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Hillsborough Memorial day today
- Thread starter warsaw
- Start date
Agree entirely but I bet that there will not be such coverage for the 'other' anniversaries on the 11th and 29th May. It was these two events that changed my view on football in that it is just a game, win lose or draw, promotion or relegation, and what makes me cringe whenever some reporter/fan on an ego trip decides to ressurect Bill Shankly totally inappropriate quote about football not being a matter of life and death.
I can still remember the day as I was playing in a match down the park and some of the people watching were keeping us informed. It seemed unreal, a truly numbing event and a black mark on this country. It seems impossible today to think that we could have lived in a society that treated football fans like animals, and that so many innocent people died in what must have been truly horrible circumstances. Anyone who used to go to any big matches at that time knew however that there could have been so many similar tragedies, and it was more through luck than judgement that they were avoided.
The way the police pushed back the escaping fans back into the death pen was sadly the logical conclusion, from central government downwards, of a policy of treating all fans as hooligans first and human beings second.
As football fans we all have teams we like and dislike, but this was probably the first time we felt solidarity with fans from another club to such an extent.
It's a shame that so many have failed to learn the true importance of football though. When Liverpool reached the cup final that season there were many fans who scaled the walls at Wembley to gain access to the stadium, and the fences at Wembley, recently removed, allowed a number of pitch invasions. Stewards on duty that day had to deal with a disturbance at one entrance when hordes of fans were trying to force their way into Wembley, hardly a fitting way to honour the disaster's victims.
When Liverpool won 4-1 at United last month there were inflatable aeroplanes being thrown around in the Liverpool end, and songs about "Matt Busby and his boys" sung by a minority.
We should all hold our heads at 3.06 today and pass a thought for those families who have lost sons, fathers and loved ones. At the same time it should not descend into a mawkish pit of media handwringing, which FiveLive seems determined to create, having listened to the breakfast show this morning. To see the likes of Rogan Taylor demanding £450 for a TV interview from a foreign Danish TV crew shows that some people still know how to profit from a tragedy.
The way the police pushed back the escaping fans back into the death pen was sadly the logical conclusion, from central government downwards, of a policy of treating all fans as hooligans first and human beings second.
As football fans we all have teams we like and dislike, but this was probably the first time we felt solidarity with fans from another club to such an extent.
It's a shame that so many have failed to learn the true importance of football though. When Liverpool reached the cup final that season there were many fans who scaled the walls at Wembley to gain access to the stadium, and the fences at Wembley, recently removed, allowed a number of pitch invasions. Stewards on duty that day had to deal with a disturbance at one entrance when hordes of fans were trying to force their way into Wembley, hardly a fitting way to honour the disaster's victims.
When Liverpool won 4-1 at United last month there were inflatable aeroplanes being thrown around in the Liverpool end, and songs about "Matt Busby and his boys" sung by a minority.
We should all hold our heads at 3.06 today and pass a thought for those families who have lost sons, fathers and loved ones. At the same time it should not descend into a mawkish pit of media handwringing, which FiveLive seems determined to create, having listened to the breakfast show this morning. To see the likes of Rogan Taylor demanding £450 for a TV interview from a foreign Danish TV crew shows that some people still know how to profit from a tragedy.
Barry Izbak
U.T.A.
I was in BBC Radio Sussex at Marlborough Place that day with John Lees and we saw the pictures coming in on the live feed. Bloody horrifying. And make no mistake that could have been you or me on that terrace that day. After all only six years earlier we made it to the cup semi final, but luckily went to Highbury and not Hillsborough.
I have been to the memorial service at Anfield a couple of times (in my stripes) and I wish I was going today.
Rest in Peace the 96.
I have been to the memorial service at Anfield a couple of times (in my stripes) and I wish I was going today.
Rest in Peace the 96.
I'm sure if it were any other set of supporters then this would not get the coverage it does. I have never liked Rogan Taylor as I have never heard him apportion any blame on liverpool fans. Similarly, I think he never did with the Heysel disaster, blaming instead the authorities.
Finally, I don't blame the authorities for the way they treated football fans, I blame the minority of so called fans who turned up each week looking for a ruck. Unfortunatley, laws are passed, conditions created, to cater for the lowest common denominator. Hillsborough was the culmination of that.
Bevendean Hillbilly
New member
I remember watching it all unfold whilst I was playing pool up at the Devils Dyke with an Australian Liverpool Supporter who had tried to get tickets for Hillsborough without success. The whole pub just stopped and stood silently watching the TV as the death toll mounted. Very eerie experience.
Also remember going to the Goldstone with him to tie a scarf on the fence in front of the North Stand in memoriam...there were loads of shirts etc. there.
