A Twitter poll to select songs to be played at Anfield before Liverpool play Manchester United on Sunday has resulted in a social media storm.
The bottom line on this story is that the person in charge of Liverpool’s Twitter account last night was either woefully ill-informed or has a very, very sick sense of humour.
The @LFC account last night tweeted a poll looking for followers to suggest a three-song playlist to be played at Anfield ahead of the visit of fierce rivals Manchester United.
One tweeter suggested these three tunes, each of which has a link to the Munich disaster.
@LFC #anfieldplaylist Come fly with me-Frank Sinatra. Always look on the bright side of life-Eric Idle I like to move it-Reel to Real
— JOSH (@JoshMitchy_) August 29, 2013
The first is pretty clear, the second one has had its lyrics changed to ‘Always look on the runway for ice’ in an offensive chant as has the third, which is sung as ‘I like to Munich, Munich’.
Bizarrely, rather than ignoring the troll, the official account responded, and in a jokey fashion, suggesting the Liverpool team would be listening to those songs in the dressing room. The tweet was quickly deleted but here’s a screen grab.
Looking at it benignly, the person in charge did not spot the tunes as offensive. The other option is that they did recognise the tunes and thought it was funny. Neither is good enough for an official club account.
As you may imagine, the tweet has sparked a huge row online.
Liverpool have yet to comment on the tweet but with the issue of offensive chants about Munich and Hillsborough such a hot topic, we imagine it will have to be addressed.
Update: Huffington Post have just posted an apology from Liverpool for the tweet.
It says: “Liverpool Football Club responded quickly to correct the error of judgement that was made last night on it’s official Twitter account in responding to a distasteful and inappropriate Tweet. The Club took decisive action and the comment was deleted swiftly.
“We apologise, unreservedly, for any offence that was caused by this mistake.”
