TOON owner Mike Ashley's sports retail chain
apologised today for selling a Manchester United shirt bearing a
horrific Hillsborough insult.

Sports Direct also
immediately changed its printing policy after a Red Devils fan posted
images of the shirt on the social networking website Facebook.

The fan paid £55 for the shirt and the slur to be printed about the 1989 disaster which killed 96 Liverpool FC fans.

On it, he chose the number 96 and under it the words "Not Enough".

Above the number were the letters YSB - which stands for You Scouse Bastards.

The man’s Facebook page was shut down.

Today, Sports Direct said the employee who marked up the shirt did not know what the message meant.

But Margaret Aspinall, whose son James, 18, was killed at Hillsborough, said she did not believe that.

Mrs
Aspinall, chairman of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, said: "I
think Sports Direct are worse than the guy who wanted it put on the
back of his shirt.

"Printing that message is like inciting trouble, it is an absolute disgrace and Sports Direct should be ashamed.

"It’s
20 years down the line and I don’t believe it possible someone printing
football shirts wouldn’t know what the message meant.

"It is
terrible for people who lost someone at Hillsborough to think their
loved ones died so this guy can go to watch football in safety.

"Fans can go too far in their rivalry towards other clubs, and this is way over the line.

"And it gives Manchester United supporters a bad name - the minority can often ruin it for the majority."

Sports Direct has 470 stores nationwide and is owned by Mike Ashley, owner of Newcastle United.

A
company spokesman said: "Sports Direct has been notified that an
extremely offensive and wholly inappropriate football shirt was printed
at one of its stores.

"The store assistant printed this
unknowingly and has been deeply shocked upon being notified of the
significance of this and the upset caused.

"As a result,
Sports Direct has taken immediate action and changed the administration
policy for printing football shirts across its store network.

"With immediate effect, it will only allow printing of current football players names and numbers on football shirts.

"Sports
Direct has contacted Facebook to request the urgent withdrawal of this
deeply offensive image from the individual’s Facebook page, and is very
apologetic for this spiteful and abusive shirt."

Read it in the paper this morning...

It wouldnt surprise me the assistant not knowing, i wouldnt have either...

Exactly, it could have meant anything ...

I think based ont eh fact it was a Man Utd fan and the wording used, I think it was pretty obvious what it was meant to mean.

You can maybe accept that the person who agreed to the request didn't know about it, but still i don't think i simply apology is enough to redeem sports direct