Rival fans jeering over club disasters is ‘triggering’ for those involved, says a man who wants to lead change
THE Hillsborough Disaster was the worst ever disaster in British sporting history.
During a game between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, there was a crush in the stand designated for Liverpool supporters. Ninety-four people were killed that day.
Yet, despite the heartbreak involved, some football fans still use the event to insult Liverpool fans.
So-called tragedy chants are offensive songs or dances that refer to a tragedy or fatal incident in a team’s past – and every team has one.
Miming a plane in flight can reference the plane crash that killed Cardiff player Emiliano Sala to insult Cardiff fans. Or it could reference the Munich air disaster which killed the Manchester United team to insult their supporters.
The fans who join in might think it’s just a joke, but for Cardiff football coach Scott Hartley it’s not just insulting, “it’s triggering”.
“I’m back there again, fighting for my life. Knowing that if I breathe out, I’ll never breathe in again,” he said.
Scott was in the Hillsborough Stadium that day as a 15-year-old Liverpool fan.
“You wouldn’t joke if someone’s mum got cancer, or their dog was run over, so why this?” he said.
Scott says he suffered post-traumatic stress for years and only started talking about his experience two years ago when the Hillsborough Survivors Support Alliance charity paid for weekly therapy for him with money they raised through campaigning.
“Without them I wouldn’t be here today. They tell us not to pay them back, but to pay that kindness forward,” he said.
Scott doesn’t call himself a victim because he’s one of the survivors. He’s resolved to “make the world a better place”.
Now 51 and living in Pentrebane, Scott has launched the End Tragedy Chanting Now campaign to tackle the practice. The campaign has two aims.
The first is to lobby football teams, broadcasters, and social media platforms to take firmer action against tragedy chanting.
They’ve had a lot of success: Sheffield United, Nottingham Forest, Swansea City and Cardiff City have all partnered with End Tragedy Chanting Now to take a firmer stance on the practice. Scott and his “partner in crime” Stu Smith are also in talks with Aston Villa.
They’re also taking on X (formerly Twitter) for their laxness in dealing with posts that refer to sporting tragedies – something Scott calls “tragedy posting”.
One recent post commented on Liverpool’s defeat at the hands of Plymouth.
The user said: “I haven’t seen Liverpool this crushed since …” followed by a picture of the Hillsborough Disaster.
Scott said that when he sees posts like this, he’s no longer on the sofa with his partner – he’s back there.
But when he reported it, X said the post hadn’t broken its sensitive media policy.
“I think I had X for a week. I was just trying to reach out to other survivors who maybe hadn’t spoken out. But when I saw the tragedy posting, I broke down in my living room.”
The survivor said if he sees posts he will report them and hopefully make the poster think about what they’re doing. He wants to protect people who aren’t as secure as him and might do something drastic – maybe even take their own life.
Scott has known two survivors who’ve committed suicide, one as recently as 18 months ago.
Eventually, the campaigners want platforms like X to ban tragedy posting.
“We’ve had some successes with reporting. Some job losses, some convictions. But convictions don’t stop it.
“We’re never going to get adults to change,” said Stu Smith, Scott’s fellow coach.
The second aim of the campaign is to teach children from a young age to be more respectful to stop them and their friends from ever tolerating tragedy chanting.
Scott and Stu are setting up an under-10s team at Pentrebane Primary School, and already coach the Fairwater under-14s.
“Coaching is my life. I always say that two games changed my life: Hillsborough, and seeing Fairwater under-14s,” said Scott.
Next year, the boys in his team will be the same age he was when the disaster happened. “That’s poignant for me.”
Growing up in care, Scott says he wants to give the boys every opportunity that he never had.
“I was never hanging around bus stops smoking. I was always near football. I never felt safer than when I was in the stands. Then it was taken away from me – but I still want that for these kids”.
“We want to start showing these young people how to stand tall, how to feed back into their society in a positive way, and to show it can be done through the medium of football.
“We want to teach them things like morals before they even kick a ball.”
The team all wear the logos and badges of End Tragedy Chanting Now, clothing fundraiser Soliv, and the HSA. They wholeheartedly agree with Scott’s mission.
“I’m Cardiff through and through, but I’m going with some friends to watch their team play against Cardiff,” said Stu, a substitute teacher by day.
“It’ll be painful not to cheer on the Bluebirds, but the sport is about being together. Unity is strength,” the 34-year-old said. This is also the HSA’s motto.
Tyler, an 18-year-old who helps them coach, says that it’s about “human decency”.
Kids might find it patronising if an adult tells them about respect, but having other young people like Tyler teaching them is more likely to get a positive response, he said.
They say the two approaches, lobbying and youth teams, are not as separate as they seem.
“When’s the last time you had to stop your car because kids were playing on the road? They’re all online now, where there’s no security to stop them seeing and repeating this. It’s a dangerous world.”
Scott laughs that he might make a joke if the boys support Manchester United, but that they all know where the line is.
“We don’t want to stop chanting or banter, just to take it back 10 metres,” said Stu.
Credit: Scott Hartley
End Tragedy Chanting Now is sponsored by Soliv, which raises funds through clothes sales, and works closely with the HSA, which supports anyone involved in the sport who is undergoing hardship.
Proceeds from the End Tragedy Chanting Now campaign go straight into the work they do, with some being donated back to the HSA. It’s Scott’s way of paying back the charity that he believes saved his life.
“People knock the HSA because they think it’s just for survivors, but it’s for anyone who needs it,” he says.
Similarly, End Tragedy Chanting Now isn’t just for Liverpool fans, but to end tragedy chanting everywhere.
- Scott and Stu plan to expand into more clubs and venues in the next year. If you would like to donate to help them grow or learn more about the campaigns, you can do so here:
Or to donate or buy kit you can contact Scott directly here: scotthartley093@gmail.com
