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Hillsborough


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Hillsborough

Written by: 1972

Thursday, 28th April 2016

On the 15th of April 1989, I stood at the terraces of Celtic Park as Rangers played St Johnstone in a Scottish Cup Semi Final. As news started coming through the radio of what was happening at Hillsborough, many of us stood in silence, helpless as the Liverpool support faced the kind of horror our support had in 1971.

At the time, we had no knowledge of the circumstances, and many will recall on that day, there was a small crush amongst our own support as some of the crowds entered the stadium. Fortunately it passed without serious incident.

It may sound silly to say it now, but many football stadiums as recently as 20 years ago were not fit for purpose.

Some football fans, looking through hazy eyes recollect the good times in these stadiums, the feeling of unity, the shared sense of purpose, and atmosphere,  and so on, but it was always tempered with a huge risk, and many of us too young to remember the Ibrox Disaster can probably remember near misses while on the terraces right up until all-seater stadiums became law.

With that risk an ever present, and there already being precedent for such events at football stadiums, the responsibility for managing events and crowds fell to the relevant police force, to the Government, and to clubs.

It seems bizarre now to look back and see fans fenced in to Stadiums as they were back in the 1980s, and the consequences of that at Hillsborough with the horror of fans being squashed to death. It was heartbreaking then, and it’s heartbreaking now.

When “news” reports emerged in the Sun blaming the Liverpool fans, before families had even had funerals, the families had every right to be outraged, and the conduct of certain police officials in the aftermath, and then over the next 27 years was and is nothing short of disgraceful.

The courage and tenacity shown by the families of the victims in this long fight has been nothing short of remarkable, and they should be an example to us all, that authorities should not be allowed to absolve themselves of responsibility for deaths on their watch.

Let’s be clear, everyone makes mistakes, and some mistakes are more deadly than others, but covering up mistakes, and blaming others is unacceptable from those in positions of authority and trust.

I have no doubts that some officers at the scene in Hillsborough will have been dedicated professionals who will have saved lives as the situation escalated, and they do not deserve to be lumped in with the senior officers and officials who engaged in a smear campaign against both the victims and the wider Liverpool support.

That said, this cannot end here, and I believe that now the fight has been vindicated in court, that those responsible for the deaths, and those went to great lengths to cover up the day’s decisions and events should be pursued until they are punished by the courts.

I should re-iterate that mistakes can be made, and should not be punishable, but deliberate deception over 96 deaths should result in a custodial sentence.

I for one wish the families of the victims every success in this pursuit, and hope that authorities across the UK will take their own lessons that football fans should be treated with respect and that we are not animals.

Similarly, I also wish that football fans across this great country of ours learn from the Liverpool support these qualities of resilience, dignity and tenacity that have brought them to their day of truth.

It’s easy to be blasé about (most) football grounds now being seated and safe, but there are still football grounds that don’t fall in to this category, and still football grounds where the approaches involve a degree of channelling fans through bottlenecks to enter the stadiums, so we should all hope that we can trust Police forces to act in the interests of the supporters above everything else, and be prepared to be accountable to those fans.

 With Hands across the border.

 

http://www.vanguardbears.co.uk/article.php?i=103&a=hillsborough#

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12 minutes ago, Big Al II said:

Good article, I too was at Celtic Park that day listening to the radio, involved in my own wee crush with the barriers as I recall. 

Yes I recall us having the majority of the ground that day. Looked liked there was a bit of crush down near the corner flag at the Celtic end at one point.

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2 minutes ago, dave7867 said:

what was going at ibrox that day cause i was with my dad coming back from a game?

Was it not about that time they done the beambacks at Ibrox you paid about 3 quid and got the game on the big screens

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7 hours ago, Alec87 said:

Yes I recall us having the majority of the ground that day. Looked liked there was a bit of crush down near the corner flag at the Celtic end at one point.

 I was there at that part of the piggery mate, was only a boy but I have a faint memory of what you're talking about and remember I think Bears trying to brake or climb the fencing to get into the 'jungle'  I think some made in through and joined in with the other Bears chanting  'we'll sing the sash in the jungle' ....

Don't remember much else about the game apart from the journey home on the supporters bus with the radio on and everybody in silence...  

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Could it have been a reserve game?

As to the original post, It is the people responsible for covering up crimes who are the most despicable and who most often escape scot free from their actions.  These people have no conscience, never how remorse often denying the event ever happened or trying o blame the victims.  That is the real crime.

 

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Great article (tu)

One of the things I'd love most in the world would be to be able to go to a game at Ibrox in the 60-80's, looking at videos and hearing stories of the terracing make it seem so much more exciting and tribal than it is now.

But at the same time I can imagine it being scary as well,esp for a woman or a kid. I've heard older Bears say that back then we'd score and you'd jump up and when you landed you were 10 feet away from where you were standing, my Dad told me about a game vs Newcastle I think where the ground was meant to hold about 80,000 but there must have been at least 100,000 there, and when the ball went to the corner everyone would push forward to see then had to jump back because folk at the front were getting crushed. He was there at the Ibrox disaster too. It must've been terrifying at times in the terraces.

