London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Jan 09, 2026

Tributes paid to Queen in UK football stadiums

Tributes paid to Queen in UK football stadiums

Tributes to the Queen were respectfully observed across 30 EFL games and at Liverpool and Tottenham's Champions League matches as UK football resumed after the weekend's postponements.

All English, Welsh and Northern Irish football and senior Scottish football was called off after the UK's longest-serving monarch died aged 96 last week.

At almost all English Football League (EFL) matches the National Anthem was played. A 'period of silence' was held at EFL games as well as Liverpool and Tottenham's Champions League matches.

BBC Sport's chief football writer Phil McNulty reported that the vast majority of Liverpool supporters at a capacity Anfield observed a shorter period of silence impeccably, with one or two rogue shouts at the start of the tribute quickly shouted down before their fixture against Ajax.

A minute's silence was respected at Swansea City in the only EFL game taking place in Wales while the Championship club opted not to play the National Anthem before their home game with Sheffield United.

Liverpool said before the game against Ajax that a 'period of silence' would be held and it lasted for about 30 seconds.

Liverpool fans booed 'Abide With Me' and 'God Save the Queen' before last season's FA Cup final but manager Jurgen Klopp said on Monday he was confident they would show respect against Ajax, as they did against Manchester United last season following the death of Cristiano Ronaldo's baby boy.

On Tuesday, the Hillsborough Survivors Support Alliance, along with Liverpool legends Sir Kenny Dalglish and Graeme Souness, also urged fans to show respect.

A minute's silence was observed before Tottenham's Champions League game at Sporting Lisbon, where the Champions League anthem was also played.

But the Champions League anthem was not played at Anfield, nor was there a Champions League banner in the centre circle.

Neither the Champions League anthem nor the British National Anthem will be played at any of this week's Champions League games in the UK, with Uefa having rejected requests from Chelsea, Manchester City and Rangers to play 'God Save the King' at their home games on Wednesday.

Both sets of players wore black armbands at Anfield, as did all EFL players, while flags were flown at half-mast. Some clubs also ensured they played appropriate music and suspended their regular advertisements as a mark of respect.

Elsewhere, Mansfield Town released 96 doves during the players' handshake before their League Two game at home to Carlisle United.

Classical singer Russell Watson sang the national anthem before Preston's Championship game against Burnley while at AFC Wimbledon's League Two home game with Northampton, messages recorded by local MPs were played as they joined a group of more than 50 dignitaries to lay a floral tribute in the centre circle before kick-off.

A Swansea statement read: "The EFL provided all clubs with guidance around the suggested form and order any tributes should take. While that guidance was not prescriptive, as a club we tailored our tribute in a manner that we deemed appropriate.

"We would like to place on record our sincere thanks to supporters of both clubs who impeccably observed the minute's silence, while the tributes on display up and down the country was the perfect way to remember Her late Majesty."

Swansea and fellow Welsh club Wrexham issued requests for their fans to respect the minute's silence, but there was a minority of shouting and booing before Wrexham's National League game at home to Dagenham & Redbridge, partly from fans rebuking other supporters.

Mansfield Town released 96 doves as a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, who died aged 96

Programmes at many EFL games featured an image of Queen Elizabeth II, including Hull City's match against Stoke City

An image of Queen Elizabeth II was displayed on the big screen before MK Dons' game with Bolton Wanderers

At Bayern Munich's Champions League game with Barcelona, fans displayed banners telling authorities to 'respect fans' after the postponement of the weekend's games in the UK

