No one intended to kill football fans at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest 27 years ago. In 1989 British football stadiums were inherently unsafe, many of us felt in danger at the regular crushing entering and leaving grounds.
Crowd management was considered a control issue, not a safety one. In England, fences penned spectators in to prevent pitch invasions.
Hillsborough had staged many FA Cup semi-finals, including one the previous year between the same two clubs, so no proper thought or planning went into the game. During the 80s measures to control the crowd increased, while Sheffield Wednesday, who played home games at the ground, seldom came near the stadium’s capacity. The mean the stadium was unprepared for anything out of the ordinary, and the police were completely unprepared.
Access gates were open to relieve pressure on turnstiles which were inadequate to deal with a crowd of that size – a common, but dangerous, occurrence at the time.
Control measures were such that what was once a terrace area open from one side to another had been sectioned off. Once you were in one pen the only route out was to leave the terrace via the long tunnel underneath the Leppings Lane stand that fans used to enter the terrace. The two pens at the wide end of the terrace were under-filled, while the central two were crushed.
No one entering a tunnel knew if there was crushing ahead and there was no way to segregate fans off into available pens. Anyone attempting to exit through the tunnel would have been met by a large crowd of people trying to go the opposite way.
The system was stupidly crazy by design. Any Health and Safety attention would have deemed the terrace unsafe the moment the tall fences went up to prevent overspill onto the pitch area. It was a fatal incident waiting to happen.
Once the incident was underway South Yorkshire Police failed the victims spectacularly. Officers were watching the fatal crush from yards away but were unwilling to raise the alarm. They ignored terrified pleas from fans. After evidence of fatalities first arose, they turned ambulances away, delaying treatment to casualties for a crucial period.
When the incident was over the police invoked a smear campaign against the victims. Lies were told. Newspapers bought into the conspiracy, among others. The bereaved were left on their own to defend the memory of their lost ones as inquiries bathed all in whitewash.
There will be an understandable demand for prosecutions now, but for those who died 27 years ago, and many of their loved ones, it’s all too late. I hope the survivors gain some small comfort from today’s inquest verdict of unlawful killing. The torture they went through listening to the official lies must have been unbearable.
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Ronny’s Celtic are rubbish, completely incapable of playing open attacking football, “the Celtic way”.
In their last ten games Celtic have had no fewer than 177 shots at goal, 78 of which (44%) have been on target, with 15 resulting in goals (1 for every 11.8 shots). This equates to almost 18 shots at goal per game, or one every 5 minutes
For comparison, in Manchester City’s last ten domestic games they have scored 19 goals from 146 shots at goal (14.6 per game), 53 of which (36%) were on target. This equates to a goal for every 7.7 shots.
So in spite of all their £billions, it seems that the main difference between Man City’s attack and Celtic’s is that Celtic’s opposing goalkeeper almost always plays a blinder!
;o)
Just watched the end of the BBC news, “you’ll never grow grey, just distinguished”
Heart breaking.
They Never Walked Alone.
HANKRAY-was MON asked the question?
DD…
I’ll stick to eating the the hats, you can go solo :)))))
Praecepta
From SPFL rule book….
In the event of each of the Clubs having the scored the same number of goals in League Matches during the Season or, as the case may be, in the first 33 League Matches for each Club in Division One, the higher placed Club shall be the Club, having the greater number of points in League Matches between the relevant Clubs in the Season in question.
http://spfl.co.uk/docs/067_324__therulesofthespfl_1375800603.pdf
Doc
Many a true word spoken in jest.
Nothing will ever surprise me again in this Scottish fitba corrupt association.
FTSFA
Even if Der Hun win the Scottish cup and get into Europe, they will be out before the season starts. Moreover considering it’s the holiday season I can’t see the stands being full enough to make a significant impact on their economics for the season.
DOC on 26TH APRIL 2016 10:37 PM
Brought a tear to my eye.
There but for the grace of God………..
Maybe Gary Neville is thinking of getting a heated driveway….???
DD, whose joking?
:-)
GlenDalysTonsils, aye, don’t know why the ladies comment caught me, but it did.
Sipsini
OK shy guy. You are less likely to munch a bunnet than I am to go commando in public.
Where could I stash ma draw? ;)))
I read more about football than I watch, nowadays. I’m fine with that. Don’t even know which channel had Man C v R Madrid tonight. Not Freeview.
City represented English football equal to Madrid representing Welsh football. It’s all a fraud to football fans like me.
Hope Celtic’s development squad will take a run round the park and show us their trophy before season’s end.
Doc…
Must admit, watching the news and the families singing “walk on” brought a tear to my eye, all a lot older from when they got the tragic news they had lost a loved one.
My God they fought their corner and got the truth to be told against all odds.
