As is often the case these days, opinions, feelings and outlandish conspiracy theories are poured into this void. Nothing is left anymore. Liverpool made no comment, it was speculated, because the club feared upsetting their monarchy-hating fans. Then, at 8.10pm, a picture appeared of the Queen presenting the trophy to Liverpool captain Ron Yates in the 1965 FA Cup Final with the message: ‘Liverpool Football Club regrets the death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. We extend our sincere condolences to the Royal Family.” Simple, respectable and totally appropriate. So what happened in the interim? It’s disrespectful to suggest to Liverpool fans that they can’t be trusted to behave in a minute’s silence A minute’s silence will be observed for the death of Queen Elizabeth II aged 96 Liverpool followed protocol and procedure. The club made no comment because there is a directive, part of Operation London Bridge, reminding them that the correct procedure is not to make official statements until the Prime Minister has spoken. Liz Truss appeared outside Downing Street about an hour after the news broke and Liverpool waited respectfully after that. Not all football clubs and institutions did. Some ignored instructions. This is their decision. However, Liverpool is a club where processes around mourning, remembrance and celebration matter. He knows how to behave in the right way in the darkest moments. Liverpool, more often than not, get it right. So on Tuesday night, UEFA permitting, a minute’s silence will be observed before the Champions League game against Ajax, and it will no doubt be observed perfectly. The suggestion that football was postponed at the weekend because Anfield could not be trusted to behave is an insult to the club and its supporters. The booing of the national anthem during two Wembley finals last year was a comment on the state, not the monarch. Liverpool feel left behind. The city feels a grievance not only for the cover-up that followed Hillsborough, but for many and varied socio-economic factors. He blames successive governments. God Save The Queen, as it were, is a symbol of our nation state. If Liverpool make it to Wembley this season, the anthem will probably be booed again by a section of the crowd and some will think it’s very wrong, but the anthem is different to a minute of remembrance. There is no history of Liverpool supporters targeting the Queen personally, much less them damaging a moment like this. There was never any question of the club failing to hold a minute’s silence to mark her passing at its first home game, and no question of her moving away from proper observance to the unconventional or non-binding. No one interprets this through jazz dancing. The fans may feel Scouse not English, but Liverpool will do what has to be done, what has to be done, as any football club will. Football has been criticized for postponing its matches last weekend and, looking at the painful ceremonies at The Oval and Doncaster Racecourse, it looks like a missed opportunity. Liverpool as a club is a club that knows how to behave in the right way in the darkest of times Likewise, it can be argued that no sport is as big as football and in no other industry does the slightest mistake have such wild and public ramifications. So football was afraid of causing offense by playing and went early, believing that other sports would follow suit. When they didn’t, it was left exposed. However, those judging Liverpool will attest to the complexity of the serious situations. Last month, following the murder of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel at Dovecot, in the east of the city, the club was criticized for failing to observe a minute’s silence before the match. The explanation for her attitude to the tragic, unfortunate Olivia was clear — she had not been asked by Liverpool. If the family had asked, it would have been done. However, Liverpool would not consider putting the club into mourning or intruding by contacting the family unsolicited. It’s not about them. Therefore, it is difficult to judge right and wrong from the outside. Back to Tuesday night and what ensures that the right mood is created? Previous experience. On 10 February 2008, Manchester United commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster and a Premier League shooter scheduled the visit of Manchester City for that weekend. The previous week was filled with trepidation, the fear that City fans would contaminate a solemn occasion for their rivals. All week, messages were sent and reinforced in hopes of preventing an unholy and unforgiving pandemonium. However, on the day, nothing. City fans held up blue and white scarves to compliment the red and white of their hosts. A pin drop would have echoed around Old Trafford, such was the reverent silence. Liverpool fans observed a minute clap in April 2022 to show support for Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo as he mourned the loss of his newborn son. And then, when the game started, City treated United with no respect – as they should – and won 2-1. Some observers felt that United had almost distanced themselves from the courtesy and attention shown before the game. Flash forward to earlier this year when Liverpool played Manchester United at Anfield the day after it was announced that Cristiano Ronaldo and his wife Georgina had lost their newborn son. Ronaldo did not play, but in the seventh minute, Liverpool fans started clapping to show solidarity with the player and his family at such a sad time. There is no club less popular with Liverpool fans than Manchester United and few players less popular than Ronaldo. However, this was brushed aside in a collective display of empathy and humanity. And this is the crowd that is going to destroy the minute’s silence for Queen Elizabeth II? To a large extent, football fans understand this. Away from the jibes and blinkers, most people who watch football realize when a moment is too important for racial rivalries or broader sentiments to encroach. They know this in Liverpool more than anything because a vicious cycle of irreverent disrespect has been allowed to tarnish the commemorations of the dead of Hillsborough and Munich. It doesn’t matter who started it – both sides will blame each other – but chants about Liverpool’s alleged victim mentality and gestures suggestive of a plane crash are common whenever the Manchester United game is played. It’s refreshing, disturbing – and if the minute’s silence is marred on Tuesday, it would further risk pariah status. And who wants that? Nobody likes us, nobody cares, there’s been a rallying cry at Millwall, but is it true? Every club seeks appreciation, respect, if not love, from neutral observers. Imagine the horrific maelstrom of abuse between Manchester United and Liverpool repeated in every stadium? What purpose would it serve? Premier League football was put on hold last weekend following the death of Queen Elizabeth And, yes, there are 50,000 people in the stadium. It is difficult to vouch for the common sense, empathy and sobriety of all of them. At the Theater Royal, Bath, on Friday, during the minute’s silence four people could be seen in the pews remaining seated. One of them was also the loudest and most flamboyant member of the audience when the production ended, so maybe she just liked being noticed. The thing is, it didn’t reflect in the theater that a handful didn’t last. It’s a free country and they weren’t annoying. There are times, though, when if you can’t say anything nice, it’s better not to say anything at all, and one of those times is now. This is why there has been such a backlash against people like Trevor Sinclair and Jedward. Not because there can never be debates about colonialism or abolition – both of which are valid topics, whatever your point of view – but because when the much-loved Queen has just died, people are in no mood for an ill-conceived hot opinion on Twitter. It is possible to be a republican and respect duty and responsibility and service, or respect the feelings of others, or a family, regardless of its status, has just lost its matriarch. So did many non-monarchist Labor MPs. “My thoughts are with the Queen’s family as they come to terms with their personal loss, and with those here and around the world who will mourn her death,” Jeremy Corbyn wrote. “I loved discussing our families, gardens and making jams with her. May she rest in peace.’ His tweet appeared, dutifully, after the prime minister’s speech on Thursday. Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson traveled to Liverpool City Hall on Monday and signed the book of condolence. Jurgen Klopp said he supported the minute’s silence but added that Liverpool fans needed no guidance from him on how to show respect. He is right of course. Tonight, Sir Kenny Dalglish’s club – his title duly noted – will be silent, because his men will know what to do. FOOTBALL WAS CAUGHT BY SURPRISE Perhaps now football sees the error of its ways in postponing the schedule, with some marquee games under threat this weekend as well. By making the game expendable, it leaves itself open to outside pressure. Games at Chelsea and Manchester United have now been dropped. However, the queen was 96. Her death was not unexpected. It is not inconceivable that in the midst of Operation London Bridge football could have come up with an immediate plan of action to be implemented with little need for meetings and discussions. It could even have gone through the government and the palace for approval. Instead, he was taken aback. ROTTER SERGIO RUBS SALT IN THE WOUNDS What a complete rotter, Sergio Garcia. The proudest, if not the biggest, member of the LIV Golf team has taken a seat at the PGA…
