A group of Scarborough war veterans have been told they cannot stay at a well-known hotel because their visit would clash with a football game.
The Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool, part of the Britannia Hotels group, told the veterans that, as their Navy day clashed with Liverpool’s home game against Derby County, their booking was being cancelled. The hotel claimed that it was “not profitable” to host the veterans instead of the football fans.
This could have been the last Merchant Navy day for some of the veterans, as some are too frail to travel and other city centre hotels are fully booked. The men had served in wars including the Second World War, the Falklands and the Gulf. Their accommodation had been booked in February, and a deposit paid. They had stayed at the Adelphi for most of the Navy days since they were introduced in 2000. The men were looking forward to the day, and said it was “insulting” that they had been cancelled for football fans.
So it seems that life does revolve around football, whether people like it or not. Risking your life for your country obviously does not count as much as people wanting to see a ball being kicked round a field for 90 minutes!
