Gordon Taylor apologised for comparing convicted rapist Ched Evans trying to clear his name to the fight for justice for 96 Liverpool fans killed in the Hillsborough stadium disaster.

Calls for Taylor to resign as chief executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association followed immediately after he gave an interview on Thursday night saying: “He would not be the first person or persons to have been found guilty and maintained their innocence and then been proved right.

“If we are talking about things in football, we know what happened, what was alleged to have happened at Hillsborough. And it’s now unravelling and we are finding it was very different to how it was portrayed at the time — indeed by the police at the time.”

Taylor tried to clarify his comments. “The point I was making was not to embarrass or upset anybody at all among the Liverpool supporters.

“I’m very much an admirer of them and they know that.

“That was never my intention but it was the fact that how things at one time can be perceived one way but come out very differently with the passage of time.

“If people feel that way (offended) about what I said, I can only apologise.”

But Hillsborough Justice Campaign spokeswoman Shelia Coleman told the Mirror: “It is beyond comprehension to make such a comparison.

“Hillsborough families were subject to a flawed legal process.

“Taylor’s comments are indicative of the attitude that Hillsborough campaigners have had to endure for years.

“It’s insensitive and crass.”

FA head Greg Dyke said yesterday that there was no reason for the governing body to intervene.

But Labour shadow sports minister Clive Efford said it should take steps to prevent this happening again.

He said: “The Football Association have the power to revoke his affiliation to the FA, his registration to be able to play football, and I think they have to look at this.

“Football’s reputation has been undermined by the row that erupted around Oldham’s announcement that it was considering signing Ched Evans.

“The game had already been through an ugly public argument when Sheffield United made the same announcement soon after Ched Evans was released from prison. This happened because there is a vacuum at the head of the game that can only be filled by the governing body.

“Football needs a set of guidelines clearly acknowledging the role that high profile sports people hold in our communities and the responsibilities that come with being a professional footballer.

“Decisions like this should not be left solely to individual clubs where the short-term interests of the club could outweigh the greater good of football.”