Man arrested at FA Cup final after wearing '97 not enough' shirt
The incident has sparked outrage online
A man has been arrested during the FA Cup Final at Wembley yesterday (3 June) over a '97 not enough' football shirt.
A photo of the back of the man's shirt has been making its rounds on Twitter, with many saying it was a reference to the tragic Hillsborough Disaster back in 1989 at Hillsborough Stadium, which resulted in the deaths of 97 Liverpool fans due to a human crush during the FA Cup semi-final in Sheffield against Nottingham Forest.
An inquest jury ruled in 2016 that they were unlawfully killed amid a number of police errors.
The football supporter in question has been taken into custody on suspicion of a public order offence, the Metropolitan Police confirmed.
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The police force confirmed to the BBC that the arrest was solely due to the shirt worn by the football fan, however, they would not confirm that it was due to its alleged reference to the disaster.
The football shirt has sparked outrage across social media with many taking to Twitter to share their views on the matter.
One account, The Kop Watch, shared a photo of the man and captioned the post: "Get this man’s face spread across social media ASAP, he needs to face repercussions."
Since then, the Metropolitan Police Events account retweeted the post and added: "We are aware of this and have worked proactively with officials at Wembley Stadium to identify the individual.
"He has been arrested on suspicion of a public order offence and taken into custody."
The Hillsborough Survivors Support Alliance (HSA) has since taken to Twitter to share a statement on the matter.
It reads: "On Saturday 3rd June 2023, the first ever all Manchester cup final took place at Wembley between Manchester City and Manchester United.
"It was the opportunity for Manchester as a city to show itself in its best light but unfortunately this was marred by a so-called Manchester United fan wearing an away shirt that mocked the deaths of the 97 unlawfully killed at Hillsborough, the families and the survivors of the tragedy that took place on April 15th 1989."
The HSA continued: "On the back of the shirt was the number 97 and above that, where players names are normally displayed, where the words Not Enough."
It went on to call the man's behaviour 'despicable' before thanking the FA, Metropolitan police and security staff at Wembley for their 'swift action and arrest' of the man.
They added that the shirt sent an 'abhorrent message targeting family members and survivors of the Hillsborough disaster back in 1989'.
"Let's hope the justice system can be as swift with the appropriate punishment for this act of hatred," the HSA concluded.
Rhiannon Ingle