Manchester United have given an indefinite ban to a supporter who wore a shirt mocking the victims of the Hillsborough disaster at the FA Cup final.
James White, 33, of Warwickshire had already pleaded guilty at Willesden Magistrates’ Court to displaying threatening or abusive writing likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.
He was given a four-year banning order from matches, a £1,000 fine and was ordered to pay a surcharge of £400, plus £85 in costs.
United have responded by banning him from Old Trafford and calling his actions “completely unacceptable”.
White had a shirt with “97” and “Not enough” – a reference to the 97 Liverpool supporters who died at or as a result of the 1989 FA Cup semi-final.
United called it a “despicable slogan” and district judge Mark Jabbitt, who tried White’s case, said: “It is hard to imagine a more … offensive reference to the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.”
According to testimony, White told police after he was arrested: “You haven’t even asked me what the T-shirt means. My grandad died aged 97 and didn’t have enough kids.”
The prosecution said White had “many” previous convictions, dating most recently to 2021, but none were football-related.
The tragedy at Hillsborough in Sheffield occurred during a 1989 FA Cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest when thousands of Liverpool fans flooded a standing-room section behind a goal in the overcrowded arena. Victims were crushed against metal fences, trampled or suffocated in Britain’s worst sporting disaster.
Fans were blamed for years for the disaster, but after an initial inquest concluded that it was an accident, a subsequent inquiry in 2016 blamed failures on police, the ambulance service, and Sheffield Wednesday.
The Hillsborough tragedy and other disasters in the sport continue to echo in stadiums for the wrong reasons in what the Premier League has condemned as “tragedy chanting.”
Two months ago, Chelsea apologised for its fans who taunted Liverpool visitors in chants that referred to Hillsborough. A few days earlier, City had apologized to Liverpool for similar choruses of cheers. In March, Liverpool and United jointly appealed to fans to end hateful chants before their match in Liverpool.
Additional reporting by AP