It’s been 6,447 days since the Hillsborough Disaster occurred on what many believe was the darkest day in the history of football. On that fateful day in April 1989, 96 innocent football fans tragically died when many of them were crushed to death at a FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at the Hillsborough ground in Sheffield, England.
I bring this topic up because many TV viewers in America are new to soccer and aren’t aware of the history of this tragedy. Comments were made on Fox Soccer Channel earlier this week that infuriated soccer fans in the U.S. and around the world, so it’s important than soccer fans know the truth about what happened and respect those who died a horrific death that day.
To learn more about the facts regarding what happened on that day, view the following:
- the Wikipedia entry,
- a personal account from one of the survivors,
- a chronological outline of what happened,
- a 20-minute video of the disaster (please be forewarned that the video features images of a graphic nature that should not be viewed by children),
- moving images and audio from the Hillsborough Disaster,
- and an article about the tragedy from the Liverpool web site.
Liverpool fans of all ages died. The youngest was Jon-Paul Gilhooley, aged 10. The eldest was Gerard Baron, 67.
What needs to be remembered is that Liverpool fans were not to blame for this tragedy. According to Wikipedia, “Sheffield Wednesday were criticised for the low number of turnstiles at the Leppings Lane end and the poor quality of the crush barriers on the terraces there. The Taylor Report however stated that official cause of the disaster was the failure of police control.”
“The disaster was caused by the fact that the majority of fans entering the terraces headed for the central pens 3 and 4. Normally a police officer or steward would direct fans away from full pens, but on the day this did not happen. The official capacity of these pens was around 2000, however the Health and Safety Executive later found that this should have been reduced to around 1600 as the crush barriers did not conform to the Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds 1986. It is estimated that the number of people in these pens shortly after kick off at 3.00pm was over 3000. This overcrowding caused the fatal crush.”
The Hillsborough Disaster could have happened to any club, but unfortunately it was Liverpool.
The Heysel Disaster, meanwhile, can be blamed at Liverpool fans who charged Juventus supporters. Unfortunately the Heysel Stadium in Belgium was a decrepid old stadium, and when the Reds fans charged the Italians, a crumbling wall dividing the fans came toppling down killing 39 fans, mostly Juventus fans who were there to watch the 1985 European Cup Final against Liverpool.
There were other factors that can be attributed to the Heysel tragedy, but no official inquiry was ever made.
When the Hillsborough Disaster happened on April 15, 1989, I remember listening to the BBC World Service on my shortwave radio with my cousin in Florida. There were reports from the BBC that the match had been stopped due to crowd trouble. Listening to the live BBC Sport coverage, I remember that it was difficult to really fathom the scale of what was happening. It was complete chaos.
It wasn’t until the morning after that I realized how horrific the incident had been when I was saw the images of the disaster on the front page of my local paper. Although I didn’t have any friends or family members who died in the tragedy, I do have relatives who live in Liverpool.
When I was in Liverpool two weeks ago, I spoke to my Great Aunt about the tragic day. We discussed how even today, 17 years after the event, The Sun newspaper is despised and hardly sells any copies at all in Liverpool due to the lies it told.
When I was there, I visited the Hillsborough tribute which is next to the Shankly Gates at Anfield. You can view images of the stadium and the tribute here.
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{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
Gaffer, thanks for putting up all this to set the record straight.
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Gaffer thanks for the information. I have followed up on the story and the remarks made on the phone in show. I would welcome Tokyo’s opinion on what Mr. Cohen had to say about the Liverpool fans?
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eplnfl
Cohen can be entertaining but this time he went too far and judging by yesterday’s WSD podcast he seems in no mood to apologise. Heysel was largely caused by Liverpool fans but the Hillsborough tragedy was not – if I were a friend/relative of one of the victims I would now be incandescent with rage (to use one of Steven’s favourite expressions)- it’s not even as if he meant it all as some kind of joke.
TT
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“Heysel was largely caused by Liverpool fans but the Hillsborough tragedy was not”
Liverpool are hypocritical that setence says it all.
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As the historical record and evidence suggest precisely that (that Liverpool fans caused Heysel but not Hillsborough), how does this demonstrate hypocrisy, you toolbox?
