InterviewBilly Hogan reacts to French Senate report on UCL final events

Billy, thanks for your time. We appreciate you’re away with the first team in Singapore at the moment but you’ve been watching proceedings closely today. The Senate have issued their statement with 15 recommendations and key to all of it is that Liverpool fans have been cleared of any blame. Give us the club’s reaction to that today.

We are out here in Singapore but both here in Singapore and back in Liverpool we’ve been watching the proceedings closely. And obviously got the report earlier today, had a chance to review it. I guess I would say a couple of things. First off, we welcome the findings in the report. I think it’s clear that what the Senate put forward was that the issues caused at Stade de France were based on a number of failures through the organisation of the event itself and in no case was that to be blamed or caused by the fans.

From our perspective, we just think that goes back to what we talked about immediately after the event and the fact there were a number of accusations, frankly, put out there immediately after the event and in fact blaming fans for what happened on that night. I think what we’re seeing from the Senate clearly shows that is not the case. And finally, they have clearly gone through a process here over the course of the last several weeks, spoken with a number of individuals, a number of different stakeholders, so we would welcome and support the 15 recommendations that came out of the report.

What do you think are the next steps in terms of this and the UEFA inquiry?

So in this case the Senate has asked that the French government review their findings and support their findings, and we would certainly welcome that. We would echo the comments made that no fan, football fan or otherwise – it doesn’t matter if you’re going to a football match or a concert etc – no fans should have to deal with what both Liverpool and Real Madrid fans dealt with on the night at Stade de France.

Beyond that, I would hope and certainly we would expect that this review would play a part in the UEFA independent investigation as well. That panel obviously is just getting going in that process and we would certainly hope that Dr Tiago Rodrigues and the panel would use the Senate’s findings as a critical part of their research and investigation into the events around the final at the Stade de France.

Finally, I would say I was incredibly encouraged to see one of the senators specifically apologise to the Liverpool fans and to the Real Madrid fans for what happened on the night. And I would ask that the French government do the same. Not just to the fans of Liverpool and Real Madrid but to both clubs, who have had reputational issues coming out of the final and we would hope they would extend an apology where one is deserved.

And finally Billy, what is your message to the fans following the publication of this report today?

I think it’s probably similar to what I’ve said previously, which is a huge thank you. We know that what happened on the night was extremely traumatising for thousands of people, who were going to a football match for what should have been a great evening and turned into something that was really horrific, before and after the event. So, I would say a huge thank you first off to everybody, again, for committing their experiences down on emails and letters that we received; for taking advantage of the expert help that was provided, which I think is critical. Those that still may need that, we would ask them again to make sure they take advantage of that. And simply for continuing to support the club. This has been an incredibly challenging time over the course of the last six weeks but I’m incredibly proud of our fanbase, I’m incredibly proud of the way that everybody has come together. I wouldn’t expect anything less. I would just say thank you to everybody.