On Saturday, April 11, 1981, I sat in the main stand at Hillsborough Stadium and watched Tottenham Hotspur draw 2-2 with Wolverhampton in an FA Cup semi-final. It was Spurs first tie at that stage of a competition since the 1976 League Cup loss to Newcastle United, so interest in the game was huge. Glenn Hoddle scored a sublime goal then gave away a disputed last minute penalty awarded by the always-controversial Clive Thomas. While I can clearly remember those two incidents, my real abiding memory of the day is of the crush of Spurs fans at the Leppings Lane end of the ground.
A London train, one of the football specials of that era, had arrived late in Sheffield meaning that hundreds, if not thousands, of Spurs fans had to make a late dash to get into the ground. The ensuing crush at the turnstiles was only alleviated when police opened some gates and allowed Spurs fans to spill out around the pitch. This all happened while the game was going on. A tragedy was avoided that day, but the warning signs for an impending disaster were there. It was only a matter of time before lives were going to be lost at an English football ground. Eight years later they were.
The Spurs fans who were on the Leppings terrace can consider themselves very lucky to have avoided the fate of the 96 Liverpool supporters who lost their lives on April 15, 1989. The fans of the Reds were in the wrong place at the wrong time and did nothing wrong other than buy a ticket for their team’s FA Cup semi-final with Nottingham Forest. It could just as easily have been the Forest fans allocated to that particular terrace, or the fans of Everton and Norwich City, who by the luck of the draw saw their tie played at Villa Park, Birmingham.
A London train, one of the football specials of that era, had arrived late in Sheffield meaning that hundreds, if not thousands, of Spurs fans had to make a late dash to get into the ground. The ensuing crush at the turnstiles was only alleviated when police opened some gates and allowed Spurs fans to spill out around the pitch. This all happened while the game was going on. A tragedy was avoided that day, but the warning signs for an impending disaster were there. It was only a matter of time before lives were going to be lost at an English football ground. Eight years later they were.
The Spurs fans who were on the Leppings terrace can consider themselves very lucky to have avoided the fate of the 96 Liverpool supporters who lost their lives on April 15, 1989. The fans of the Reds were in the wrong place at the wrong time and did nothing wrong other than buy a ticket for their team’s FA Cup semi-final with Nottingham Forest. It could just as easily have been the Forest fans allocated to that particular terrace, or the fans of Everton and Norwich City, who by the luck of the draw saw their tie played at Villa Park, Birmingham.
I sat in a beat up Chevy Chevette with my cousin, John Baitson, in the car park at Darien High School and listened to the game on the BBC World Service. Neither of us were Liverpool or Forest fans, but the chance to listen to a game on my old Grundig helped to remind the two of us of home. Most immigrant fans of that generation will have similar memories. It was evident from the commentary that something was dreadfully wrong. Unfortunately, Hillsborough entered football lexicon that day and became synonymous with tragedy. It joined Munich, Ibrox, Heysel, and Bradford with the most unwanted of legacies.
With the events at the 1985 European Cup Final at Heysel Stadium in Belgium still a fresh memory, it was easy for fans of other clubs, the media, the Football Association, and the Conservative government to openly blame Liverpool fans for the demise of their own. The English tabloid, The Sun, went so far as to publish “the truth” exposing Liverpool fans for among other things of urinating on the police and robbing the dead. It was easy to understand why the accusations were made, but it was soon evident they were false.
The media lied. The police lied. The government lied. They were all complicit in a massive cover up that lasted 23 years. They abdicated their responsibility and betrayed the very people they were supposed to serve.
The death of 96 football fans was tragic. It was a loss of lives that should have been avoided. The FA was negligent in allowing a semi-final to take place at Hillsborough when the events of 1981 showed that a tragedy had only narrowly been avoided. The police were remiss in allowing the game to take place despite the lack of a security certificate for the stadium.
