35 years since Hillsborough

[superhans1]

I remember going to look at the memorial outside Anfield when we played there, with my dad. On the list of names of victims there was my name and my dad's name, with almost exactly our same ages alongside them too. Really hit home how it could have been anyone.

I'm from Merseyside and there was a plaque in my school as a memorial to a lad from my school who had died there. I think he was 14.

Going to football from early 90s, I've only ever been in one stadium scrum where I was scared, at Bradford. My older brothers say some of the 80s matches were death traps. I think they mention Blackpool as a lucky escape.

 

[RichDevoto]

Mate...My wife was a nursing officer at a local sheffield hospital, I worked at that time as a porter at the same place
We saw what was unfolding on the Telly and went straight into work
All we were met with was bewildered fans, no bloody drunks, no hooligans, just mates looking for mates, fathers looking for daughters
It was bloody harrowing, and that was a while before the whole tragedy unfolded
The worst part of all of it was a scouser, simply sat outside the entrance of the A& E department , who asked me for a cig..I smoked ...I gave him a cig
asked him what had gone off, and he asked if I could find owt out about his mate.....
What he found out, and what that poor lad had to go through was to identify his mate, who was lying dead in the physio department that had become a makeshift morgue..
That is a f.ucking FOOTBALL game
You get the "Always a victim " crap about Liverpool supporters, they were that day, no argument, they did f.ook all wrong bar walk into a sodding mess of an end to watch a football game
On Vere rd, outside Leppings Lane on that afternoon, Sheffield families were bringing Liverpool fans into their houses to phone their families to to tell them they were ok....
Next game against Liverpool , Liverpool fans were knocking on those same doors, offering money for the phone calls and the cups of tea and coffee, thats Liverpool fans..."Always the victims"...Dunno , but that particular day...YES they bloody were, and they were also so grateful for what little help they got

Therein was the major problem mate....Liverpool fans couldn't edgealong cos of the fences that ran topto bottom and across the front of the pitch...

Outstanding post mate - thanks for sharing.

 

[Select coaches]

Always the 2 sisters that stick in my mind. Especially having a couple of daughters myself now, don’t know how you’d get through it.

 

[L1lyBrown]

Terrible day for football fans of all persuasions.
SAFC were to play the next semi final held at Hillsborough and it was absolutely traffic mayhem. We were allocated the Kop and Norwich the smaller end even though they were 1st division and we were division below.
That meant we approached the ground from the south side whilst Norwich approached from the north side.
Traffic had all but come to a standstill before the exit from the A1 and we crawled to about 2 miles from the ground. Parked up and jogged the rest of the way whilst stopped to ask an officer if the kick off would be delayed. Yes was the answer. Lying son of a gun.
Got in with seconds to spare before the kick off.
Police hadn't learnt any lessons just lied through their back teeth about the events. Still do to this day.

 

[joedurham]

Remember hearing it unfold in the car waiting for my mam when she was shopping. Don't think I understood what was happening at the time and it didn't really sink in until years later during the inquiry. By the way, me dad remembers serious overcrowding at Roker when we played Man City in the Cup in the fifities - something like Hillsborough could've happened much earlier but reform doesn't happen until the horse has bolted.

The problem was caused by the "reforms" - putting up the fencing and creating those pens.

 

[s1black2000]

A dark day for football, and for the country. No one should ever not come back from supporting their team.

Despicable coverage from the press, and from the government of the day

RIP to the 97

still remember it like yesterday. I sat and watched the match as a young lad in front of TV. Scary, but as a young lad you don't take on board what was really happening until you are a bit older and wiser.

Terrible.

Am I correct in saying no one has been prosecuted over this yet?

 

[wednesday1957]

The problem was caused by the "reforms" - putting up the fencing and creating those pens.

Agree to a certain extent mate, but the design of that particular middle one at Hillsborough?
Why FFS!..The whole end was reserved for away supporters in the main..why the two lateral ones running from each side of the main way in??
As I said, looking from the Kop when they first went up, Owls fans were baffled, it was mentioned, obviously no-one foresaw just how dangerous, but that why you have "experts"...Little sign of any "Expert" owning this one tho

 

[joedurham]

Agree to a certain extent mate, but the design of that particular middle one at Hillsborough?
Why FFS!..The whole end was reserved for away supporters in the main..why the two lateral ones running from each side of the main way in??
As I said, looking from the Kop when they first went up, Owls fans were baffled, it was mentioned, obviously no-one foresaw just how dangerous, but that why you have "experts"...Little sign of any "Expert" owning this one tho

God save us from experts - look at COVID.

