Fan reaction to national anthem was justified - people don't realise what the city has been through

John Aldridge

"It’s a free world, people don’t realise what this city has gone through. A lot of things have happened with the central government, not just the monarchy, it’s just the way it is.

"We more than any other city, we show our feelings and stand up for our rights. I don’t like getting into politics but it’s history more than anything.

We view our thoughts more than anyone else but it’s free speech, it’s up to people whether you agree, disagree, should’ve kept quiet, it is what it is.

I thought it was silly [to play the anthem] because I knew the reaction it was going to get. It would’ve been difficult for them not to play it because it’s been played at every single ground so they had to play it and see what happened.

Look, it’s freedom of speech. There’s a lot of royalists in the city and there’s a lot more non-royalists in the city who want to show their feelings. It’ll never be any different and it won’t change.

You’ve got freedom of speech, that’s the way the world should be, there’s some countries where there isn’t freedom of speech but you can do what you want whether people like it or not.

A lot of people won’t like it, some people agree with it all through England, it’s just there and it’s not going to go away.