Dark days.
Also remember going to the Goldstone with him to tie a scarf on the fence in front of the North Stand in memoriam...there were loads of shirts etc. there.
Dark days.
The Large One
Who's Next?
My memories of the day...
The sun was shining brightly.
Me and a couple of friends went to Eastbourne for the day, mainly to go to a Northern Soul do in the evening.
We were listening to Radio 5 on the way, and it was becoming apparent that lives were being lost at Hillsborough. The ‘unconfirmed’ number was rising from three to six to 10 to 14 and so on. I think it had hit 30 by the time we left it. Our non-football supporting mate couldn’t grasp what was happening and he just kept talking over the top of the radio and more than once we had bellow at him to belt up while we tried to listen.
We went to the do, and I drove back and arrived back in Brighton, we tuned into the late news, and of course the first item was Hillsborough, and they reported that 93 people had died. I couldn’t believe it. All those people who had gone with their friends and families to something as societally banal (though exciting in its own right) as a football match never to return. I felt sick.
I still feel a sense of anger at what happened then and subsequently, with the police authorities trying to cover up then tell lies for their horrendous blunders, while the fans, the fire service and the ambulance crews all recognised what was hapenning immediately, and the police utterly impotent. Shameful.
The following week’s home match for Brighton was against Swindon. The front cover of Gull’s Eye was excellent and summed up the mood perfectly. The teams walked out to ‘Let It Be’, and the minute’s silence was impeccably observed inside the ground, though I remember someone’s machine operating in one of the workshops outside the ground.
Not long after - it may have been immediately - the fences came down at The Goldstone Ground.
And the sun was shining brightly.
The sun was shining brightly.
Me and a couple of friends went to Eastbourne for the day, mainly to go to a Northern Soul do in the evening.
We were listening to Radio 5 on the way, and it was becoming apparent that lives were being lost at Hillsborough. The ‘unconfirmed’ number was rising from three to six to 10 to 14 and so on. I think it had hit 30 by the time we left it. Our non-football supporting mate couldn’t grasp what was happening and he just kept talking over the top of the radio and more than once we had bellow at him to belt up while we tried to listen.
We went to the do, and I drove back and arrived back in Brighton, we tuned into the late news, and of course the first item was Hillsborough, and they reported that 93 people had died. I couldn’t believe it. All those people who had gone with their friends and families to something as societally banal (though exciting in its own right) as a football match never to return. I felt sick.
I still feel a sense of anger at what happened then and subsequently, with the police authorities trying to cover up then tell lies for their horrendous blunders, while the fans, the fire service and the ambulance crews all recognised what was hapenning immediately, and the police utterly impotent. Shameful.
The following week’s home match for Brighton was against Swindon. The front cover of Gull’s Eye was excellent and summed up the mood perfectly. The teams walked out to ‘Let It Be’, and the minute’s silence was impeccably observed inside the ground, though I remember someone’s machine operating in one of the workshops outside the ground.
Not long after - it may have been immediately - the fences came down at The Goldstone Ground.
And the sun was shining brightly.
public school boy
Banned
My heart goes out to all of those who lost a loved one on that tragic day.I lost my brother in law in the Chelsea helicopter crash 22nd October 1996. You never get over it, you just learn to live with it.
Pot noodles for everyone
New member
My thoughts?
A tragedy that was avoidable. Neither the Liverpool fans nor the Police have really acknowledged their own roles and why they jointly caused this. The subsequent demand for all seater stadia was unnecessary and finally, one wonders why the 20th anniversary of the Bradford fire didn't get the same type of coverage or memorials.
Then again, no-one does this sort of thing like the city of Liverpool.
I'm not trying to be disresespectful but that's how I feel
A tragedy that was avoidable. Neither the Liverpool fans nor the Police have really acknowledged their own roles and why they jointly caused this. The subsequent demand for all seater stadia was unnecessary and finally, one wonders why the 20th anniversary of the Bradford fire didn't get the same type of coverage or memorials.
Then again, no-one does this sort of thing like the city of Liverpool.
I'm not trying to be disresespectful but that's how I feel
Dandyman
In London village.
Playing a game in a stadium with a safety certificate 10 years out of date was not the fault of the fans nor were the ineptitude and dishonesty of the police the fault of the fans.
Uncle Spielberg
Well-known member
I don't know the full facts but isn't the main reason was the fatal decision to open to gate into the stand allowing thousands of Liverpool fans to charge into an area already at capacity. With no gates opened at the front the crush on the front was too much to bear. I think the Police decided that the crush outside the ground was getting too much but the decision to open the gate was the fatal one.
