'They've missed what we're trying to achieve' - Mee 'ashamed & embarrassed' after White Lives Matter banner flies above stadium

The Burnley defender says that whoever flew the message above Monday's match does not represent the club in any way Burnley defender Ben Mee condemned a banner flown above the club's match with Manchester City on Monday, saying that he was "ashamed and embarrassed" of what he saw at the Etihad Stadium.

Just moments after players took a knee to support the Black Lives Matter movement, a banner reading "White Lives Matter Burnley" was flown above the stadium.

Mee was seen pointing out the banner to the referee, with players on the field clearly aware of what was being flown above them. And, after the match, Mee had strong words for whoever chose to display the message, telling them to "educate themselves" about the world around them.

"It was a tough night. We can talk about football but there is something I would like to speak about first and that is the plane and banner flying over the stadium," he told Sky Sports.

"I am ashamed and embarrassed that a small number of our fans have decided to fly that around the stadium. It is not what we are about. They have missed what we are trying to achieve.

"These people need to come into the 21st century and educate themselves. They don't represent what we are about, the club is about, the players are about and the majority of fans are about.

"I've heard it is a small number that have arranged this and I hope it doesn't happen again. I don't want to associate it with my cub. I don't want to see this in the game.

"It is not right. We totally condemn it. These people can learn and be taught what Black Lives Matter is trying to achieve.

"The players have pulled together and this is what we want, what the majority of fans want - equality in society and in football, everything, be it race, religion, gender, LGBTQ community.

"The players have pulled together and we want to make a stand against this for all minorities."

Burnley went on to lose the match 5-0, with Phil Foden stealing the show as Manchester City made it two wins from two since returning to play.

But, after the match, Mee was more concerned with what happened above the pitch than what happened on it.

"It made a big impact on our players. We, as a group of players, condemn it. We're ashamed, we're embarrassed," he told BBC Radio. "It completely misses the point of what we're trying to achieve as a football community.

"As a group of players we're really ashamed. It's a minority of our supporters and I know I speak for the main part of our supporters – we absolutely distance ourselves from any sort of thing like that. It's a real shame to see and it definitely had a massive effect on us to see that in the sky.

"We were embarrassed, we were disappointed, upset. It misses the whole point of what we're trying to do as a group of players throughout the Premier League, throughout society and the whole Black Lives Matter movement and community."

He added: "Embarrassing. The fact that they've tried to associate it with our club – it doesn't belong anywhere near our club. We definitely want to move as far away from it as possible. Fans like that don't deserve to be around football."

Manchester City will return to play on Thursday for a match against Chelsea, while Mee and Burnley host Watford on the same day.

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