The Premier League has confirmed it will not ask clubs to hold a minute's silence for Margaret Thatcher, who died this morning following a stroke.
A figure who gained an infamous reputation amongst working-class football supporters in the 1980s, the likelihood was that any minute's silence staged would have been disrupted by supporters disenchanted with Thatcher's politics.
However the Premier League clarified clubs were not obligated to pay their respects to the former prime minister.
The Football Association also has no plans to hold a similar tribute during this weekend's FA Cup semi-finals.
Thatcher had an unenviable reputation in football due to the treatment of supporters and the Hillsborough cover up.
Manchester United this evening host Manchester City in a top-of-the-table clash, with both clubs' support dominated by a socialist faction.
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, a renowned socialist, has not hidden his antipathy for Thatcher in the past.