaster, United have played on the anniversary of the Munich air disaster, Rangers have featured on the date of the Ibrox stadium disaster and Bradford City have also had a game on the date of the Valley Parade stadium fire.

Davies did state in the podcast that Hillsborough is "the most awful thing that's happened in my life, in terms of football", but stressed it was he said. "ridiculous that they refuse to play on that day any more".

He later took to Twitter to deny he had shown disrespect to the victims, saying that "the tone I took on the podcast was inappropriate for this subject. I support the campaign for justice for the 96."

Liverpool face Everton in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday 14 April, whereas Champions League semi-finalists Chelsea play the following day, despite facing Barcelona two days later.

UPDATE: The Hillsborough Justice Campaign have rejected Davies' donation.