 

[Alan Partridge]

I'm just thankful it was when it was, like 9/11 I couldn't imagine the horrific footage we'd have available nowadays with better cameras and mobile phones etc

Might have made it harder to cover up though.

 

[Sporty]

The problem was caused by the "reforms" - putting up the fencing and creating those pens.

Certainly those stupid fences were the main factor. The pens were due to the 1981 crush and not that it would have stopped it but the the removal of the centre section of crush barrier 136 (the 3 dots in 1st image) and barrier 144 in 1986 didn't help. It allowed all the force to go from the tunnel to barrier 124a which ultimately collapsed (also in poor condition) and a large number of the deaths occurred in this area. The few and inadequate gates in the fence to enter the pitch were also locked weren't they?

This is off wiki but this other link is an informative read.

Hillsborough: The Crush Barrier–A Smoking Gun?

by Martin Odoni The Hillsborough Disaster of April 1989 ultimately took ninety-six lives as a direct result of the physical injuries it inflicted – and an uncertain number more in the years that fo…

thegreatcritique.wordpress.com

During the 1981 semi-final between Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers, a crush occurred at the Leppings Lane end of the ground after hundreds more spectators were permitted to enter the terrace than could safely be accommodated, resulting in 38 injuries, including broken arms, legs and ribs. Police believed there would have been a real chance of fatalities had swift action not been taken, and recommended that the club reduce its capacity. In a post-match briefing to discuss the incident, Sheffield Wednesday chairman Bert McGee remarked: "Bollocks—no one would have been killed".

The incident nonetheless prompted Sheffield Wednesday to alter the layout at the Leppings Lane end, dividing the terrace into three separate pens to restrict sideways movement. This particular change, and other later alterations to the stadium, invalidated the stadium's safety certificate which was not renewed, and the stated capacity of the stadium was never changed. The terrace was divided into five pens when the club was promoted to the First Division in 1984, and a crush barrier near the access tunnel was removed in 1986 to improve the flow of fans entering and exiting the central enclosure.

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The low height of 83 to 87cm for barriers 136/136a didn't help either. This image is from this report.

https://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/pdf/10.1680/jfoen.18.00007

 

[joedurham]

The pens were due to the 1981 crush and not that it would have stopped it but the the removal of the centre section of crush barrier 136 (the 3 dots in 1st image) and barrier 144 in 1986 didn't help. It allowed all the force to go from the tunnel to barrier 124a which ultimately collapsed (also in poor condition) and a large number of the deaths occurred in this area.

This is off wiki but this other link is an informative read.

Hillsborough: The Crush Barrier–A Smoking Gun?

by Martin Odoni The Hillsborough Disaster of April 1989 ultimately took ninety-six lives as a direct result of the physical injuries it inflicted – and an uncertain number more in the years that fo…

thegreatcritique.wordpress.com

During the 1981 semi-final between Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers, a crush occurred at the Leppings Lane end of the ground after hundreds more spectators were permitted to enter the terrace than could safely be accommodated, resulting in 38 injuries, including broken arms, legs and ribs. Police believed there would have been a real chance of fatalities had swift action not been taken, and recommended that the club reduce its capacity. In a post-match briefing to discuss the incident, Sheffield Wednesday chairman Bert McGee remarked: "Bollocks—no one would have been killed".

The incident nonetheless prompted Sheffield Wednesday to alter the layout at the Leppings Lane end, dividing the terrace into three separate pens to restrict sideways movement. This particular change, and other later alterations to the stadium, invalidated the stadium's safety certificate which was not renewed, and the stated capacity of the stadium was never changed. The terrace was divided into five pens when the club was promoted to the First Division in 1984, and a crush barrier near the access tunnel was removed in 1986 to improve the flow of fans entering and exiting the central enclosure.

