“We Should Never Forget.” – Formby High School Hosts ‘Crucial’ Hillsborough Legacy Event

Students, staff, and members of the local community gathered at Formby High School on Friday afternoon for a deeply moving and educational event centred on the legacy of the Hillsborough disaster. The occasion brought together remembrance, truth, and community action, while also raising vital funds for those affected and the fight against Motor Neurone Disease (MND Association).

In memory of Kevin Williams, a Formby High School Year 11 student and son of Anne Williams, who sadly lost his life in the tragedy, the current year 11s took on the staff in a penalty shootout that went to the wire before the students prevailed after their headteacher had stepped up to keep the drama unfolding.

Former Liverpool midfielder Sammy Lee was in attendance, and he discussed the event and the importance of the campaign message: “That’s the word poignant. Lest we forget, we talk about doing this once a year, the families go through this every day for 37 years now, that’s why the campaign is still going on, that’s why we’re still fighting for justice. It may be an annual thing, but it’s a daily thing for the families. They want closure; we’d all like closure.”

“It’s crucial that we educate the younger generations, it’s vital that we learn from the mistakes that have been made in the past in any walk of life, but certainly when it comes to this, and what happened to our people and their families.” 

After the fun of the penalties, inside the school, it was over to the LFC Foundation to continue the impactful work of The Real Truth Legacy Project, an initiative dedicated to educating young people about the events of 15 April 1989 and the decades-long fight for justice that followed. Through presentations, exhibitions, and student-led discussions, attendees were given a powerful insight into the importance of truth, accountability, and media responsibility.

A central theme of the day was ensuring that younger generations understand the real story of Hillsborough—challenging the misinformation that surrounded the tragedy for years. Students engaged with personal testimonies, historical context, and the voices of those who have campaigned tirelessly for justice. The project’s message was clear: the legacy of Hillsborough is not only about remembrance, but also about learning and preventing injustice in the future.

Avid Hillsborough campaigner and Labour MP for Liverpool West Derby, Ian Byrne, recounted his experiences from that fateful day and answered questions from the year 7 students, as well as helping to pass on the important message of never giving up the fight for justice as it continues to rumble on. 

Alongside the educational programme, the school organised a series of fundraising activities and raised an incredible £728.77 for the MND Association. The cause holds particular significance within the football and wider community, with ongoing efforts to raise awareness and fund research into the life-limiting condition. 

The combination of remembrance and fundraising created a powerful sense of unity. By linking the lessons of Hillsborough with charitable action, the event highlighted the strength of community spirit and the importance of standing together for meaningful causes.

Teachers at Formby High School praised the students for their maturity and engagement, whilst many students reflected on how the day had deepened their understanding of justice and inspired them to contribute positively to society.

As the event concluded, there was a shared sense that the legacy of Hillsborough continues to live on—not only in memory, but in education, action, and the determination of a new generation to uphold the truth.

Find out more about The Real Truth Legacy and Hillsborough Law Now. 

A New Chapter in an Old Rivalry: Merseyside Derby Match Preview  

The Reds travel to the Hill Dickinson for the first time this Sunday in a Merseyside derby that is set up to be an absolute blockbuster. Arne Slot’s men will be hoping for a fast response following their Champions League exit midweek, a much-improved display than the one we saw in Paris the week prior. 

Slot said: “For those who watched the PSG game, the home one, fair to say the future does look bright, and we were able to have more ball possession than them. 21 shots, more possession, high xG against a team that has more ball possession.” 

He added, “They showed a lot of character against PSG. Being the better team vs PSG is very complicated, let alone after three games in seven days.” 

A controversial VAR decision was the key turning point. Liverpool had a penalty overturned, a call that has caused much controversy within the fanbase. Dembele’s double finished the tie, but the main headlines were taken by Hugo Ekitike. His Achilles tendon rupture has ruled him out for the next 6–9 months and has left the Reds with an unfit Alexander Isak as their only fit senior striker in the squad. 

The Liverpool manager praised the decision to sign two forwards this window: “It is a good thing we signed two, now it looks like a good idea. Now people are saying we should sign another in the summer.” 

All eyes turn now towards this weekend, a 14:00 kick-off on Sunday. Liverpool will be hoping to build on their recent 2–0 league win against Fulham last week.

