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[Exterminieren]

25 years ago today, on 15th April 1989, 96 Liverpool fans attended a football match that they would never return from.

During the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, a combination of police incompetence, large crowds and terrible stadium design resulted in a crush in the Leppings Lane stand at Hillsborough. In the confusion and panic, 96 fans lost their lives and 766 were injured. In the days and weeks that followed, the authorities and media collaborated in slandering the fans and attempting to shift blame- police records were rewritten and amended in an attempt to absolve themselves of blame, and the Sub printed an outrageously spurious headline accusing innocent fans of thuggery and blaming the disaster on the fans. The families have been fighting for justice ever since- the original verdict of accidental death has been overturned, and a new inquest is underway, but the individuals responsible for the disaster and the response remain unpunished.

The Hillsborough disaster was an incident that occurred on 15 April 1989 at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England. During the FA Cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest football clubs, a human crush resulted in the deaths of 96 people and injuries to 766 others. The incident has since been blamed primarily on the police for letting too many people enter the stadium, and remains the worst stadium-related disaster in British history, and one of the world's worst football disasters.

At the time, semi-finals of the FA Cup were contested at a neutral venue. For the 1989 tournament, the Football Association (FA) selected Hillsborough (home ground of Sheffield Wednesday football club) for the contest between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. As is standard in domestic English football matches, opposing supporters were segregated in the stadium. Liverpool fans were allocated the Leppings Lane stand. Entry to the Leppings Lane stand was possible only via one of a small number of decrepit turnstiles, a restriction that led to dangerous overcrowding outside the ground before kick-off. In an attempt to ease pressure outside the ground, Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield, the senior police officer responsible for the match, ordered an exit gate to be opened. The opened exit gate led to a tunnel marked "Standing", which led directly to the two already overcrowded enclosures. In previous years, the tunnel had been closed off by police when the two central pens were full; however, on this occasion the tunnel was unmanned.

The ensuing influx of supporters caused crushing, and some fans climbed over side fences or were lifted by fellow supporters onto the stand above to escape the crush. Moments after kick-off, a crush barrier broke, and fans began to fall on top of each other. The game was stopped after six minutes. To carry away the injured, supporters tore down advertising hoardings to use as stretchers, and emergency services were called to provide assistance. Of the 96 people who died, 14 were admitted to the hospital. When the FA Chairman visited the Control Box to find out what had happened, Duckenfield falsely claimed that the supporters had "rushed" the gate.

The 1990 official inquiry into the disaster, the Taylor Report, concluded that "the main reason for the disaster was the failure of police control." The findings of the report resulted in the elimination of standing terraces at all major football stadiums in England, Wales and Scotland.

On the 20th anniversary of the disaster, government minister Andy Burnham called for the police, ambulance and all other public agencies to release documents that had not been made available to Lord Justice Taylor in 1989. This action led to the formation of the Hillsborough Independent Panel, which in September 2012 concluded that no Liverpool fans were responsible for the deaths, and that attempts had been made by the authorities to conceal what happened, including the alteration by police of 116 statements relating to the disaster. The facts in the report prompted immediate apologies from Prime Minister David Cameron; the Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police, David Crompton; Football Association Chairman David Bernstein; and Kelvin MacKenzie, then-editor of The Sun, for their organisations' respective roles.

In September 2012, the Hillsborough Independent Panel concluded that up to 41 of the 96 fatalities might have been avoided had they received prompt medical treatment. The report revealed "multiple failures" by other emergency services and public bodies that contributed to the death toll. In response to the panel's report, the Attorney General for England and Wales, Dominic Grieve MP, confirmed he would consider all the new evidence to evaluate whether the original inquest verdicts of accidental death could be overturned. On 19 December 2012, a new inquest was granted in the High Court.

The Hillsborough Family Support Group
The families of the 96 deserve all the credit in the world for refusing to allow the matter to drop and for chasing the truth for 25. We're moving closer to justice, but we're still not there yet.

 

[Corleth the Fey]

You spelt Sun wrong. We must make sure that everyone hears of their evil doing in this terrible tragedy.

Much respect to all those affected by this unfortunate event.

 

[Wilbur]

JFT96

It's wonderful that there's progress in knowing the families of those involved are beginning to get some semblance of closure and clearing of whatever horrific muddying of names places like the Sun invented.

