This wednesday april 15, 2009 will mark the 20th anniversary of the hillsborough disaster in which 96 liverpool fans died while in the hillsborough stadium playing nottingham forrest in the fa cup semifinal
if you dont know much about the disaster read the following below:
source : wikipedia
The Hillsborough Disaster was a deadly human crush that occurred on 15 April 1989, at Hillsborough, a football stadium home to Sheffield Wednesday in Sheffield, England, resulting in the deaths of 96 people (all fans of Liverpool Football Club). It remains the deadliest stadium-related disaster in British history.[1] It was the second of two stadium-related disasters to feature Liverpool supporters, the other being the Heysel Stadium Disaster in 1985.
The match was an FA Cup semi-finals clash between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. It was abandoned six minutes into the first half.
The inquiry into the disaster, the Taylor Report, named the cause as failure of police control, and resulted in the conversion of many football stadiums in the United Kingdom to all-seater and the removal of barriers at the front of stands.
Build up
As is usual at all important matches, the Hillsborough Stadium was segregated between the opposing fans, with the Liverpool supporters being assigned to the Leppings Lane End of the stadium. Kick-off was scheduled for 3:00 pm, with fans advised to take up their positions[5] fifteen minutes beforehand. On the day of the match both radio and television advised that supporters without tickets should not attend.
It was reported that many fans arriving from Lancashire and around had been delayed by unannounced roadworks on the M62 motorway over the Pennines.
Between 2:30 pm and 2:40 pm, there was a considerable build-up of fans in the small area outside the turnstile entrances to the Leppings Lane End, all eager to enter the stadium quickly before the match started.[6] A bottleneck developed with more fans arriving than could enter the two cages set in the middle of the Leppings Lane stand. People who had been refused entry could not leave the area because of the crush behind them but remained as an obstruction. The fans outside could hear the cheering from inside as the teams came on the pitch ten minutes before the match started, and again as the match kicked-off, but could not get in; the start was not delayed while the fans got in. Security opened a side gate to eject someone, and 20 people rushed in through it. With an estimated 5,000 fans trying to get through the turnstiles, and increasing security concerns over crushing outside the turnstiles, the police, to avoid deaths outside the ground, opened a set of gates, intended as an exit, which did not have turnstiles (Gate C).[7] This caused a rush of supporters through the gate into the stadium.
The crush
The result was that an influx of many thousands of fans through a narrow tunnel at the rear of the terrace, and into the two already-overcrowded central pens, caused a huge crush at the front of the terrace, where people were being pressed up against the fencing by the weight of the crowd behind them. The people entering were unaware of the problems at the fence—police or stewards would normally have stood at the entrance to the tunnel if the central pens had reached capacity, and would have directed fans to the side pens, but on this occasion they did not, for reasons which have never been fully explained.
For some time, the problem at the front was not noticed by anybody other than those affected; the attention of most people was absorbed by the match, which had already begun. It was not until 3:06 pm that the referee, after being advised by the police, stopped the match several minutes after fans had started climbing the fence to escape the crush. By this time, a small gate in the fencing had been forced open and some fans escaped via this route; others continued to climb over the fencing, and still other fans were pulled to safety by fellow fans in the West Stand directly above the Leppings Lane terrace. Finally the fence broke under pressure of people.
Fans were packed so tightly in the pens that many died standing up of compressive asphyxia. The pitch quickly started to fill with people sweating and gasping for breath and injured by crushing, and with the bodies of the dead. The police, stewards and ambulance service present at the stadium were overwhelmed. Uninjured fans helped as best they could, many attempting CPR and some tearing down advertising hoardings to act as makeshift stretchers.
As these events unfolded, some police officers were still being deployed to make a cordon three-quarters of the way down the pitch, with the aim of preventing Liverpool supporters reaching the Nottingham Forest supporters at the opposite end of the stadium. Some fans tried to break through the police cordon to ferry injured supporters to waiting ambulances, and were forcibly turned back. (44 ambulances had arrived at the stadium, but police prevented all but one from entering, and that one was forced to turn back due to the vast amount of people who needed help.)
Aftermath
A total of 94 people died on the day, with 766 other fans being injured and around 300 being taken to hospital. Four days later, the death toll reached 95 when 14-year-old Lee Nicol died in hospital from his injuries. The final death toll became 96 in March 1993, when Tony Bland died after remaining in a coma for nearly four years.
BBC Television's cameras were at the ground to record the match for their Match of the Day programme, but as the disaster unfolded the events were then relayed to their live sports show, Grandstand, resulting in an extreme emotional impact on the general British population.