Everton v Liverpool | Uncensored Match Build Up

Form Guide… 

Everton fans will be coming into this game with plenty of excitement, but their home form this season has not been what they would have been hoping for. Ranking 14th in the league for home form, the Toffees have only won six of their 16 games played at the Hill Dickinson this season. However, it seems Everton may have turned a corner, as they have won their two previous matches at Hill Dickinson, picking up wins against Burnley and Chelsea. 

David Moyes’s side have only picked up one defeat in their previous five games, which came against top-of-the-table Arsenal. Their star man at the moment seems to be Beto. The forward, whom they signed in 2023, has hit a purple patch of form, scoring three goals in their last two games and picking up an assist. 

Everton currently sit eighth in the standings, level on points with Brentford in seventh and only one point off Chelsea in sixth. They have European football in their sights, something they have not achieved in nine years. 

Speaking ahead of the derby, Arne Slot described the derby as a “very special game” when asked about the opposition. 

He added, “If it is the last one being played at the stadium and the first one that always makes it probably even more special if that’s even possible.” 

“Of course, they are in a very good place at the moment. It’s always special, but maybe you can add one or two per cent to it, because it’s now the first and last season, it was the last.” 

Everton is a side Slot has had some success against during his tenure at the club. In his three previous encounters, Slot’s side has won twice and drawn once. That crazy 2–2 draw at Goodison Park last year saw Slot get sent off in his first Merseyside derby. 

The reverse fixture was a joyful one for the Reds, a 2–1 victory, with Ryan Gravenberch and Hugo Ekitike getting on the scoresheet. Arne Slot will be hoping his team can put in a similar display this time round. 

Victory for the away side would be vital in their push for Champions League qualification, with the extra spot being given to England from the UEFA coefficient ranking, meaning Liverpool sit in a Champions League position with a four-point advantage over Chelsea below in sixth. 

The Reds’ form in all competitions has been far from ideal, picking up one win in the previous five matches. Despite that, a dominant win over Fulham the previous weekend is a great platform to build on. 

Rio Ngumoha and Mohamed Salah picked up the goals in that fixture and were both the most influential players on the pitch. Neither started the game against PSG on Tuesday. 

Liverpool’s woes were worsened before their departure from the Champions League against PSG on Tuesday night as Hugo Ekitike was stretchered off after 28 minutes with a now-confirmed ruptured Achilles tendon.
 
The club’s official statement said he sustained the serious Achilles injury on Tuesday night “after a slip on the turf”, which was an issue many of the players felt, with Nuno Mendes also being one of the players coming off injured.
 
It’s a season-ending injury for the Frenchman, whose international manager, Didier Deschamps, has confirmed he will not be available for the World Cup this summer.

The internet’s injury analyst, “Physio Scout”, known for identifying injuries and the length of recovery for footballers via his Instagram and X pages, spoke to Redmen TV about the severity of the injury and how long the recovery will take.

Liverpool Must SELL TO BUY This Summer?!

 The injury is labelled as “one of the most serious soft tissue injuries you can have”, due to it being the most essential structure for acceleration and deceleration, which are explosive movements Ekitike rely on.
 
The way an Achilles rupture happens is “typical” to how Ekitike went down, as the 23-year-old was trying to push off and sudden acceleration forwards, which is how a typical Achilles rupture happens.

As to why the injury might have happened, there’s no one-way answer; it’s thought that a mixture of extreme unluckiness and the fact that Ekitike made ten sprints in 28 minutes (a high amount for a striker that early in the game) contributed to the injury.

News on his recovery also doesn’t make for good reading, as the Physio Scout also mentions that “Achilles ruptures can be quite nasty because the road back can be longer and more complex, and the calf and Achilles complex can become weak for quite some time.”

Speaking to Dan on Redmen Plus, the expert said the best-case scenario is a 7-month period out with no setbacks and an extremely smooth and fast recovery, as “he will have the best medical professionals around him and the right team to push for the lower time frame (7–9-month range), but they have to be careful as other injuries can occur.”

However, it is looking like it will take the club’s top scorer this season nearly a year to recover and get back to full fitness on the pitch, as “it can be a bit longer than that because he’s a striker and very explosive; he may need more than the 9-month frame.”

