Ugly behaviour must end

Alex Ferguson expects Manchester United’s visit to Liverpool later this month to pass off without incident as he called for an end to the hostile rivalry between the two clubs.

Supporters have often wasted no effort in trying to goad their opponents with vile chants about Hillsborough and Munich, paying scant respect to the 96 Liverpool fans who died in Sheffield or the 21 who were killed coming back from a European Cup tie in Belgrade 31 years earlier.

However, in the wake of this week’s Hillsborough Independent Panel’s report which cleared Liverpool supporters of any blame in the 1989 tragedy, a chance exists for some of the edges to be taken off the rivalry.