There was comment afterwards on television about lack of administratable oxygen, and of metal-cutting tools, and that there was no way to get ambulances onto the pitch.
It was remarked that the Bradford City stadium fire would have caused many more casualties if there had been pitch-edge fences there like there were at Hillsborough and indeed many other stadiums at the time.
There are these permanent memorials to the victims:
Alongside the Shankly Gates at Anfield, home stadium of Liverpool F.C.
At Hillsborough stadium, set up in 1999.
A memorial stone in the pavement on the south side of Liverpool Cathedral.
A headstone at the junction of Middlewood Road, Leppings Lane and Wadsley Lane, near the ground and by the Sheffield Supertram route.
Flames were added either side of the Liverpool F.C. crest in memory of the 96 who lost their lives.
In the grounds of Crosby Library, to the memory of the 18 football fans from Sefton who lost their lives in the Hillsborough disaster. The memorial, sited in a raised rose bed containing the Liverpool Remembers red rose, is made of black granite. It is inscribed "In loving memory of the 95 football supporters who died tragically at Hillsborough, Sheffield on 15 April 1989. Of those who lost their lives the following young men were from Sefton families:"
The memorial was unveiled on 4 October 1991 (before the final death toll reached 96 on the death of Tony Bland) by the Mayor of Sefton, Councillor Syd Whitby. The project was carried out by the Council after consultation with the Sefton Survivors Group.[8]
Steven Gerrard of Liverpool F.C. lost his cousin Jon-Paul in the crush and one of Liverpool F.C.'s reserve goalkeepers lost his father.
The Hillsborough disaster touched not only clubs in England but clubs around the world as well.[21] For example, on 19 April 1989 (the Wednesday after the disaster), a European Cup semi final between AC Milan and Real Madrid was played. The referee blew his whistle 6 minutes into the game to stop play and hold a minute's silence for those who lost their lives tragically at Hillsborough. Half way through the minute's silence, the A.C. Milan fans sang Liverpool's "You'll Never Walk Alone" as a sign of respect.[22][23]
As a result of the disaster, Liverpool's game against Arsenal was delayed to the end of the season and eventually decided the league title. The Arsenal players brought flowers onto the pitch and presented them to the Liverpool fans around the stadium before the game.
if you dont know much about the disaster read the following below:
source : wikipedia
The Hillsborough Disaster was a deadly human crush that occurred on 15 April 1989, at Hillsborough, a football stadium home to Sheffield Wednesday in Sheffield, England, resulting in the deaths of 96 people (all fans of Liverpool Football Club). It remains the deadliest stadium-related disaster in British history.[1] It was the second of two stadium-related disasters to feature Liverpool supporters, the other being the Heysel Stadium Disaster in 1985.
The match was an FA Cup semi-finals clash between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. It was abandoned six minutes into the first half.
The inquiry into the disaster, the Taylor Report, named the cause as failure of police control, and resulted in the conversion of many football stadiums in the United Kingdom to all-seater and the removal of barriers at the front of stands.
Build up
As is usual at all important matches, the Hillsborough Stadium was segregated between the opposing fans, with the Liverpool supporters being assigned to the Leppings Lane End of the stadium. Kick-off was scheduled for 3:00 pm, with fans advised to take up their positions[5] fifteen minutes beforehand. On the day of the match both radio and television advised that supporters without tickets should not attend.
It was reported that many fans arriving from Lancashire and around had been delayed by unannounced roadworks on the M62 motorway over the Pennines.
Between 2:30 pm and 2:40 pm, there was a considerable build-up of fans in the small area outside the turnstile entrances to the Leppings Lane End, all eager to enter the stadium quickly before the match started.[6] A bottleneck developed with more fans arriving than could enter the two cages set in the middle of the Leppings Lane stand. People who had been refused entry could not leave the area because of the crush behind them but remained as an obstruction. The fans outside could hear the cheering from inside as the teams came on the pitch ten minutes before the match started, and again as the match kicked-off, but could not get in; the start was not delayed while the fans got in. Security opened a side gate to eject someone, and 20 people rushed in through it. With an estimated 5,000 fans trying to get through the turnstiles, and increasing security concerns over crushing outside the turnstiles, the police, to avoid deaths outside the ground, opened a set of gates, intended as an exit, which did not have turnstiles (Gate C).[7] This caused a rush of supporters through the gate into the stadium.
