Lord of the Dance
John Aldridge: 'Thatcher hated Ireland and covered up Hillsborough'
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John Aldridge: 'Thatcher hated Ireland and covered up Hillsborough'

IRISH soccer legend John Aldridge has launched a fierce attack on the late Margaret Thatcher accusing her of hating Ireland and Liverpool.

The former Liverpool striker said that he wished the former Prime Minister “had never been born”

In his column for Ireland’s Sunday World newspaper, Aldridge also accused her of covering up the truth about the Hillsborough disaster which killed 96 Liverpool fans.

Aldridge wrote: “Thatcher hated Liverpool as a city, hated Ireland as a country and didn't have any time at all for football. While my words may seem a little harsh in the days after her passing, none of us are sad to see this woman go.

"I was always taught as a kid never to speak ill of the dead and to show some respect when someone passes away, but I can't subscribe to that ideal when Thatcher is the person in question."

He added: “For those of us who were involved in trying to uncover the truth behind the events at Hillsborough on April 15, 1989, and the subsequent cover-up that was designed to blame the Liverpool fans for the tragedy, we always believed Thatcher was right at the heart of the conspiracy.

"She was geeing on the police to find a way to blame the Liverpool fans for the appalling events that have affected so many of us for the last quarter of a century, and knew what was going on when the initial report came out saying the police were to blame for 96 fans being crushed to death.

“The documents we saw on the Hillsborough disaster included a series of memos from Downing Street saying that the fans should be blamed for the tragedy and those directives came right from the top, I have no doubt about that.

“For that reason, many of us wish Thatcher was never born and I make no apology for saying that. Let's not forget, this was a woman who hated our sport with a passion and everyone knows her contempt for football supporters ran deep.”