 

[Chichikov]

Let us never forget the disgusting lies The Sun spread.

You spelt Sun wrong. We must make sure that everyone hears of their evil doing in this terrible tragedy.

Not a Liverpool fan, I actually quite hate them (sportively) but I always respect their boycott.
Also -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uWw7kuiCss

 

[TrueBlue]

JFT96

I am a Chelsea fan, but I have always respected and admired this campaign for the justice that the families so richly deserve. In the end, footballing rivalries aside, 96 people died following the sport that we all love. That alone deserves recognition and remembrance in my mind.

YNWA.

 

[Bumhead]

and terrible stadium design

Got to take slight issue with this.

One of the things I hope from the latest enquiries, but don't expect, is that the treatment of football fans in 1989 isn't viewed through 2014 eyes. In an era where The Emirates, Etihad etc are the norm for a lot of people, our stadium looks, feels and frankly is old and in many respects outdated. But in 1989 it wasn't. Hillsborough hosting that semi final wasn't some freak, badly planned accident of stadium selection. It was chosen as a host venue for the semi-finals because, along with the likes of Villa Park and Old Trafford, it was one of the leading stadiums in the country at the time. It hosted major games before 1989 and it hosted major games since, including other semi-finals, a League Cup final replay and Euro 96 matches.

The disaster happened due to a toxic mix of factors, chief of which being gross establishment incompetence. The stadium played it's part, I'm not denying that, but place the exact same factors of the day into ANY British stadium in 1989 and the outcome would likely have been similar. I don't believe that the ground is or was inherently unsafe when taken by itself a single entity. The Leppings Lane end still stands exactly as it was in 1989, albeit with the addition of seating, and has been used to host capacity crowds many times since 1989 without incident.

On a similar line in terms of looking back at 1989 through 2014 eyes, I wonder if the current government will acknowledge the gross failings of the same party government at the time. I fully expect not. Even if every other factor was EXACTLY the same, nobody would have died if it wasn't for Thatcher's death pens and fences. The sheer contempt for and treatment of football supporters in the late 80's shown by the establishment was abhorrent looking back it now. I expect David Cameron to accept no acknowledgement of this.

But I've got ahead of myself and today isn't really about that. Different topics for a different discussion on a different day.

Justice for the 96.

 

[Slizz]

Tonight on ESPN they are going to air a new 30 for 30 all about Hillsborough. Looking forward to it.

 

[Blink Me]

I always forget that Gerrard's cousin was killed there. So tragic how young a lot of the fans were who died there. Hope Liverpool win the Premier League this year.

 

[Ein Bear]

I'm from Hillsborough, and know several people who lost loved ones in the disaster. The families deserve all the praise in the world for fighting for 25 years, instead of letting the matter be forgotten.

I really hope that, with the incident being in the public consciousness again for the anniversary, that they finally get their justice.

 

[Altazor]

JUSTICE FOR THE 96.

 

[mclem]

A day to Not Buy The Sun even more emphatically than I normally do.

 

[Exterminieren]

I legitimately teared up listening to Rodgers' speech at the remembrance service on the way home from work.

 

[AkuMifune]

Tonight on ESPN they are going to air a new 30 for 30 all about Hillsborough. Looking forward to it.

Yeah, been looking forward to it for awhile.

Though I have no memory of this incident at the time (young kid in NY) I've come to understand (in a very small way) just how much of a tragedy it is just from all the BBC I watch. Even today the incident makes its way into the backstories of detectives and criminals, people from all walks of life. It still feels recent and relevant and I hope it always will be.

Seems shallow to remark I only know of the tragedy from TV shows, so apologies to anyone who was personally affected by it.

 

[Cornballer]

Tonight on ESPN they are going to air a new 30 for 30 all about Hillsborough. Looking forward to it.

Thanks for reminding me. I'll watch that at some point. It airs at 8pm ET and reruns at 9pm tonight on ESPN.

 

[pje122]

I don't really understand what happened. Security let too many people into the stadium? Why did they do that...?

 

[Bumhead]

I don't really understand what happened. Security let too many people into the stadium? Why did they do that...?

There were several policing and control blunders before this.