Hopefully it will give the families some solace. HH
THETIMREAPER
Thanks – that means Hibs.
(N.B. that is: unless SFL/SFA Rule 99.99 – Subsection 2 Paragraph 3 demands Hibs turnout on the Friday night before the SC Final to play an extra play-off game). :-)
PB
Is holiday season a euphemism for D.O.B. marching season?
Sipsini, they did indeed fight they’re corner.
The credit goes to the families of those who died.
I’m sure Liverpool as a whole backed them, but those individual families deserve such admiration.
Chapeau, as the saying goes.
Doc…
Hat off to you…chapeau;)))
GTTF
Maybe they were all discussing their future as the Sunderland management team?
Praecepta
My initial instinct was correct?
Need to rely on the gut feeling in the bookies I reckon. ;)
DD
Would’ve been damn interesting had all 4 games been 1-1 draws!
:-)
HOPE TODAY BRINGS CLOSURE TO LIVERPOOL AND THEIR FANS. THEY FOUGHT CORRUPTION TO THE END. ANYONE WHO BUYS THE SUN RAG NEWSPAPER SHOULD HANG THEIR HEAD IN SHAME IMO
DD,
Oh don’t get me started on the “marching season”…………..
We’re on the verge of 5 in a row, something I have never seen.
I should be delighted, because Celtic are my team,
My kids sing “Glasgow’s green and white,
When watching f in Shi..
We always throw in the towel,
And blame Mr Lawwell,
We’ve all had fun,
Laughing at the hun,
Jelly and ice cream,
We all know the scene,
But with the return of “The Rangers”
Why do we all feel like strangers?
Praecepta
Doncaster would spontaneously combust in that scenario.
Way above his intelligence to work that problem oot. :)
Just had a look on Hills, Ladbrokes and Paddy Power, the betting on next Celtic Manager is no longer available??
PB
Sorry neebs. I don’t intend to raise your blood pressure any higher. :)
Today’s long overdue decision for the families of the Hillsborough victims , will never replace those who died but now justice has been done, they have the solace of knowing their persistence and belief in truth prevailing , was justified.
Kenny Dalglish was interviewed on radio 5 by his daughter, Kelly, tonight. His sincerity and thoughts towards the families shone through.
The then government and their compliant media made a horrible situation even worse by not admitting the truth in the following days after the tragedy.
May the souls of the 96 rest in peace.
DD,
The dent in the boot of my car was caused by me trying to get oot of my estate and meeting that mob walking at the bottom of the road. In rage I reversed into a tree…………….pressure raising:-(
PB
Major fail sir.
You should have missed the tree, hit them DOBS then claimed a blackout. :)
Saturday will be one of those few days when I’m not in the ground or town where my team is playing. Not over-fussed.
Were you to ask me to pick a ground that Leigh Griffiths would choose to score two goals and put up a 40 goal season, I’d say to you – Tynecastle.
Bury them, son.
Guy
Would like a ticket for Tynecastle too. Nae chance I hear.
Where are you watching the match? OK or Dalmuir?
DD,
Always in admiration of your creative thinking :0)
hankray on 26th April 2016 10:11 pm
Enjoying Martin O’Neill, Sourness and Richard Dune on tv3. Better than the match
———————-
Their host Tommy Martin whose dad posts on here though I think he may have taken a sabbatical a couple of weeks ago
Newsnight ended tonight by showing tomorrows front pages.All of them covered the 96 except 2. The Sun and The Times.Maybe they didn’t think it was all that important
A very poignant day for all concerned in the fight for justice for the 96. The scale of the cover up is mind boggling , the fact that it was prolonged over decades is shameful.
In hindsight , a disaster of some sort was inevitable at the football in those days. Janefield st , Nottingham , the old Celtic end at Hampden. There for the grace of God.
What followed Hillsborough was inhumane.
The South Yorkshire Police force should be disbanded. Others like Kelvin Mackenzie & Boris Johnson should hang their heads in shame. Listening to the reports on the radio , one comment stood out. The establishment picked the wrong city to lie too.
Watching the Netflix serial REBELLION, on the Easter Rising …..excellent
Delaneys Dunky on 26th April 2016 11:27 pm
Saw City’s second half in H&B tonight.
Funny thing about ok. Last year, three weeks after putting my name on the blog in support of the Sunday advert, Peter in the ettrick told me to find somewhere else to drink. 17 years in a proddie village doesn’t count.
Celtic forever.
First .Off….My Heart goes out to The Families of the 96..And to the 96 themselves, May God Welcome Them.
Second….Hope we Dont get Stevie Clark, Boredom, Keane or Lennon or Lambert or mckay…Boring…Hiddink or Avb.Not Gonna Happen..Moyes Or Rodgers
TOO Expensive..Suggestions on a Postcard Please.