Angus Kinnear pledges fans Chris Loftus and Kevin Speight will be remembered by club after ‘benchmark’ ceremony - Yorkshire Post 5/4/22
Leeds United chief executive Angus Kinnear pledges fans Chris Loftus and Kevin Speight will be remembered by club after ‘benchmark’ ceremony
Chief executive Angus Kinnear hopes Leeds United have set
the benchmark for future commemorations of Kevin Speight and Christopher Loftus
after criticisms they did not do enough to mark the anniversary on Saturday.
By Stuart Rayner
Yesterday was 22 years to the day the Leeds supporters were
killed in Istanbul, where they had gone to watch their team play Galatasaray in
a UEFA Cup semi-final first leg the following day.
Jesse Marsch and his squad attended a ceremony at 2pm,
laying wreaths and scarves alongside the plaque commemorating the pair outside
Elland Road.
In a speech which managed to be humorous, moving and
hard-hitting, supporter Gareth Senior expressed outrage more was not done to
mark the anniversary when Leeds hosted Southampton in the Premier League on
Saturday. In the 22nd minute fans turned their back on the pitch and applauded
for a minute, but it was unprompted. The programme carried five paragraphs on
the anniversary at the bottom of page 29.
“We were hurt and upset there was nothing on the big TV or
over the tannoy pre-match on Saturday,” said Senior.
“This shouldn’t happen again.”
Kinnear acknowledged the unhappiness and hopes yesterday’s
efforts were appreciated.
“We know how important this is to the whole fanbase and how
the tragic events were so deeply felt by everybody at the time and still 22 years
later,” said Kinnear.
“We’ve made a commitment that during our custodianship we’ll always take time to remember both gentlemen at this time of year.
“It was great that Jesse and the whole squad agreed to make
it a team event and lay flowers and scarves.
“Kalvin (Phillips) came last year but this time was a step
forward in getting the whole squad to take part. Many fans and friends and
family of Chris and Kev came down as well.
“It was a fitting event and something we want to take
forward as the benchmark of how it should be remembered.”
Senior also asked if the plaque could be moved somewhere
more prominent and better protected from the weather. Kinnear says he will
consult.
“We’ll work with the families,” he promised.
“It’s difficult to conceive of it being in a more
high-profile place than right outside the Bremner statue, diagonally opposite
the Revie statue but if the families aren’t happy about that, we’ll obviously
consult them.”