A minute’s silence in honour of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva was interrupted before the Community Shield between Liverpool and Crystal Palace at Wembley
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 10: A general view as fans of Liverpool display a banner in tribute to former Liverpool player Diogo Jota during the 2025 FA Community Shield match between Crystal Palace and Liverpool at Wembley Stadium on August 10, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Fans of Liverpool display a banner in tribute to former the club's former layer Diogo Jota during the Community Shield match against Crystal Palace at Wembley
(Image: Clive Mason/Getty Images)
A minute’s silence in honour of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva was interrupted at Wembley as referee Chris Kavanagh was forced to call an early halt to the tribute. A small minority of Crystal Palace supporters jeered throughout the silence.
The majority of fans in the Palace end quickly urged those making noise to be quiet as they shushed their noisy peers. When such calls went unanswered, Liverpool’s travelling supporters booed those interrupting the silence.
But with it not being honoured, Kavanagh quickly brought an end to the minute’s silence.
Liverpool had unveiled a new tribute to Jota ahead of the Community Shield against Palace as they wore their new Adidas away kit for the first time in the annual curtain-raiser at Wembley.
The Reds had previously announced that their players would display their own tribute to the Portuguese, who was killed in a car crash along with his brother at the start of last month, with a specially made ‘Forever 20’ emblem printed into their shirts and stadium jackets.
Liverpool debuted the tribute against Crystal Palace, with ‘Forever 20’ imprinted on the helm of their shirts and on the sleeve of their jackets. This will remain in place for the entirety of the 2025/26 season.
Further tributes were also paid to both Jota and Silva at Wembley as Liverpool legend Ian Rush and Crystal Palace owner Simon Parish, along with a representative from the Football Association, both laid wreaths in honour of the brothers behind the goal in front of the Reds supporters as they sung, ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’.
The Liverpool fans then burst into a rendition of Jota’s popular chant, while a big banner paying tribute to the former Portugal international was also held aloft in the lower tier behind the goal.
Reds boss Arne Slot had spoken about the emotional tributes that had been paid to Jota throughout the club’s pre-season campaign.
“First of all, the tragedy impacted us, of course, most,” he said at this pre-match press conference. “But again, it impacted far more his wife, children and parents.
“But it impacted us as well, definitely. The tributes that have been done since were all very emotional and impressive, every time we were somewhere.
“It started off in Preston and in Asia as well. It's been emotional, but impressive as well.”