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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The Red Telephone
” it wouldnt have happened up here “.
Rent a gob plod obviously never experienced the delights of Celtic Park , Dens Park , Firhill Hampden , Ibrox and Tynecastle etc – back in the day. All potential death traps where the safety of the public was the last thing on the agenda ( assuming it got as far as being on the agenda )
JJ
Well that was basically my point mate, doesent count when it’s thems.
That will of course been the first time plod lied its arse off to protect itself following a major incident.
Time for a wee bit of snooker, methinks. I think we will see a Higgins v Selby Final but I would like to see Ding Junhui win it.
Cheerio for now,
JJ
The Red Telephone .
Taormina ? .
Public transport in Sicily is very poor and very unreliable..I’d take the tour ..On the plus side a wee jaunt on a public bus would give you valuable insight to Siclian life ..Bus drivers driving a bus load round hairpin bends one handed while they talk to their Mama on their phone re what they would like for dinner etc etc
PS – take care crossing the roads in Messina.The rules of the road are for pussies !
http://stv.tv/sport/football/1351983-stiliyan-petrov-targets-return-to-football-after-beating-leukaemia/
How good would this be,I’m sure everyone will wish Stan all the luck in the world
SoT,
Cheers. Usually do local transport to get a bit of insight into the locals. Looks like a train then bus journey, so with limited time might be a cruise tour. Thanks again. PS. Snowing here you’ll be glad to know. HH
Phil doing a grand job today again for level5 all kite flying, he’s just doing what JJ does against Sevco, and he obviously hasent a clue about what’s going on with res12, I’m not getting the same information he is, in fact I’m getting the exact opposit, time will tell. But I’ll keep what I know to myself for the moment.
http://www.philmacgiollabhain.ie/revisionism-and-rammed-renewals/
At last some justice for the 96 and their families.
The CPS, I believe, may be preparing prosecutions.
…but I won’t hold my breath.
Many Scottish fitba grounds in the 60s/70s were potential death traps. One of the worst, in my experience, was Brockville in Falkirk. A terrible midden.
HH!!
PHILBHOY on 26TH APRIL 2016 2:23 PM
That will of course been the first time plod lied its arse off to protect itself following a major incident.
================
Not just the police, of course.
The cover up involved all of the ‘establishment’.
Had the failings been acknowledged around the time then, maybe, just maybe the public and family response would have been different.
Unfortunately,many people in authority have something about them that sees confession, contrition and penance as dangers to their hold of power.
Thank God for honest jurors who have been the source of justice being restored to the families of the deceased. They were treated badly by the authorities and scurrilous journalism. Today their search for justice has been achieved. They have never walked alone for the true football supporter was always with them in their quest. Now their loved ones can rest in eternal peace.
Those of us who are old enough to remember the conditions in the early days will know that we escaped serious injury very often. I remember as a young lad in a game against Partick ( methinks) when the whole section I was in fell forward and by luck I was on the top of the pile. Others will have their own memories of those days.
Paul67, there were gates at the entrance to each terrace. The failure to close these as the 2 central terraces filled up contributed to the tragedy.
Tony Donnelly67 on 26th April 2016 1:18 pm
Oh well?
#PFAScotland manager of year nominees: Peter Houston, Jim McInally, Jim McIntyre, Mark Warburton
———
Houston for me. Done most with least.
The Red Telephone
Public transport tends to be slow.Currently even slower than the norm due to carabinieri stopping buses in search of those moving herba and migrants without the legally necessary bits of paper.
Hillsborough was a Masonic cover up,as was Dunblane.No Masons allowed at Warrington Inquiry,to take statements,and look at the evidence given from the authorities.27 years later…….
SOUTH OF TUNIS on 26TH APRIL 2016 2:18 PM
The Red Telephone
” it wouldnt have happened up here “.
Rent a gob plod obviously never experienced the delights of Celtic Park , Dens Park , Firhill Hampden , Ibrox and Tynecastle etc – back in the day. All potential death traps
Spot on! I remember leaving the January 1966 5-1 game against the hunnery and being scared to death trying to leave at FT. Feet off the ground and being carried towards a brick wall. Panic stations but squeezed out OK in the end :(
I hope the 96 victims finally rest in peace and their families begin the process of closure.
God bless all involved.
GERRYBHOY on 26TH APRIL 2016 3:05 PM
SOUTH OF TUNIS on 26TH APRIL 2016 2:18 PM
The Red Telephone
” it wouldnt have happened up here “.
=========
This from the man who said that he feared for his safety in a pub in Blackpool whilst fitba was on telly.
The late Tim Cooke was at Hillsborough. He went up to the most senior policeman he could find and said ‘I am a surgeon [ he was Professor of Surgery in Glasgow at the time]. What do you want me to do?’
The policeman just shook his head and walked away, overwhelmed by the enormity of it all.
Finding someone to take responsibility for this ‘unlawful killing’ is going to be very, very difficult.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/26/hillsborough-verdicts-police-chief-david-duckenfield-among-key-f
TBM
Tony D, I think you’re being a wee bit harsh on Phil; he’s called it more often correctly than wrong. John James hmmm, no way is he a Hun, definitely a Tim at the wind up.
Two places that fear gripped me with fear was coming out of Ibrox when we beat them 1 0 ( Joe Craig), and down at Notts Forest, we were in the corner, didn’t realise how bad it was, Brian Clough gave Frank Connor a Celtic Flag to calm the supporters down. Earlier in the day we were in a shopping centre, it was freezing outside, bitter, we were sitting and enjoying our canned beer, two middle class women came over,I thought we were going to get a row, disgrace etc drinking, woman came over and asked a drink of my beer. Pub we were in had a massive bar, Celtic supporters, practically swinging from Chandeliers. Of course we mucked up at Celtic Park. Clough took his players to Davie Hay’s pub if I remember correctly before the game.