I'm glad things are safer now, its definitely saved lives. But at the same time I think fan safety has went a bit over the top in the past decade

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I remember that my mates and I were in "the ju" cannae write the word on this forum singing our tunes in that shitty terracing was class. As word was spreading about what was happening at the Liverpool game it became quite eerie and surreal. Fans dying at football matches irrespective who you support shouldn't happen. 

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I was at parkhead that day as well. They packed too many of us behind the goals in the celtic end & we eventually overflowed onto the pitch. They then decided to open gates to let us into the jungle, which had hardly anyone in it. Remember hearing about it at the game, but never expected any deaths or for it to be as bad as it turned out.

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6 minutes ago, heathen fish boy said:

Was in the crushing at the game too,never went to the replay cause I got spooked after the news from Hillsborough,just couldn't face it 

What was the atmosphere like at the games after it?

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2 minutes ago, Willis said:

Great article (tu)

One of the things I'd love most in the world would be to be able to go to a game at Ibrox in the 60-80's, looking at videos and hearing stories of the terracing make it seem so much more exciting and tribal than it is now.

But at the same time I can imagine it being scary as well,esp for a woman or a kid. I've heard older Bears say that back then we'd score and you'd jump up and when you landed you were 10 feet away from where you were standing, my Dad told me about a game vs Newcastle I think where the ground was meant to hold about 80,000 but there must have been at least 100,000 there, and when the ball went to the corner everyone would push forward to see then had to jump back because folk at the front were getting crushed. He was there at the Ibrox disaster too. It must've been terrifying at times in the terraces.

I'm glad things are safer now, its definitely saved lives. But at the same time I think fan safety has went a bit over the top in the past decade

Those days were great.  Over 100k packed into grounds, atmosphere was amazing.  Risk of injury from crushing, missiles etc was the generally accepted norm.  

Peeing in cans trying not to pee on the person 2 inches away whilst avoiding circumcision was an art in itself, an art as many soak stained jeans would testify which was not well mastered.

 When a goal was scored you just grabbed the person next to you and held on for dear life too caught up in the celebrations to consider the danger with the cacophony of noise and celebration interspersed only by the sounds of teenage girls screaming as tbey were getting relentlessly  groped by pre-pubescent boys.  

Halcyon days indeed but would I wish them to return, no way.  Society has evolved.  Generally we act more responsibly and demand the same of those responsible for our entertainment  and our safety.  Just as smoking in restuarants was acceptable, no one in their right minds would  nowadays consider a smoke filled eatery as acceptable.  

Were those days fun?  Yes, but thankfully you'll have to take our word on the matter.

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It was certainly exhilarating being in one of those massive swaying crowds on the old terracing, to be honest we didn't know any different and never gave very much thought to the dangers.

Of course there were disasters at Ibrox and Hillsborough among others going back many years, looking back now I'm amazed there weren't more given some the conditions at some grounds. In particular I'm referring to the old uneven ash and railway sleeper terracing at Hampden, and I also recall some precarious moments exiting the old Rangers End at the Piggery.

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I remember being at this game too, over to my right at the Sellik end some of our fans spilled  onto the track behind the goal,I remember it being packed ,as news started to filter thru the atmosphere changed ,by the time we got into the car expected to hear on the radio of a few injuries never expected to hear of so many lives lost, who would have guessed that 27 years later this would still be headline news, saw this guys t shirt yesterday and thought, how true ....image.jpeg

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Was pretty good,sashing it up in the bheasts lair,as the game went on rumors started going around the terracing,guys with those wee trannies desperately trying to find out what was happening,was an older boy bout sixty odds near me looked nearly in tears,remember him vividly,looking back now I think he may have been there in 71 and memories flooding back,by the second half pretty much everyone knew there had been fatalities down south,the atmosphere went flat and subdued,never seen anything like it before or since,and I pray I never do 

 

Reply to Willis,quote never worked 

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I was at the game also and was in the celtic end, I honestly don't  remember any crushing from that day,  porkheid in those days was an accident waiting to happen,  I remember coming out the Rangers end one game and their was an almighty crush which led to part of the wall coming down at the back of the janefield st,  to this day I thank my lucky stars that nobody got seriously hurt that day.

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Yes I was there with my dad big crush in the scum end that day   ,  remember delivering my papers next day and reading and seeing pictures so sad   I bottled going to the replay midweek

Just hope the families can have some closure now

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I was sitting in the main stand in a row that meant my mate was sitting next to big DJ doing the commentary for Radio RC. He kept us updated and it was totally surreal just could not take it in. On the way home there was crushing between two buses that stopped in the London Road opposite each other at bus stops. That really scared the sh*t out of me but I still went to the replay.

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