No one came out a winner. Fans cannot be exempt from blame , nor can the Police. The tabloids reached the gutter particularly the Daily Mirror who printed about 12 pages of shots about 2 feet the safe side of the fence with kids having the life and breath crushed out of them. Disgraceful.
RIP to all.
No one came out a winner. Fans cannot be exempt from blame , nor can the Police. The tabloids reached the gutter particularly the Daily Mirror who printed about 12 pages of shots about 2 feet the safe side of the fence with kids having the life and breath crushed out of them. Disgraceful.
RIP to all.
Easy 10
Brain dead MUG SHEEP
The Leppings Lane terracing was no more dangerous than any other terrace up and down the country. A combination of events (a large number of Liverpool fans' determination to scramble in after the game had kicked off, and the subsequent catastrophic decision by the police to throw open the exit gates and just let them all flood in) was what caused the disaster, not the terracing itself.
There is nothing inherently dangerous with terracing IF it is managed and policed properly. The removal of fences was a necessary step of course, but in this day and age, it should not be beyond the wit of man in this country to enable safe, properly managed terraces inside football stadiums.
There is nothing inherently dangerous with terracing IF it is managed and policed properly. The removal of fences was a necessary step of course, but in this day and age, it should not be beyond the wit of man in this country to enable safe, properly managed terraces inside football stadiums.
clapham_gull
Legacy Fan
- Aug 20, 2003
- 25,877
Not read the Taylor Report then......
public school boy
Banned
There is no reason why stadia up and down the country should not have standing areas
if the clubs wish to have them. We have all seen that seats can be used as weapons. If an incident happens in side the ground and people start to panic then I would suggest that rows of seats will add to the problem. High profile matches should be designated as all ticket. I hope that something like this will NEVER happen again
if the clubs wish to have them. We have all seen that seats can be used as weapons. If an incident happens in side the ground and people start to panic then I would suggest that rows of seats will add to the problem. High profile matches should be designated as all ticket. I hope that something like this will NEVER happen again
rrruss
Wandering Seagull
My girlfriend at the time was a Forest fan so I was stood on the Kop at Hillsborough watching the horror unfold. It was obvious very early on that it was not a pitch invasion but nobody imagined the scale of what they were seeing.
After this my next game was at Molineux watching the Albion win 4-2 the following season. The Supporters Club helped me out as I was still very nervous of going back into a stadium and being in a crowd.
My heart goes out to anyone whose involvement was any greater than mine. I cannot imagine what it must have been like in the Leppings Lane end, or to know someone who didn't come home.
Although I love standing at a match, I can understand the drive towards all seater stadia. Recent events in Africa suggest it really was the right move in my opinion.
RIP the 96.
Russ
After this my next game was at Molineux watching the Albion win 4-2 the following season. The Supporters Club helped me out as I was still very nervous of going back into a stadium and being in a crowd.
My heart goes out to anyone whose involvement was any greater than mine. I cannot imagine what it must have been like in the Leppings Lane end, or to know someone who didn't come home.
Although I love standing at a match, I can understand the drive towards all seater stadia. Recent events in Africa suggest it really was the right move in my opinion.
RIP the 96.
Russ
It wasn't terraces that killed the fans though, it was the fences.
We have come a long way in terms of design of stadia and terraces since 1989, if terraces can work in the Bundesliga then they can in this country too.
Pot noodles for everyone
New member
Yes. Why do you ask?
Whatever the reasons for the tragedy, it is without question that those who lost their lives were the innocent victims of other peoples actions.
It should never be that anyone should end up in such a situation just going to watch their team play a game.
RIP all of the victims, and also those of other tragedies that have befallen football fans just going to watch a game.
At least it led to the removal of the (so obviously dangerous) fences in front of supporters, but the move to all seater stadia has taken away a lot of the enjoyment of watching football for me. As others have said, terracing is not dangerous in itself.
It should never be that anyone should end up in such a situation just going to watch their team play a game.
RIP all of the victims, and also those of other tragedies that have befallen football fans just going to watch a game.
At least it led to the removal of the (so obviously dangerous) fences in front of supporters, but the move to all seater stadia has taken away a lot of the enjoyment of watching football for me. As others have said, terracing is not dangerous in itself.
herecomesaregular
We're in the pipe, 5 by 5
Hillsborough ITV3 9pm
The drama that hasn't been on our screens since 1996 and the one which Jim McGoven said he would never release and suggested it would never be shown again has had the green light to go out on ITV3 at 9pm tonight (15 April).
The drama that hasn't been on our screens since 1996 and the one which Jim McGoven said he would never release and suggested it would never be shown again has had the green light to go out on ITV3 at 9pm tonight (15 April).