Celtic chief Peter Lawwell will be at Anfield today as Liverpool mark the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy.
Yesterday English football paid it’s respects to the 96 fans killed at the Liverpool v Nottingham Forest FA Cup semi-final with all matches kicking off 7 minutes later than scheduled in respect for the six minutes played at Hillsborough before the match was abandoned.
Celtic played Hibs at Hampden the following day in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup and were the first club to offer Liverpool a match following the tragedy as the club attempted to return to action. At the end of that season Celtic won the Scottish Cup and Liverpool the FA Cup.
All of the proceeds from the Celtic v Liverpool match went to the families of the Hillsborough victims
Anfield will be highly charged this afternoon for the battle of the title contenders but will take time out to remember the 96 who were killed by police incompetence which was covered up by the full force of the state for over 20 years.
Announcing today’s events the Liverpool website stated: “Before kick-off, City legends Mike Summerbee and Joe Corrigan will present a wreath of flowers, plus 96 blue and red roses, to non-executive director Kenny Dalglish and club ambassador Ian Rush.
“At half-time, Celtic chief executive, Peter Lawwell, will present a wreath of flowers and a scarf to managing director Ian Ayre and Dalglish, with the latter returning a signed Liverpool shirt and letter of thanks on behalf of the club.”
As well as the obvious links through You’ll Never Walk Alone, Celtic and Liverpool have played in testimonials for Ron Yeats, Jock Stein, Tommy Burns and Ian Rush.