But in long and short, an increasingly large amount of fans arrived at the game just before kick off and the turnstiles were unable to let people through quick enough in any sort of orderly or organised manner. The swelling number of fans outside the ground was leading to overcrowding and crushes against the outer walls, and so a directive was issued to open one of the exit gates. Naturally, as soon as the gate was opened a surge of supporters went through it to alleviate the congestion outside. Unfortunately, this only led to to the two central "pens", leading to a dangerous level of overcrowding and a surge push from behind. As a result of Margeret Thatchers death fences - a Conservative government initiative to control and here fans around like animals - the fans already in the two pens were unable to move to the sides to create room or via the front. The result was that those at the front were crushed to death against the fences.

The larger issue which surrounds the situation now is that the extent of the policing failures is one of if not the worst British policing and government cover up constructed, as well as the lies peddled by the establishment and media since.

 

[elseanio]

I don't really understand what happened. Security let too many people into the stadium? Why did they do that...?

An extensive report was published just recently if you wish to read up further on the subject:

http://hillsborough.independent.gov.uk/

The report also has links to all documents received, almost half a million of which most have been kept secret. This report also highlights a vast amount of statements were amended by police, and a process was in place to shift blame away from them onto the fans.

Recently, the IPCC has started a fresh investigation, after previous "accidental death" verdicts were quashed by the High Court.

 

[Zelias]

A tragic event and a truly shameful episode for both the government and the police. I hope one day all the truth comes to light and all the questions are finally answered. It's terrible that 25 years on people still have to fight for Justice for the 96.

And the less said about the vile shitrag that is The Sun, the better.

 

[Clegg]

I'm still amazed at the gall of the Sun to make up all these lies about Liverpool fans. Suffice to say, they never pickpocketed dead bodies, pissed started riots or assaulted police. The police cover up was even worse though. Blamimng the fans to cover up their own incompetence was sickening.

 

[Bumhead]

And the less said about the vile shitrag that is The Sun, the better.

100%

Never bought it and never will.

 

[terrisus]

 

[Tawpgun]

YNWA

Also crazy to think that today is one year since the Boston marathon bombings. Boston and Liverpool are very closely tied together.

 

[Empty]

the way the people of liverpool have refused to let these people and the injustice disspear into time has been incredible and inspiring.

the sun and the government at the time might feel like they can automatically write football fans off as violent thugs who deserve utter contempt and no dignity as human beings, but the passion and respect liverpool fans have shown over twenty five years in response to the tragedy has powerfully shown has utterly wrong that is.

 

[Exterminieren]

Brendan Rodgers' speech from the memorial at Anfield today.

Roberto Martinez's speech is there, too.

Rodgers brought me to tears, but Martinez absolutely struck the perfect note.

 

[Indrid Cold1]

As a Liverpool fan and person from the city, the things that tend to move me to tears the most when the anniversary rolls around are the flowers, messages, scarves, and thoughts that are sent from fans of Everton and other clubs nationwide and indeed worldwide. It's nice to see us all as football fans for a moment forget the tribalism and rivalry that almost dominates our mindset as fans of the beautiful game and realise that the 96 could have been anyone of us, any of our dads, brothers, uncles, sisters, decent people who woke up that morning with that lovely/nervous match day buzz, who left home for the game and never came back. Here's hoping the new inquest goes some way towards resolving the travesty that followed the tragedy.

JFT96. YNWA.

 

[Cornballer]

Just a reminder that ESPN 30 for 30 documentary on Hillsborough starts up in a few minutes.

 

[Sneds]

I live in Sheffield. Tonight I saw a sign attached to a fence that said "Ask a South Yorkshire policeman where they were on Sat 15th April 1989 or 18th June 1984". The latter date refers to the Battle of Orgreave.

 

[Biggzy]

It's pretty crazy to think that I was being brought into this world while the tragic events at Hillsborough were unfolding. So, while I have gone through childhood, teenage years, university and going through adult life, it is only now that we are finally seeing the truth start to come out about the incompetence and cover-ups of the tragedy.

The families of the victims have shown remarkable resilience for all these years, especially in the face of the lies that have been flung at their loved ones.

I haven't seen the memorial yet, but I will do so, especially after hearing good things about the speeches made today. It always shocks me when the names are read out and I realise that entire families were torn apart that day.

YNWA JFT9