Logon or register to see this image

Logon or register to see this image

The low height of 83 to 87cm for barriers 136/136a didn't help either. This image is from this report.

https://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/pdf/10.1680/jfoen.18.00007

Don't we pay health and safety "experts" to see this coming?

 

[Sporty]

Don't we pay health and safety "experts" to see this coming?

From what I've seen, stuff was recommended but not implemented. It probably wasn't Hillsborough alone but football in general and the fences didn't help at all. This is one link.

Hillsborough: the truth about the causes of the disaster

Owen Gibson and David Conn analyse the key findings in the report by the Hillsborough Independent Panel

www.theguardian.com

Ignored warnings from history

The Hillsborough Panel found the safety of fans admitted to the terrace at the Leppings Lane end of the ground was "compromised at every level". From the condition of the turnstiles to the management of the crowd, alterations to the terrace, the construction of the "pens" in which fans were held, the placement of the crush barriers and the access to the fateful central pens via a tunnel with a one in six gradient. The deficiencies were "well known" and made the crush on 15 April 1989 foreseeable.

According to documents disclosed to the inquiry, there was a serious crush on the terrace at the 1981 FA Cup semi-final between Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers in which "many people were injured and fatalities narrowly avoided". New documents show following that incident there was a breakdown in the relationship between Sheffield Wednesday and South Yorkshire Police, which considered the capacity of the terrace too high at 10,100.

The ground was not used for semi finals again until 1987, by which time there had been various moderations and alterations – none of which led to revised safety certificates. Recommendations to feed the pens from designated turnstiles, enabling the club to monitor the number of fans in each one, were ignored because it would cost too much.

"It is evident from the disclosed documents that South Yorkshire Police were preoccupied with crowd management [but] ... Sheffield Wednesday's primary concern was to limit costs." The issue of congested access to the turnstiles remained unresolved, with over 24,000 fans entering through 23 turnstiles at Leppings Lane. The panel found that key issues were not "discussed or recorded" at annual safety inspections. There was a delayed kick off at the 1987 FA Cup semi-final and crushing at the 1988 semi-final. The debriefings from both were "inadequate".

 

[why do i do it?]

I was watching that match on TV, I couldn't believe what was being played out in front of my eyes. I remember just sitting with tears streaming down my face. It's certainly one of football's darkest days. There but for the grace of God go all of us.

It wasn’t live on tv it was a three o’clock kick off

 

[Lo Ursem]

It wasn’t live on tv it was a three o’clock kick off

Correct but the Grandstand ( motd ) cameras provided live coverage shortly after 3 when the tragedy unfolded.

 

[Houghtoner]

Still angers me. Just horrendous what happened to those people and their families. They shouldn’t have had to fight as hard as they have to try and get justice.

 

[only one rade prica]

I'll say I disagree with this regarding the whole mags debacle
I've been to Hillsborough twice and while no I didn't think I'd feel unsafe I csn 100% understand some of the mags feeling uncomfortable. It definitely needs tearing down and rebuilding

Have been in leppings Lane end 4 times. Always top tier.

It's old and tatty and run down, but can't say I've felt any more safe/unsafe than other away ends.

However, when you consider the history of the stand it's incredible that it's not been demolished.

Think they renovated Hillsborough for euro 96. Haven't touched it since.

 

[why do i do it?]

It wasn’t live on tv it was a three o’clock kick off

Yes from around 3-15 I think still brings a shiver to my spine even now

 

[stan the man]

He visited one a few times in hospital as well, I once took him and 3 other Liverpool players up to ITU in a lift at the Hallamshire hospital...Kenny Dalglish gave me a Polo mint...Its me only claim to fame.
Dark days, sadly there are still a minority of Owls fanswho can't accept it...I've stopped reading the posts, anyone with any sense saw the danger of those fences years before it happened...it was a total trap, nowhere to go...

There were many times in the 70s that I was caught in surges with very overcrowded terraces, being crushed with no control of my actions. Even in (our) Fulwell End many times started in one place and ended up yards away.

My scariest one was at our cup game at Notts County in '73, I fell over and it took me ages to get up, getting trampled on by fellow supporters, fortunately there were plenty helping to get any fallen back up.

The tragedy at Hillsborough was there were plenty of warnings signs that no one took any notice of until it was too late