TONY DONNELLY67, is your version any better for the support?
My most terrifying experiences of crushing were Nottingham Forest v Celtic. It almost became our Hillsborough but for the cop who – eventually – turned up with a key to open a gate on the iron fence and so relieve the pressure. My brother-in-law and I had our feet off the ground with our bodies at an angle.
The queue to get into The Celtic v Aberdeen Cup Final in 1967. Unbelievable crush. The gates at the North East corner of Hampden were smashed open and fans poured in. I remember a Celtic fan – in his forties and built like a rhino- totally panicked and started to lash out at everyone around him causing absolute chaos. I honestly thought people were going to lose their lives on both occasions.
I’ve been in loads of bad crushes but I never thought I might die. I did at those two games. It was terrifying.
DBBIA
Yes it will, however the press coverage and the papers like the Sun who wrote about the aftermath in a particularly nasty way alleging pockets of the victims being picked by others and people being urinated on , that press is still with us and will write stories for a particular point of view and for a particular demograph, keeping facts well out of view.
http://www.celticfc.net/news/10398
god bless the 96 victims of unlawful killing at Hillsborough
and the extended families and communities it hit hard with
god help those who smeared the 96 families in the Thatcher fawning tory press
They knew then what they were writing was wrong and carried on.
an example of establishment cover up for history to look at for the rest of time
Rip the 96
HH
bada Bing. Dunblane, papers locked up for 100 years! And the local MP ends up in charge of NATO! Hamilton was cremated in Dundee, why? Strange days then, where there are politicians, cover up(s )galore.
Masonic Henry Mcleish , now why does he get well paid gigs for his views on football etc.?Easy. His brothers at the SFA ‘advise’ what to put in these reports. Remember, this clown, fiddled his rent for his office and didn’t declare the income he was getting for the office. Should have been jailed! Instead he’s feted!
DBBIA.
The long and winding process leading to today’s decision includes a Chief Superintendent lying ( on multiple occasions)and then belatedly admitting that he had lied ( on multiple occasions ) Naughty , very naughty.
Paul67 et al
Not just a failure by all concerned but a concerted attempt by South Yorkshire Police to blame the victims, aided and abetted by the Murdochs and the MacKenzies of this world. And not just at Commander level, the cover up stretched all the way to Downing Street. Sheffield City Council and Sheffield Wednesday FC also in the frame, each “pen” a potential deathtrap with a Thatcher style fence preventing overspill on to the pitch as happened many many times in Scotland. Well done to the jury,cannot have been easy to examine the evidence up close over two years, and at least a verdict, or conclusion, that gives the families of those who lost their lives some comfort.
RIPthe96
Perhaps the 96 wil now rest in peace.
As will the families of the deceased.
YNWA.
IKI on 26TH APRIL 2016 3:08 PM
GERRYBHOY on 26TH APRIL 2016 3:05 PM
SOUTH OF TUNIS on 26TH APRIL 2016 2:18 PM
The Red Telephone
” it wouldnt have happened up here “.
=========
This from the man who said that he feared for his safety in a pub in Blackpool whilst fitba was on telly.
It wasn’t even Blackpool.. it was York…
Thank you for your memories about what it was like attending games back in the day from our, cough, senior supporters.
:-)
That’s why I read CQN.
Dontbrattbakkinanger on 26th April 2016 3:12 pm
Tim Cooke was a fervent Liverpool supporter and followed the club at matches whenever he could. He forsook the comfort of the stand and was a member of the Kop for many years..
Tim was a long-standing colleague and personal friend. His death at such a young age was a tragedy for his family and friends but also for Surgery in Glasgow.
Normally a very quiet man, he always got extremely agitated when he spoke of his experience at Hillsborough particularly the incident you mentioned. A good man, with a soft spot for Celtic. RIP.
Just catching up.
Proudbhoy – Great news on your new baby.
Beatbhoy – Many happy returns.
KevJ – Good thoughts for you.
God bless the 96, families and friends, justice at last
HH
YORKBHOY
It wasn’t even Blackpool.. it was York…
============
Perhaps, he was worried that a local would exercise his historical right to use a bow and arrow to shoot a Scots man.
Auld Bertie
I remember Cloughie with his green sweatshirt coming onto the pitch and waving the Celtic flag. I obviously knew that Frank Connor wasn’t happy with him but didn’t know what he said to Cloughie. I read in the papers next day that Frank Connor had told him to stick the flag up his erchie. God alone knows how Cloughie thought that waving a flag at Celtic fans would help avert a potential disaster.
The exact same circumstances as happened at Hillsborough occurred at Nottingham. We arrived shortly before kick off, passed a line of policemen and wpc’s outside the ground who were chatting to one another while immediately behind their backs the gates stood wide open with thousands of Celtic fans pouring through them and into the first available pen. No police, no stewards supervising. As the crush got worse hundreds of fans clambered up the floodlight pylon while others chanted, “We are overcrowded”. Some cops at the fence stood and looked on but eventually one arrived with a key to a gate in the fence and fans poured on to the pitch to ease the crush. Enter Cloughie stage left.
RE: Phil Mac’s recent article.
I still don’t see Phil’s angle (other than patting himself in the back as usual)
I think Zico-MalteseBhoy (?) was asking for a Celtic bar in Madrid this morning.
Triskels, calle San Vicente Ferrer. Metro Tribunal