The crush
The result was that an influx of many thousands of fans through a narrow tunnel at the rear of the terrace, and into the two already-overcrowded central pens, caused a huge crush at the front of the terrace, where people were being pressed up against the fencing by the weight of the crowd behind them. The people entering were unaware of the problems at the fence—police or stewards would normally have stood at the entrance to the tunnel if the central pens had reached capacity, and would have directed fans to the side pens, but on this occasion they did not, for reasons which have never been fully explained.
For some time, the problem at the front was not noticed by anybody other than those affected; the attention of most people was absorbed by the match, which had already begun. It was not until 3:06 pm that the referee, after being advised by the police, stopped the match several minutes after fans had started climbing the fence to escape the crush. By this time, a small gate in the fencing had been forced open and some fans escaped via this route; others continued to climb over the fencing, and still other fans were pulled to safety by fellow fans in the West Stand directly above the Leppings Lane terrace. Finally the fence broke under pressure of people.
Fans were packed so tightly in the pens that many died standing up of compressive asphyxia. The pitch quickly started to fill with people sweating and gasping for breath and injured by crushing, and with the bodies of the dead. The police, stewards and ambulance service present at the stadium were overwhelmed. Uninjured fans helped as best they could, many attempting CPR and some tearing down advertising hoardings to act as makeshift stretchers.
As these events unfolded, some police officers were still being deployed to make a cordon three-quarters of the way down the pitch, with the aim of preventing Liverpool supporters reaching the Nottingham Forest supporters at the opposite end of the stadium. Some fans tried to break through the police cordon to ferry injured supporters to waiting ambulances, and were forcibly turned back. (44 ambulances had arrived at the stadium, but police prevented all but one from entering, and that one was forced to turn back due to the vast amount of people who needed help.)
Aftermath
A total of 94 people died on the day, with 766 other fans being injured and around 300 being taken to hospital. Four days later, the death toll reached 95 when 14-year-old Lee Nicol died in hospital from his injuries. The final death toll became 96 in March 1993, when Tony Bland died after remaining in a coma for nearly four years.
BBC Television's cameras were at the ground to record the match for their Match of the Day programme, but as the disaster unfolded the events were then relayed to their live sports show, Grandstand, resulting in an extreme emotional impact on the general British population.
There was comment afterwards on television about lack of administratable oxygen, and of metal-cutting tools, and that there was no way to get ambulances onto the pitch.
It was remarked that the Bradford City stadium fire would have caused many more casualties if there had been pitch-edge fences there like there were at Hillsborough and indeed many other stadiums at the time.
There are these permanent memorials to the victims:
Alongside the Shankly Gates at Anfield, home stadium of Liverpool F.C.
At Hillsborough stadium, set up in 1999.
A memorial stone in the pavement on the south side of Liverpool Cathedral.
A headstone at the junction of Middlewood Road, Leppings Lane and Wadsley Lane, near the ground and by the Sheffield Supertram route.
Flames were added either side of the Liverpool F.C. crest in memory of the 96 who lost their lives.
In the grounds of Crosby Library, to the memory of the 18 football fans from Sefton who lost their lives in the Hillsborough disaster. The memorial, sited in a raised rose bed containing the Liverpool Remembers red rose, is made of black granite. It is inscribed "In loving memory of the 95 football supporters who died tragically at Hillsborough, Sheffield on 15 April 1989. Of those who lost their lives the following young men were from Sefton families:"
The memorial was unveiled on 4 October 1991 (before the final death toll reached 96 on the death of Tony Bland) by the Mayor of Sefton, Councillor Syd Whitby. The project was carried out by the Council after consultation with the Sefton Survivors Group.[8]
Steven Gerrard of Liverpool F.C. lost his cousin Jon-Paul in the crush and one of Liverpool F.C.'s reserve goalkeepers lost his father.
The Hillsborough disaster touched not only clubs in England but clubs around the world as well.[21] For example, on 19 April 1989 (the Wednesday after the disaster), a European Cup semi final between AC Milan and Real Madrid was played. The referee blew his whistle 6 minutes into the game to stop play and hold a minute's silence for those who lost their lives tragically at Hillsborough. Half way through the minute's silence, the A.C. Milan fans sang Liverpool's "You'll Never Walk Alone" as a sign of respect.[22][23]
As a result of the disaster, Liverpool's game against Arsenal was delayed to the end of the season and eventually decided the league title. The Arsenal players brought flowers onto the pitch and presented them to the Liverpool fans around the stadium before the game.
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