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
Sheffield Star became the "Telegraph & Star", and finally, from 14 November 1938 was known as "The Star". In April 1989, the newspaper published false reports about the Hillsborough disaster which occurred in the city and in which 96 Liverpool F.C. fans were fatally injured at an FA Cup semi-final tie. It claimed that the key factor of the tragedy was the drunkenness of Liverpool fans. These claims were met with outrage by Liverpool fans, particularly when it was established that police loss of crowd control and the presence of perimeter fencing between the stands and the pitch were the key factors