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it will always be with us .and never 4 got.my heart is with liverpool and the 96 that should,nt of died.it will always be with me.rip to the 96 that have died.your never walk alonexxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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i’m not a liverpool fan although this was way way nothing to do with football and completly monsterously terrible,i can’t describe my feelings for the poor poor victims and their friends and familys,i guess blame won’t bring back whats done although we must never ever forget what happened that tragic day in sheffield.
may the 96 thats died rest in eternal happyness and everlasting peace amen.
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So hundreds of pissed up liverpool fans trying to get in with a forged ticket or even without a ticket counts for blaming the police or the stewards???? It was a tragedy it should not have happened but who crushed the 96 fans? Other Liverpool fans! Nobody else!! Yes the crush bars were there but so were the fans rushing to get in as the gate was opened trying to get in anywhere they could. The police were shitting themselves about all these LP fans crushing the turnstiles so they opened the gate hoping that this would aleviate the situation! thus crushing the fans! What would you do in that situation. Thats what you should ask yourself!
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You’ll Never Walk Alone
R.I.P to the 96
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Hi Gaffer. I’ve no idea who this Fox TV character is. That probaby says it all.
A proper news organisation, the BBC asked me to go back to Hillsborough 20 years after the disaster. I hope you don’t mind but this is the result – http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8001086.stm
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Bobaaa – you’re wrong mate, the Taylor Inquiry exonerated the fans of any blame. South Yorkshire Police afforded no crowd control. The left the tunnel open so that fans kept piling in. If you’d ever been on a football terrace before seats were put in then you would know that there is no way of knowing whats happening at the front when you’ve just come in at the back. The other fans didn’t know there was a problem. There was no police presence to divert the fans away from what the Police knew to be full pens. In short, what the Police should’ve done, and what they have done at many other matches is delay kick off. If they’d done that then all the fans could’ve come in the turnstyles as normal and been diverted into the side pens where there was plenty space.
Mate, you should really have a bit more of a read on the facts before you comment. Hillsborough is still a very raw nerve with fans, not to mention families and friends of the killed.
RIP the 96 – YNWA.
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Facts on Hillsborough:
1. SYP hid the footage of the day for ten years.
2. Every senior officer on the day was pensioned off.
3. The Taylor report exonerated the Liverpool fans of any culpaility
4. The Police refused to allow the ambulance staff to assist for over 30 minutes and at 3pm said no ambulances were required.
5. Police claimed the gates were forced open by fans, David Duckenfield gave the order.
6. Fire Brigade arrived to be told they weren’t required
7. Hillsborough safety certificate had expired
8. Leppings Lane stand was deemed unsuitable in 1981 but never overhauled after 38 Spurs fans suffered crush related injuries. Sheffield Wednesday never carried out the work required.
9. The Access tunnel was closed in 1988, in 1989 the police left it open
10. The CCTV from inside the ground was wiped clean from 2.30pm until 3.15pm
11. The police didn’t request medical assistance until 3.30pm
12. The coroner was advised by persons unknown to take the blood alcohol level of all the victims, including a ten year old boy
13. No major disaster medical plan was put in effect.
14. 37 of the 42 ambulances were kept outside the ground
15. Only 14 victims wer taken to hospital
16. BBC commentators noticed the congestion inside the ground at 2.40pm
17. Officers inside the ground begged the kick off be dealyed. The supervising officers refused.
18. Sheffield City Council were aware that Hillsborough failed 17 safety regulations without censure
19. David Duckenfield had never managed an event of this size before.
20. Who stole the video tapes from the police control room
21. No stewards were on the concourse between the tunnel into the pens and the turnstiles.
22. Crushes had occured at Hillsborough in 1986, 1987 and 1988.
23. The capacity of the pen that the crush occured in was 2000. At 2:50 it was estimated that 3000 fans were in that pen. The police allowed a further 2000 fans to go into that pen.
That do you for facts??
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Bobaa, people like you make me thank the Lord that I received an education that allowed me to read. I suggest you read one of my all time favorites: Hillsborough: The Truth by Phil Scraton and re-educate yourself on the subject before passing any further comments. You clearly believe all the piffle fed to you by The Sun. Here is my question for you:
**How could the police have prevented the crush developing at the turnstiles and thus shitting their cowardly inept pants?