Merseyside Derby Preview | The Deep Dive

The Physio Scout also said it was “very similar [recovery] to an ACL injury in how the recovery is graded and what he has to get through”

The process of recovery starts “in a boot after surgery, often with the foot elevated and pointed down to reduce the stress on the tendon, and he’ll be on crutches as well.
“Once he comes out of the boot, the focus will be on normal walking again, getting normal movement back and rebuilding the calf and Achilles complex as well, just building strength and power.”

“From about the 3–4-month stage, we look at very safe progression, going back to the gym, building back up into faster running, sprinting and cutting. Once he gets past the six-month stage, he will have upgraded his recovery to be able to go to full match fitness. But the timeline is 7-9 months before returning to the pitch, but we may not see his full performance until later after that.”

Psychologically, the trust in his body may take a hit back, but “the coaches will be making sure that he is exposed to these repeated sprint efforts a thousand times before he returns to the match.”

Just like most other injuries, it’ll be the case for Ekitike that he will sustain more smaller injuries before he reinjures his Achilles-calf complex, as there’s also a possibility he puts more weight on one leg compared to the other when he returns, which can also potentially create a huge psychological impact on him in the long run to trust his body to perform how it did before the injury.

If you’d like to see the work that the expert physio produces, he is @PhysioScout on Instagram, YouTube and X (formerly Twitter) and will be giving verdicts on more injuries going forward, with the hope it’ll be more positive for our players in the future.
 
 
 
 

While other reigning champions have certainly fallen far further in much less time, this hasn’t exactly been a stellar season for the Reds. The tsunami of major injuries and need to integrate several big-name newcomers helped to restrain Liverpool’s shot at becoming back-to-back Premier League winners.

Even so, the club has done a lot of good on and off of the pitch. There are bright sparks in this excellent squad that show there’s, potentially, a very good season to come in 2026/27. Then, there’s the continued work of the LFC Foundation and its three major fundraising events this season. Maybe, given the season so far, more events can be added.

Three Huge Events for Fundraising

Source: Unsplash

For the 2025/26 season, the LFC Foundation has scheduled three major, much-loved charitable events for fans to enjoy around the world. The first of these was the Chelsea Legends vs Liverpool Legends charity series. The first game in October saw the home team concede very late, with Ryan Babel making the Reds the winners.

The second match, held in March 2026, saw legendary former Liverpool stars come out on top again. This time, the Reds didn’t need to wait for a late winner, with Peter Crouch making his Legends debut with a brace. These matches tend to raise close to, and sometimes over, £1 million for the LFC Foundation.

Still to come this season, there’s the Run to Anfield foot race through Stanley Park, to the ground, and to the Kop in August. Anyone can partake and raise money for the foundation by participating, with options for 1k and 5k routes available. Runners get a special LFC Foundation medal and help towards the roughly £70,000 raised.

Finally, we’ve got Kip On The Kop in September. Designed to both raise awareness and support the LFC Foundation, fans get to sleep under the stars at Anfield Stadium. It’s quite the unique event, both for what participants are getting into and their unprecedented access to Anfield. In 2023, it raised over £65,000.

More Events that Could Join the Schedule

Source: Pexels

These are pretty hefty events staged by the LFC Foundation, requiring a lot of planning and participation to work. So, perhaps, there could be a few more low-key events that run in a series to both up the entertainment factor of match day, for example, and steadily raise more funds.

One way could be to have a regular (perhaps monthly) bingo night either in the local community or at the stadium after matches. After all, bingo’s come back in a big way, both online and in halls, with many bingo brands now offering bingo bonus rewards for newcomers, available both online and in-person. 

Here, players get a £30 bonus to use online and another £10 to use when they visit a bingo club. Interest is there, especially when you consider how many people both take this welcome offer and try out zanier new bingo events, like the new wave of nightclub bingo shows.

Alternatively, the foundation could stick with football and host an annual football fest for people to raise money to compete in with their own teams of players.

The LFC Foundation continues to do stellar work each season, raising millions for its charitable endeavours. Even so, they could certainly expand the schedule to appeal to those beyond what’s on offer now.