Hillsborough disaster exonerating the Liverpool fans, MacKenzie issued the following statement: In response, Trevor Hicks, chairman of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, rejected MacKenzie's apology as "too little, too late", calling him "lowlife, clever lowlife, but lowlife". A press conference held by families of the victims also banned all "Sun" reporters from entering, with a sign on the door reading "NO ENTRY TO SUN JOURNALISTS". Sales of "The Sun" remain poor in Merseyside and a boycott is still practised. In 2004, its average circulation in Liverpool was 12,000 copies a day. Following the April 2016 verdict of unlawful killing, "The Sun" and
Hillsborough disaster Hillsborough by the newspaper. Everton F.C. followed in April 2017 on the eve of the 28th anniversary of the disaster after a column by Kelvin MacKenzie concerning Everton footballer Ross Barkley. MacKenzie was suspended as a contributor to the newspaper. The journalist Edward Pearce was criticised for writing a controversial article in the aftermath of the disaster, at a time when a number of victims' funerals were taking place. His column in "The Sunday Times" on 23 April 1989, included the text: "For the second time in half a decade a large body of Liverpool supporters has killed people ...