Simple: They could have followed the protocol set in 1988 at the semi cup final in which the fans were filtered prior to reaching the turnstile bottleneck, this would have alleviated any poor crowd build up. As any build up occurred and the opening of the gates became necessary they could have closed the tunnel leading to pens 3 and 4, Duckenfield could clearly see on the CCTV that the build up outside was reaching desperate measures and that the crush inside was developing due to overcrowding prior to any additional fans, he could also see how empty the additional pens were. Had he ordered the closure of pens 3 and 4 there would have been no fatalities. They could have not searched every coach with no reason to do so and instead they could have relied on assessing the drunken state of fans outside the gates, this would have prevented late arriving fans…only an idiot would assume that fans would arrive over a steady period of time despite random stop and search methods used by the authorities en route. They could also have familiarised themselves with the warnings issued about the old turnstiles prior to the match.
Duckenfield openly admitted that he omitted any responsibility for crowd control once inside the stadium and assumed that the stewards would handle it. He failed to liaise with the stewards as did the other officers, this inevitably led to no crowd control. Duckenfield could have prevented disaster simply by using the ability most of us have to communicate.
Whether the fans were drunk or not, the onus lies with the police to ensure safety. You cannot retract from that. They were negligent and it is only a matter of time before justice is served, be it in this life or the next it will be served.
I also suggest you read through the points posted by Paul Bestall, God knows he has saved me from writing an essay and he may save you a brain cell.
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Im just stating the facts that hundreds of thousands of sheffielders believe! Only a minority of us dare speak out about the truth. People are asking for the truth. People in sheffield who were there are willing to tell the truth. But dare not because of the politics behind it plus all the daily rags getting behind it. People a generation on could tell you the truth. Just read the letters this week in the sheffield star especially yesterday! Please do! Even Sheffield United fans hold the same opinion on this matter. The opinion that the fans were to blame. Sheffield wednesday missed out on all those cup ties held there due to the minority of pissed up scousers rushing the gates, no ticket/forged ticket and therefore killing the innocent fans who were there to watch a good game of football. Oh by the way didnt another similar thing happen in belgium with liverpool fans and also another ground?????
I feel so sorry for the families involved but nobody from scouse will blame the fans so its down to the sheffielders to voice our account of the day. Even Millwall fans detest Liverpool for what they did!!!
From another website:
‘Also helps to reinforce the victimpool mentality, poor scousers with their great sense of humour and knowledge of football quietly discussing moustaches and what the Germans did to their chippies whilst queuing to get in when the police made them rush the gates, storm onto the terraces and kill untold of their own.’
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http://www.thestar.co.uk/letters/Fans-to-blame-for-fences.5207459.jp
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From wilipedia:
‘The Hillsborough Disaster was a human crush that occurred on 15 April, 1989, at Hillsborough, a football stadium, the home of Sheffield Wednesday F.C. in Sheffield, England, resulting in the deaths of 96 people (all fans of Liverpool F.C.). It remains the deadliest stadium-related disaster in British history and one of the worst in international football.[1] It was the second of two stadium-related disasters to feature Liverpool supporters, the other being the Heysel Stadium Disaster in 1985.’
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from wikipedia:
‘At the time, most United Kingdom football stadia had placed high steel fencing between the spectators and the pitch, in response to hooliganism which had plagued the sport for several years.[6] Hooliganism was particularly virulent in England, where it often involved pitch invasions, the throwing of missiles, or both pre and post-match violence. English stadia had a history of crushes since the 1960s.[7]‘
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I grow up in Sheffield and knew many people who were outside when it happened and they all said you could see the Liverpool fans inside lifting up people from the outside to get in without paying. There was “a sea of people being pulled in” “one after another” That is what crushed all the people, you can blame EVERYTHING but people just won’t take responsibility.
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Excellent footage,who was filming? as we could really do with a copy for a dramatic piece we are planning.would be greatful if you’d email me back. Thanks.
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As a football fan in general and having watched the footage live that day and seeing it now, makes me remember how lucky we are to have a safe environment and better facilities at football matches these days, I cannot believe the reports that the Sun newspaper put in, and also feel the Liverpool fans were unfortunate to be blamed for this terrible disaster by some. My honest opinion is that there are things that happen in this world which make us stronger, and as a whole, the United Kingdom has become a safe and pleasant place to watch our beloved sport. The 96 fans that died did not deserve to, nor did their families. Having read some posts on forums across the internet i am disgusted that rival clubs decided to jump on the back of the Liverpool fans, this was a mistake by the police and the stadium management. Being a Celtic fan, stories of the 1971 incident at Ibrox still haunts the Scottish Football community, and with all bigotry and anger aside, at the end of the day we are all “FOOTBALL” fans. Justice for the 96 and lets hope something like this never happens again.
