Reds and Blues join forces to tell the world: Don’t Buy The Sun
FOR Liverpool’s second visit to Wembley this season the Reds are joining forces with blues for a second time to spread the word on the boycott of The Sun. In February it was the Carling Cup final and Cardiff City were the blues. In nine days it’s the FA Cup semi-final and the blues are Everton. Cardiff City fans held up blue “Don’t Buy The Sun” posters in the stadium in February and Everton fans are being asked to do the same for the semi-final.
Everton supporters are well aware of the boycott of The Sun and have joined Liverpool fans in boycotting it for the last 23 years. Recent initiatives, like the Justice Tonight tour, have seen an increase in awareness of the boycott, and of the campaign for Hillsborough justice.
With both sets of fans holding up “Don’t Buy The Sun” posters (specially printed for the occasion by The Hillsborough Justice Campaign) before and during the game the campaign got more attention and more people learned not only that there was a boycott but the reasons behind it.
As well as supporting the existing boycott Cardiff City supporters had their own reasons to ask people not to buy the paper, as the HJC’s Sheila Coleman explained before the game: “The Cardiff fans will hold their posters up because of the awful piece that The Sun printed about Mike Dye. He was a genuine football fan who died, but the paper decided to make him out as a hooligan.” A banner was also on show, with badges relating to both clubs, proclaiming: “The Birds Don’t Buy The Sun.”
"These birds Don't Buy the Sun" - Carling Cup Final 2012
The semi-final is being held on Saturday April 14th, the day before the 23rd anniversary of Hillsborough, a time of year that is very difficult for supporters of both of Merseyside’s Premier League clubs. The fight for justice has been hindered for a long list of reasons over the past 23 years but the Sun’s decision to print lies about the conduct of supporters – survivors of the disaster who had in many cases saved or tried to save lives of their fellow supporters – continues to this day to cloud the opinions of people who took their word for it and believed those lies.
New people learn “The Truth” about those lies on a regular basis which is why continuing to draw attention to it is so important for so many reasons.
Don't Buy The Sun Poster - the Blue version for Everton fans
Liverpool and Everton supporters who are going down to Wembley next week are being asked to help with the distribution and display of the posters for the semi-final
Details follow from The Hillsborough Justice Campaign. If you can help, please do so and please let them know:
After the success of our “Don’t Buy The S*n” poster day at Wembley in February, we can confirm that we will again be distributing posters before the FA Cup Semi-Final on 14th April.
There will be 20,000 posters available in red and 10,000 in blue, and these will be handed out around Wembley stadium on the day. We would ask supporters from both teams to show support and unity by spreading the word amongst fellow fans via websites, forums, social networks, supporters clubs and word of mouth, as well as holding up their posters inside the stadium prior to kick-off on the day.
We are also looking again for volunteers to hand out posters on the day, to all supporters. Please email us at hillsboroughjusticecampaign@hotmail.co.uk if you can assist.
Wembley officials and the Met Police have been extremely helpful for a second time by giving permission to distribute and display. This is a fantastic opportunity for the two Merseyside clubs to come together on a showpiece platform to get the message across. Don’t Buy The S*n.
Liverpool supporters at the Carling Cup final - "Don't buy the S*n"
* Ben Williams is cycling 260 miles from his home in South Norfolk to Anfield, stopping off at Hillsborough on the way, in memory of the 96 who died and to raise awareness of the fight for justice.
Funds are being raised (via The Community Foundation for Merseyside / The Jamie Caragher 23 Foundation) for the Hillsborough Family Support Group, the Hillsborough Justice Campaign and other Merseyside based charities and initiatives.
You can sponsor Ben (aka Subsy) by:
- visiting this page: https://www.justgiving.com/rideforhillsborough or
- texting RYGJ60 £5 to 70070 (replace £5 with your donation amount – texts are free!)
As well as asking for sponsorship Ben would also appreciate some support on the ride itself. Visit the site he’s set up for the ride more details and for updates as he gets nearer to the start date for the 3-day journey: rideforthe96.co.uk.
Ride for The 96
As a blue who remembers the horrible news coming through to Villa Park on the radio on that fateful day. As a blue who lost a red mate that day. As a blue who sang YNWA at Wembley 89 (only time ever by the way !). As a blue who knew that even McCall’s equalisers were only part of that day’s final story (you had to win that one). I would like to think that there should be 20,000 blue and 20,000 red posters and they will all be held aloft. Justice please.
I agree with you, there should be 20000 of both ( the more the better) justice further 96 YNWA
Are there digital versions if the red and blue posters that we can use as our facebook profile picture
You should be able to save the blue one from the article above. You can download the red one from the HJC facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=321442057903915&set=a.211661538881968.52384.211618175552971&type=3&theater
There’s a copy of the blue one on there too:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=346164855431635&set=a.211661538881968.52384.211618175552971&type=3&theater
Any problems let me know.
I am now living in Western Australia and before emigrating from England in 2006, I was a season ticket holder at Everton for 16 years. I grew up with a split Blue/Red family and my friends were pretty much also split down the middle on who to follow.
I am as guilty as anyone over the last decade for being anti Liverpool and ‘I hate Liverpool’. I’m not going to go over the reasons why, as a lot of hostility still exists. But my Liverpool supporting friends and family are still the people I turn to and spend time with on a day to day basis. Yes, I will always bleed blue and hate Liverpool for 90 minutes each derby… and for days post and pre… but I love the rivalry and it’s nice to have closed the gap to actually have an argument!
So what I’m asking is, ‘can we have a Merseyside event prior to kick off where we unite, sing, drink beer together and walk to Wembley in a sea of Blue and Red taking over our capital’. Once the game kicks off I hope we smash Liverpool… sure the feeling is mutual. But we should honour those that lost their lives by being united for the build up.
So, as a blue so far away, I hope that Everton and Liverpool come together and then produce a classic… with Merseyside the winners… (hopefully the blue half!).
As a blue at villa park that awful day my blood still runs cold at the memory of news coming from hillsboro that day and my 15 yr old son busting into tears and crying worried sick about his mate who was there! so lets all join together and boycott that vile rag of a so called newspaper!
Will be at wembley with my 5 yr old son who will be none the wiser. But even if it’s only for a few minutes, he will copy me, and I for 1 will be supporting the campaign. So let’s all get behind it and let it be known what we think of kelvin Mckenzie and the shite he wrote after the 96 were murdered.
good luck with the campaign but …. im 50 and have never bought the sun as it was
always deriding people from liverpool and its right wing as fuck as well
and i didnt know anybody that bought it anyway ,so your assumption that everton supporters joined liverpool fans in a boycott 23 years ago because of hillsboro is a bit wide of the mark…. sales of the newspaper where declining anyway,i hope your campaign hits its mark but maybe a protest aimed at people who contribute to any of murdochs
rags may be more apt in future …mentioning no names but we all know who they are
anyway good luck , but anyone who needs telling not to buy the sun is a twat anyway
so i dont want to waste my own energy preaching to them anyway…..and with regard to making more red posters than blue, is this because you think its a liverpool f.c. thing
rather than a liverpool or nationwide thing ? i would have thought you would have made equal amounts to give your protest even more gravitas