Fulham Football Club haven’t been in the headlines for positive reasons lately. Even if the reaction to the Manchester United that cost the Whites a place in the last four of the FA Cup was ridiculously sensationalised, the incidents were ugly. In the last few days, the club’s crazy season ticket price hikes have garnered column inches of criticism. But, late last night, there was a reminder of why we feel fortunate to follow such a special club: on the eve of the anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, a delegation from the club, including Marco Silva, Tom Cairney and Tim Ream, paid a touching tribute at the memorial to the 97 supporters who lost their lives and all those who are still bravely bidding for justice all these years on.

That awful day at Sheffield Wednesday does feel like it belongs to another era. I’m sure I don’t need to run through the chronology – but the media manipulation that followed besmirches the journalistic profession, to which I still belong, even now. The families and friends of the bereaved fought from day one because they knew an injustice had taken place, something which is now beyond dispute as a result of their tireless campaigning, even if the results remain outstanding.

A few weeks we wrote a short piece remembering the sad loss of Matthew Fox at Gillingham all those years ago. In it, we reiterated what every football fan believes: that nobody should ever fail to come home from a match. In this grievous instance, hundreds of families had their lives turned upside down and the relevant authorities covered up their wrongdoing rather than admitting what had actually happened.

The city of Liverpool stood behind their own. It happened to Liverpool fans but the steadfast support of Everton Football Club, who Fulham play at Goodison Park this afternoon, was never in question. That solidarity led to mockery, taunting and vile slurs from every quarter – some of these are still sung in the stands, offered in jest in public or posted on the internet today.

Two Merseyside men did their bit quietly and diligently to make some amends. One, when he was the Member of Parliament for Liverpool Walton, Steve Rotheram – now the Mayor for the City Region of Liverpool – corrected a historical oversight by reading the names of those who perished at Hillsborough into the Parliamentary record in the best speech I’ve heard in a lifetime in politics. Another – and, an Evertonian – Andy Burnham, persisted with a personal campaign for justice that gained greater gusto when his own tribute, as Culture Secretary, at Anfield was interrupted by chants of ‘Justice for the 96’. Since then, another of the injured supporters has passed, which is why the number has swelled.

Football is a fantastic game that unites us all. It is an outrageous stain on the British game and society that, decades on, the families are still having to wait patiently for justice. Today will be emotional for the people of Liverpool and Goodison Park will mark the anniversary in the same special way that the Everton fans have. I was proud last night of Marco Silva, Tom Cairney and Tim Ream – and I know the Fulham fans will follow suit this afternoon.

It goes without saying that we all want Justice for the 97. Too many people have waited too long.