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you knw thinga lyk this happen so puttin a side ever thought ”who should we blame??” just remember the 96 people that lost thier lives
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Bobaa I too am from Sheffield and despite the majority of people I know thinking along the same lines as I do, I do not make infantile claims such as yourself in order to back up ill informed thought processes.
I also refuse to hold the letters published in any newspaper by arm chair experts (let alone The Star) as conclusive evidence that the fans were to blame.
As the Taylor enquiry has stated, the fans were exhonerated of any blame. Protocol was not followed and common sense did not prevail amongst the police force. There is a potential for fatal crushes at gigs and festivals every year (where people are also drunk and boystrous), why don’t they happen? Because the police, ushers and health and safety experts do their jobs, that’s why.
As for your copy and pasted wikipedia excerpts:
‘At the time, most United Kingdom football stadia had placed high steel fencing between the spectators and the pitch, in response to hooliganism which had plagued the sport for several years.[6] Hooliganism was particularly virulent in England, where it often involved pitch invasions, the throwing of missiles, or both pre and post-match violence. English stadia had a history of crushes since the 1960s.[7]‘- How exactly does this provide evidence towards your argument that the fans were to blame? It only serves to inform the article reader of previous hoolaganism by English fans and the reasoning for erecting steel fences.
*‘The Hillsborough Disaster was a human crush that occurred on 15 April, 1989, at Hillsborough, a football stadium, the home of Sheffield Wednesday F.C. in Sheffield, England, resulting in the deaths of 96 people (all fans of Liverpool F.C.). It remains the deadliest stadium-related disaster in British history and one of the worst in international football.[1] It was the second of two stadium-related disasters to feature Liverpool supporters, the other being the Heysel Stadium Disaster in 1985.’- This excerpt only informs us that it was the second of two disasters related to Liverpool fans. This again has nothing at all to do with providing proof that the fans were to blame for Hillsborough.
The other website, as I don’t know the source I refuse to comment.
I would also like to point out that Wikipedia is an ill source of conclusive information, it can be edited and changed by any individual. It is dis-regarded by university and college lecturers worldwide as a source of reliable evidence for academic work pieces and so even if your ill constructed attempt at arguing me down with poor copying and pasting produced valid points, I could not accept them due to the issue of validation regarding the website in itself.
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I believe that the match was a repeat of the previous seasons semi when there was little or no trouble. The policing of the pens was inept.The Football association was inflexible about kick off times (although it was surprisingly flexible when the replay took place and the kick off was delayed to help supporters held up on the M62 to take their places) When it became clear that a life or death situation was taking place in the pens coupled with the opening of the gates and a rush down the tunnel where about half the deaths occurred it must have seemed as though a sort of tsunami was sweeping the ground.You now had Liverpool supporters being brought out onto the pitch and the Nottingham supporters thinking that there had been pitch invasion. This could have been the flashpoint for a further serious imcident on top of the tradegy that was unfolding. At this point the police had lost all control and leadership was sadly lacking. At this point you had to feel sympathy for the policemen at ground level who were trying to cope as best they could with the chaos. But, and it is a big but,why, if you have a ticket to an all ticket match that says please be in your position 30 minutes before kick off ( when you are obviously guarenteed entry to the ground ) why mill around at the turnstiles and cause a situation that culminated in the police opening the gates and causing about half of the fatalities ? Surely the supporters only had to arrive at a reasonble time and queue in an orderly fashion. The biggest tradegy of all is that about half of the deaths occurred to supporters who did arrive at a sensible time. There is no doubt that the police were very poor, but surely the Liverpool supporters must accept some responsibilty for the events of that terrible afternoon ? Still if the report had placed some of the blame on the supporters how long would English clubs have had to wait to get back into European football ? I wept tears for the 96 and I contributed to the appeal, but I just wish the Liverpool supporters would accept some percentage of culpabilty
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