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK Prime Minister Starmer Reaffirms Support for Danish Sovereignty Over Greenland Amid U.S. Pressure
UK Support Bolsters U.S. Seizure of Russian-Flagged Tanker Marinera in Atlantic Strike on Sanctions Evasion
The Claim That Maduro’s Capture and Trial Violate International Law Is Either Legally Illiterate—or Deliberately Deceptive
UK Data Watchdog Probes Elon Musk’s X Over AI-Generated Grok Images Amid Surge in Non-Consensual Outputs
Prince Harry to Return to UK for Court Hearing Without Plans to Meet King Charles III
UK Confirms Support for US Seizure of Russian-Flagged Oil Tanker in North Atlantic
Béla Tarr, Visionary Hungarian Filmmaker, Dies at Seventy After Long Illness
UK and France Pledge Military Hubs Across Ukraine in Post-Ceasefire Security Plan
Prince Harry Poised to Regain UK Security Cover, Clearing Way for Family Visits
UK Junk Food Advertising Ban Faces Major Loophole Allowing Brand-Only Promotions
Maduro’s Arrest Without The Hague Tests International Law—and Trump’s Willingness to Break It
German Intelligence Secretly Intercepted Obama’s Air Force One Communications
The U.S. State Department’s account in Persian: “President Trump is a man of action. If you didn’t know it until now, now you do—do not play games with President Trump.”
Fake Mainstream Media Double Standard: Elon Musk Versus Mamdani
HSBC Leads 2026 Mortgage Rate Cuts as UK Lending Costs Ease
US Joint Chiefs Chairman Outlines How Operation Absolute Resolve Was Carried Out in Venezuela
Starmer Welcomes End of Maduro Era While Stressing International Law and UK Non-Involvement
Korean Beauty Turns Viral Skincare Into a Global Export Engine
UK Confirms Non-Involvement in U.S. Military Action Against Venezuela
UK Terror Watchdog Calls for Australian-Style Social Media Ban to Protect Teenagers
Iranian Protests Intensify as Another Revolutionary Guard Member Is Killed and Khamenei Blames the West
Delta Force Identified as Unit Behind U.S. Operation That Captured Venezuela’s President
Europe’s Luxury Sanctions Punish Russian Consumers While a Sanctions-Circumvention Industry Thrives
Berkshire’s Buffett-to-Abel Transition Tests Whether a One-Man Trust Model Can Survive as a System
Fraud in European Central Bank: Lagarde’s Hidden Pay Premium Exposes a Transparency Crisis at the European Central Bank
Trump Announces U.S. Large-Scale Strike on Venezuela, Declares President Maduro and Wife Captured
Tesla Loses EV Crown to China’s BYD After Annual Deliveries Decline in 2025
UK Manufacturing Growth Reaches 15-Month Peak as Output and Orders Improve in December
Beijing Threatened to Scrap UK–China Trade Talks After British Minister’s Taiwan Visit
Newly Released Files Reveal Tony Blair Pressured Officials Over Iraq Death Case Involving UK Soldiers
Top Stocks and Themes to Watch in 2026 as Markets Enter New Year with Fresh Momentum
No UK Curfew Ordered as Deepfake TikTok Falsely Attributes Decree to Prime Minister Starmer
Europe’s Largest Defence Groups Set to Return Nearly Five Billion Dollars to Shareholders in Twenty Twenty-Five
Abu Dhabi ‘Capital of Capital’: How Abu Dhabi Rose as a Sovereign Wealth Power
Diamonds Are Powering a New Quantum Revolution
Trump Threatens Strikes Against Iran if Nuclear Programme Is Restarted
Apple Escalates Legal Fight by Appealing £1.5 Billion UK Ruling Over App Store Fees
UK Debt Levels Sit Mid-Range Among Advanced Economies Despite Rising Pressures
UK Plans Royal Diplomacy with King Charles and Prince William to Reinvigorate Trade Talks with US
King Charles and Prince William Poised for Separate 2026 US Visits to Reinforce UK-US Trade and Diplomatic Ties
Apple Moves to Appeal UK Ruling Ordering £1.5 Billion in Customer Overcharge Damages
King Charles’s 2025 Christmas Message Tops UK Television Ratings on Christmas Day
The Battle Over the Internet Explodes: The United States Bars European Officials and Ignites a Diplomatic Crisis
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Join Royal Family at Sandringham Christmas Service
Fine Wine Investors Find Little Cheer in Third Year of Falls
UK Mortgage Rates Edge Lower as Bank of England Base Rate Cut Filters Through Lending Market
U.S. Supermarket Gives Customers Free Groceries for Christmas After Computer Glitch
Air India ‘Finds’ a Plane That Vanished 13 Years Ago
Caviar and Foie Gras? China Is Becoming a Luxury Food Powerhouse
Hong Kong Climbs to Second Globally in 2025 Tourism Rankings Behind Bangkok
×