FA back down on punishment over show of support for Michael Shields

Prior to Monday night's game against West Ham at Anfield, Liverpool's fans in the KOP gave a message of support for Liverpool fan Michael Shields.

Shields was wrongly convicted and jailed abroad, details of which can be found on his family's campaign website.

I want to really talk about the actions of the FA over the last 24/48 hours. Ipswich's David Norris was charged by the FA for showing support for his jailed colleague. In his case, the colleague in question was responsible for death by dangerous driving and does not deserve, in my opinion, any public support. He was completely responsible for his actions and got what he deserved. Unfortunately for Michael Shields, as well as protesting his innocence, the real perpetrator has actually made himself known, signed a confession and said to the Bulgarian authorities that he will take the punishment he deserves, only to be ignored.

As a Liverpool fan, I could easily be called biased, but if an Everton or Man Utd fan had wrongly been jailed, I would expect the clubs to take a similar approach. Liverpool have actually done this before, just not before a televised game to my knowledge, so why the FA are getting their knickers in a twist is beyond me. Liverpool's official site was actually asking for volunteers to help lay out the cards in the KOP a few days before the event, so even though the club didn't ask the FA, it was information that was publicly available.

Had Liverpool been in contact with the FA, it's pretty clear that they would have been unhappy with the prospect of a club showing interest in a slightly controversial topic.

On Thursday, the case may take another step forward and I sincerely hope it does.

I for one am glad that Liverpool Football Club, the players, staff and the fans took the time to acknowledge the situation and to show some support and I am nothing but honoured to call myself a fan.

If you have the time, please visit the website and see if you can help.

There are a couple of articles on the Guardian's website which you can find here and here.