In the hearts of the reporters, the match was full of ups and downs, but the post-match press conference was the real focus. The reporters were eager to hear the views of both managers on the fans' disturbances in the middle of the match.
So, not long after the match ended, the reporters ended their interviews in the mixed zone and gathered at the press conference, waiting for the managers of both sides to come out.
Tang En was the first to come out, followed closely by the main manager of Millwall, the dejected Alan McRally. According to common sense, the managers of both sides should shake hands, but Tang En sat in his seat with both hands in his pockets. He had no intention of shaking hands with the other manager. McRally stood on the stage, stunned for a moment, and awkwardly sat in his seat.
The host had just announced the start of the press conference when the reporters' hands were all raised.
The reporters were not most concerned about the shocking 7: 1 score. Any score was possible on the football field, and 7: 1 was not beyond the limits of Earth and Mars. The match's most valuable publicity and gimmick, as well as the most attention-grabbing story, happened in the stands. The insulting singing by the Millwall fans and the subsequent disturbances from both sides were the targets of the reporters' questions.
Tang En was the first to snatch the microphone. He wanted to say what needed to be said, and then leave for Nottingham. He did not want to sit with the person beside him for too long.
"I understand that you all want to know about what happened in the stands, but I don't want to talk about it anymore. I suggest you ask the chairman of Millwall and the manager next to me. They should know best what kind of people their supporters are. " These words directly put almost all the Millwall people on the opposite side of Tang En, but he did not care. He did not rely on pleasing the opponent's fans to win. "I just want to say one thing. I'm very satisfied with my players' performance in the second half. They deserved this victory."
A reporter saw that Tang En seemed to have the intention to leave, and hurriedly rushed to ask, "Excuse me, Mr. Tang! Your team's performance in the first half and second half was completely different. What did you say to them during the halftime interval? Did you have any special arrangements? "
Tang En stared at the reporter and said, "I told my players that if they were angry at the singing by the Millwall fans, then they should use goals to shut their mouths. Sing once, score a goal. Sing once, score a goal. Until they no longer dared to make a sound. I'm very happy that my players have done that. "
Then, ignoring the commotion caused by his words, he put the microphone on the table and got up to leave.
The host reminded him, "Sir, the press conference is not over yet …"
"That's because he's not done yet." Twain pointed to McCreary. "I have nothing more to say, Mr. Host. Everyone! " He said loudly to the reporters, "If you have any questions, just ask Mr. Alan McRally!"
With that, he turned around and left the stage.
The gloomy McCreary mumbled behind them, "I've never seen such an ungentlemanly person …"
Tang En stopped midway because of this sentence. He turned to look at McAleary, his eyes so fierce that it looked like he was about to eat someone up. "Demeanor? Mr. Alan McLeary... "He spoke slowly and clearly, enunciating each word slowly and clearly. "There's one thing I can be sure of. My demeanor is a million times better than yours and your supporters in the stands!"
With that, he ignored the excited reporters and left the small press conference hall without looking back.
※ ※ ※
Nottingham Forest beat Millwall 7: 1 in an away game and smoothly advanced to the semifinals. But there were not many reports about the score. Instead, the fans' riots in the stands made the headlines of various British media after the game.
The media linked the football hooligan brawl that resulted in the death of an innocent child after the game between Nottingham Forest and Millwall at the end of last season. They put this headline in the newspapers: The return of football hooligans! The return of football violence!
The suppressed excitement was vividly displayed on the paper.
In fact, the media's attitude had to be explained from the catastrophe 14 years ago.
Since the Hillsborough tragedy, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who had always disliked football, finally found an excuse to crack down on this "violent sport." She commissioned Lord Justice Taylor to conduct a detailed independent investigation into the British football environment at the time. It took six months to produce two editions of the "Taylor Inquiry Report."
In this famous report, Mr. Justice Taylor made various recommendations in a responsible manner not only for the sport of football, but also for the British society as a whole. But the British government only took a few of them: for example, a comprehensive renovation of the stadium, all standing seats were changed to seats, and the separation wall was removed.
