A lot has been made in the past week of a video circulating on the internet from the Liverpool Supporters' Union - Spirit of Shankly's end-of-season 'do'. The footage shows an unscheduled performer singing an alternative version of 'A Horse With No Name' by America.
Any Liverpool supporter who has been on coaches and in pubs en route to away games in the past few years will know that the phrase 'Munich' - a reference to the 1958 air disaster in which several Manchester United players lost their lives - is inevitably shouted in the chorus of this song by some Reds followers. The rendition at The Olympia on Sunday 24 May, hours after Liverpool's final game of the season against Tottenham Hotspur, was no different.
The most vocal condemnation of the footage has come from Manchester United supporters who claim that legendary Anfield manager Bill Shankly - whose image adorns the Union's motif - would turn in his grave at the glorification of the tragedy that nearly cost his dear friend, United manager Matt Busby, his life.
Whilst this may be the case, what would ex-Liverpool captain Sir Matt make of supporters of his beloved United chanting 'without killing anyone' - a sick reference to the Heysel and Hillsborough disasters, the latter of which saw 96 Liverpool supporters crushed to death on the Leppings Lane terrace in 1989 - about his former club during all of United's games?
Indeed, what would Busby make of those same United supporters who chanted that same vile ditty in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium following the Red Devils' third European Cup win last year - half a decade on from the devastation of Munich - as well as t-shirts bearing the same slogan.
No doubt if they were both alive today, Shankly and Busby would be the first to lead the condemnation of both guilty parties. However United supporters are not the ones being placed on trial in this situation. It is Liverpool and their supporters' union that are in the dock following the public release of the mobile phone footage.
For their part, SOS have publicly condemned the singer and those who joined in the chanting. They have also promised to investigate as to how this unscheduled act, who performed on stage in a line-up that included local band The Maybes? and former Cast front man John Power, was given clearance to appear in front of the sell-out crowd of ticket holders.
It is also worth mentioning that, as with the previous year's function, the event was not restricted solely to Union members. Tickets were available to anyone and everyone who was prepared to purchase one at £10 per head. This begs the question, how can the Union be responsible for those acting inappropriately who are not members of SOS? By the logic of the United supporters condemning them, sole culpability is theirs by default as it was at one of their events that the chanting took place.
By that same logic, Manchester United Football Club are solely responsible for every supporter that attends games at Old Trafford or as part of their away allocation who chants 'without killing anyone' - which is a sizeable and highly vocal number.
The same can be said for the Reds' local rivals Everton whose supporters chant 'murderers' in an equally sickening jibe at the Anfield club which once extended to a banner being made that listed the names of those who died at Heysel with the phrase '39 Italians Can't Be Wrong' written above it.
In addition, Chelsea fans taunted Liverpool's travelling support by chanting 'murderers' during the Champions League encounter between the two sides at Stamford Bridge on the eve of the 20th anniversary of Hillsborough in April this year.
This does not excuse nor justify those Liverpool supporters who chanted Munich in the past or will continue to do so in future, far from it in fact. All this does is highlight the hypocritical route that Everton and United followers have taken in publicly criticising SOS over this incident in light of what was an error of judgement on their part.
The leaking of the video has also led to highly vocal criticism from sections of Liverpool's support who have a strong dislike of the Union and accuse them of being militant and selective in their intake of members - two claims that are very far from the truth. The fact that these supporters are condemning the country's first ever supporters' union indicates the lack of education about both the aims of SOS as well as the strides it has made in its so far brief existence.
Not only have they provided a collective voice for Liverpool supporters in the battle to rid the club of its current owners - George Gillett and Tom Hicks - but they have also met with senior figures at Anfield including Gillett, manager Rafael Benitez, outgoing chief executive Rick Parry and commercial director Ian Ayre in a bid to obtain answers for supporters as to what direction the club is heading, both on and off the pitch. They have also held discussions with the club's travel operator Thomas Cook and the Royal Bank of Scotland, with whom Gillett and Hicks secured a substantial loan against the club as part of their refinancing in January 2008.
The 2008/09 season saw the Union charter coaches at a reasonable price to the majority of the club's away fixtures in the league as well as one-off European trips to Standard Liege and PSV Eindhoven respectively.
Shankly's granddaughter Karen Gill is the patron of the Union and the group also has the backing of the Shankly family. Veteran defender Jamie Carragher is a keen supporter of SOS as his presence at their first two end-of-season functions testifies. He appeared at this year's event alongside teammate Sami Hyypia who was presented with an award by members of the SOS working committee in recognition of his service to Liverpool Football Club as he prepared to embark on a new challenge with Bayer Leverkusen. This highlights the high esteem in which the Union is held by several prominent figures of the Anfield dynasty - both past and present.
Those who have called for SOS to bow out gracefully in light of the Munich debacle should look at all they have achieved since being formed in an Anfield pub on a cold Thursday night over 18 months ago. Yes, things should have been done differently and no doubt they will be in future as this is a very harsh lesson to learn from. Those Liverpool fans slating the Union are either peddling their own agendas or becoming apathetic to the plight of their beloved club.
Collective solidarity under the umbrella of Spirit of Shankly is only way Gillett and Hicks' stay at L4 will be curtailed.
