Klopp responds to Boris Johnson after Liverpool fans booed national anthem: They wouldn't do it if there wasn't a reason
Incident took place in the FA Cup final
Posted Tuesday, May 17, 2022 by Marca.com
Liverpool fans fulfilled a tradition that has been going on since the 1980s and whistled the UK national anthem 'God save the Queen' when Prince William appeared in the stands at Wembley Stadium ahead of the FA Cup final.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesman Sir Lindsay Hoyle criticised the supporters who decided boo the anthem, but Jurgen Klopp stood by them in his press conference prior the game with Southampton on Tuesday.
"Of course I have thoughts, but in these situations, it's best to ask the question: 'why does this happen?'," Klopp said on Monday.
"I know our people that well that they wouldn't do it if there was no reason for it.
"I'm not here long enough to understand the reason for it - it's something historical and probably a question you [the media] can answer much better than I ever could.
"Our fans, and I know some fans from other clubs see this slightly differently, are wonderful people.
"[They are] really smart, go through lows, go through highs, suffer together. They wouldn't do it if there was not a reason, that's what I know. Maybe we should ask this question."
Unhappy for the boos
Sir Lindsay Hoyle had previously expressed his unease with the way Prince William was welcomed by part of the fans at Wembley.
"I utterly condemn any fans who booed Prince William at Wembley today," said Sir Lindsay Hoyle.
"The FA Cup final should be an occasion when we come together as a country. It should not be ruined by a minority of fans' totally shameful behaviour. In this year of all years - the Queen's Platinum Jubilee - this is dreadful."
The Hillsborough tragedy
As many as 97 people were killed in the semi-final between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool on 15 April 1989, at Hillsborough in Sheffield.
That tragedy that was the straw that broke the camel's back in the relationship between the Reds' fans and Margaret Thatcher's Conservative party, since Liverpool citizens were opposed to the party for the way they had been treated.
Johnson had previously offended the city of Liverpool by referring to Ken Bigley, a civil engineer who was beheaded in Iraq by Islamic extremists.
"The extreme reaction to Mr Bigley's murder is fed by the fact that he was a Liverpudlian," he wrote on The Spectator in the past.
"Liverpool is a handsome city with a tribal sense of community.
"They see themselves, whenever possible as victims, and resent their victim status, yet at the same time they wallow in it."
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