Keane: Football is unimportant after Manchester attack

The phrase “football is more important than life or death” gets bandied around a lot among supporters but former Manchester United captain Roy Keane said that could not be further from the truth in the wake of the Manchester terror attack.

Terrorism reared its ugly head again on Monday after 22 people were killed by a suicide bomber following a music concert at Manchester Arena.

More than 100 were injured in the bomb attack as Premier League sides United and Manchester City put their rivalry aside to help unite an area stricken by grief.

United also dedicated Wednesday’s Europa League trophy to the victims in Manchester but Keane – shocked by the incident at the start of the week – questioned how much football could do in such circumstances.

“A game of football is not going to benefit the people who died, people who lost people and families. No, I don’t get carried away that football can help any situation like that,” Keane said.

“It kind of tells you how unimportant football is in a sense. This idea, that football is more important than life and death…that’s ridiculous when you see people being targeted like that. I’m the same as anyone else, it’s shocking.

“When it happens on your doorstep it seems to hit home a bit more. It’s the planet we live on. It’s shocking.

“I am not surprised by the reaction of the city in the last few days. Manchester has had its ups and downs like everything else. The reaction has been nice but it’s not going to bring the people back who have been killed or badly injured.”