In 1973, the British government established a stadium safety license review and issuance authority. Those stadiums that did not meet safety standards would not be issued a safety license. But the safety license of Hillsborough Stadium, where the tragedy occurred, had expired for ten years! According to the expired safety license of Hillsborough Stadium for ten years, the third and fourth sections of the stadium's west stands could accommodate 2,200 people. But the actual maximum capacity was less than 1,700 people. At the time of the tragedy, more than 3,000 fans rushed into the two communities from an underground passage, which directly led to the disaster of crowding and trampling.
Although subjectively speaking, Margaret Thatcher's actions were to suppress football, a sport that she hated, objectively it did promote the reform of English football. Today, people could sit in renovated stadiums with plastic seats, dedicated emergency evacuation passages, and watch football, all thanks to the "Taylor Report" and the Thatcher government.
The "Taylor Report" also laid the foundation for the establishment of the English Premier League in terms of safety and hardware facilities. In 1992, the English Premier League, which had been brewing for a long time, made its grand debut and immediately attracted the attention of fans all over the world with exciting games. Under the highly market-oriented and commercialized operation, the English Premier League became more and more exciting year by year. It seemed that English football had returned to its former glory days, and even the stubborn problem of football hooliganism seemed to have gradually disappeared from England's top league.
In fact, on the issue of football hooliganism, it was not only the fans who should bear the responsibility and atone for those tragedies, but also the British government and the media.
In Britain, perhaps 99% of the fans were innocent, but as long as one percent of the football hooligans existed, the others would follow suit. In the British Police Scotland Yard, there was a "blacklist" of football hooligans. The list was established during the Thatcher government. More than a decade later, they strictly followed a principle that Margaret Thatcher had euphemistically put forward — it was better to kill three thousand wrongly than to let one go.
As a result, countless innocent fans followed suit. Fans who had a legitimate profession and never had a criminal record were inexplicably on the football hooligan blacklist and banned from going abroad to watch football. The reason might simply be that "they had once entered the same stadium as football hooligans" or "they had drinks in the same bar as football hooligans" …
Of course, the government's brutal treatment of the problem of football hooligans, the role of the media in adding fuel to the fire could not be underestimated.
To cite a very representative example in the history of English football, it was enough to illustrate the role of the media in the problem of football hooliganism.
The Liverpool fans in Merseyside would never forget their hatred for The Sun, because after the Hillsborough tragedy, the influential newspaper in the United Kingdom did not hesitate to compile a live report to attract attention and compete with The Mirror for news resources. They succeeded in doing so. Until now, there were still many people who believed that the Hillsborough tragedy was caused by the "notorious" Liverpool fans' riots and that they "deserved to die" because of the media reports at the time.
The front page of The Sun that day was called "the most shameful front page headline in the history of journalism" — THE TRUTH!
The Sun's so-called truth was that the Liverpool fans deserved to die because it was the drunken brawl that led to the tragedy. They vividly described to the readers what happened at Hillsborough Stadium: those "scum" Liverpool fans took advantage of the chaos to loot the dead's wallets, clothes, watches … They urinated on the police who were maintaining order, beat up the staff who were giving artificial respiration to the injured, and even tried to gang rape a dead female fan!
They originally designed the title for the report as "You are scum", but later changed it to "The Truth" before publication. It was really ironic. What was the real truth?
Because the Thatcher government at the time characterized the fans as "internal enemies", the government could not consider the safety of the enemy, and no one cared about their innocence. They even wanted the media to unanimously define the Hillsborough tragedy as a football hooligan riot, so that they could perfectly prove how correct and far-sighted their bad attitude towards football was. Prime Minister Thatcher's personal adviser at the time still insisted on The Sun's view at the time.
The real truth did not slowly surface until a few years later, but this kind of truth only existed among the people. After numerous trials, the British court ruled that the Hillsborough tragedy was an "accident", and the negligent police did not need to bear any responsibility for it. What was more significant was that the evidence that led them to make this ruling was fabricated by the police. Later, the British court refused to reopen the case because, according to British law, private complainants had no right to appeal.
(To be continued, if you want to know what happened next, please log on to WWW. CMFU. com. More chapters. Support the author. Support original reading!)
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