With the events at the 1985 European Cup Final at Heysel Stadium in Belgium still a fresh memory, it was easy for fans of other clubs, the media, the Football Association, and the Conservative government to openly blame Liverpool fans for the demise of their own. The English tabloid, The Sun, went so far as to publish “the truth” exposing Liverpool fans for among other things of urinating on the police and robbing the dead. It was easy to understand why the accusations were made, but it was soon evident they were false.
The media lied. The police lied. The government lied. They were all complicit in a massive cover up that lasted 23 years. They abdicated their responsibility and betrayed the very people they were supposed to serve.
The death of 96 football fans was tragic. It was a loss of lives that should have been avoided. The FA was negligent in allowing a semi-final to take place at Hillsborough when the events of 1981 showed that a tragedy had only narrowly been avoided. The police were remiss in allowing the game to take place despite the lack of a security certificate for the stadium.
Journalists at the time should have asked far more reaching questions of the authorities rather than accept their official reports as fact. The shameful reporting in the United Kingdom in the aftermath of the disaster was replicated around the world. For example, readers of Connecticut’s Hartford Courant were subjected to front page photographs of dying fans with the byline that they had died while rioting at a soccer game. The victims were victimized once again in death by being portrayed as hooligans.
The British government of the day was quick to blame the Liverpool fans for unspeakable crimes they did not commit. The political agenda of then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was served by making the working class supporters of Liverpool Football Club out to be common criminals. The Tories could care less about the people of Liverpool at the time and it showed in their response to the tragedy. They facilitated a cover up that extended from Downing Street to South Yorkshire Police.
It is easy in today’s English Premier League era of all seated stadia to forget that it was not too long ago when fans were packed onto terraces in their thousands. It was worse for away fans that were herded into grounds like cattle and had little in the way of amenities such as bathrooms and concessions. They were kept penned into small areas of Victorian era stadiums and treated as second class citizens by a less than sympathetic police force usually on horseback. The smell of urine and horse manure was as much a part of the match day experience as a cup of Bovril and a pork pie.
The British government of the day was quick to blame the Liverpool fans for unspeakable crimes they did not commit. The political agenda of then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was served by making the working class supporters of Liverpool Football Club out to be common criminals. The Tories could care less about the people of Liverpool at the time and it showed in their response to the tragedy. They facilitated a cover up that extended from Downing Street to South Yorkshire Police.
It is easy in today’s English Premier League era of all seated stadia to forget that it was not too long ago when fans were packed onto terraces in their thousands. It was worse for away fans that were herded into grounds like cattle and had little in the way of amenities such as bathrooms and concessions. They were kept penned into small areas of Victorian era stadiums and treated as second class citizens by a less than sympathetic police force usually on horseback. The smell of urine and horse manure was as much a part of the match day experience as a cup of Bovril and a pork pie.
It was against this backdrop that the Hillsborough disaster occurred. It could have happened at any ground and involved any club in England at that time. It was unfortunate that Liverpool fans were the victims and that the home ground of Sheffield Wednesday is where they perished. It is but for the grace of a higher being, or just plain luck that the tragic events of April 15, 1989 did not occur at White Hart Lane, Old Trafford, Highbury or Maine Road.
The current Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, David Cameron, stood up in parliament last Wednesday and read a full statement that declared Liverpool fans “were not the cause of the disaster.” It took 23 years for those words to be spoken by the leader of Britain and for the families of the 96 dead to hear that their loved ones were innocent of all the shameful accusations labeled against them.
May the 96 fans finally rest in peace and that those responsible for their deaths are soon brought to justice.
The current Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, David Cameron, stood up in parliament last Wednesday and read a full statement that declared Liverpool fans “were not the cause of the disaster.” It took 23 years for those words to be spoken by the leader of Britain and for the families of the 96 dead to hear that their loved ones were innocent of all the shameful accusations labeled against them.
May the 96 fans finally rest in peace and that those responsible for their deaths are soon brought to justice.
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