Hillsborough: Ninety Six Loved Ones, Ninety Six Lost Lives

Remembering the 96 Liverpool fans who lost their lives

The date was 15 April 1989 at Hillsborough, the home of Sheffield Wednesday F.C. in Sheffield, England. Arguably the saddest day in the history of football. 96 dead and 766 injured. This was the second disaster with Liverpool supporters involved in a span of 5 years. The match, the FA cup semifinal was abandoned 6 minutes into the game. Legend King Kenny – manager of LFC at that time attended the funeral of all the 96 Liverpool fans who lost their lives. Few days later he resigned.

According to the Taylor report which conducted inquiries into the the disaster, failure of police control was found as the cause and resulted in the conversion of many football stadiums in the United Kingdom to all-seaters and the removal of barriers at the front of stands.

Marking the 22nd anniversary of the disaster, LFC.tv interviewed 96 people about the disaster. In this article, I have tried to bring out a few which touched my heart (courtesy liverfoolfc.tv)

Scot Williams, Actor

“I remember doing my research for my role of Joe Glover in the 1996 Docu-Drama ‘Hillsborough’, (Joe was surviving brother of Ian Glover, one of the 96 victims). I remember interviewing a guy in a wheelchair who hadn’t walked since that fateful day of April 15th 1989. He was completely able-bodied and had full use of his legs, but on that particular day he had stood on children’s heads and so now flatly refused to ever stand upon his own two feet again. Hillsborough was TWO disasters. First, what unfurled that day in the Leppings Lane stands and secondly the disaster that followed in the law courts. I watched hour upon hour of footage from both of these events. I saw survivors and families of the dead being asked if their loved ones had been drunk, disorderly.So yes, Hillsborough to me means INJUSTICE, TRAGEDY, TEARS.But it also means PRIDE, HOPE and LOVE. YOU’LL NEVER WALK ALONE.”

Margaret Aspinall, Mother of 18-year-old James who died at Hillsborough

“I can’t blame the club for what happened on that day. I’m angry that they even allowed the game to be played at Hillsborough, especially giving Liverpool supporters the smaller end of the ground, but I’ve no resentment against Liverpool Football Club since Hillsborough. I felt we were trying to defend the fans on that day, which is the wrong word to use, because there was nothing to defend them for.”

Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool FC manager

“Hillsborough taught me the value of life, really. Football is very, very important but for two or three weeks after Hillsborough it became unimportant. The most important part of that time were the people’s lives. For me, the greatest thing we did was to win the FA Cup that year. There were so many Evertonians who came to Anfield to pay their respects who had never been in the ground before. The rivalry went out of the window for that, just as it did with Manchester United who had many supporters coming over. It pulled a lot of fans closer together and made people realise it could have been their team. Hillsborough put things into perspective and certainly put football on the back-burner in the aftermath.Even now, the eternal flame burns outside the ground and has never been vandalised in any way, shape or form. I think that’s a tremendous mark of respect from football fans who come to Anfield, because it is at the away end. It shows people want to pay their respects to those who lost their lives.”

Steven Gerrard, Liverpool FC captain

“I was only nine years old when it happened. I was really, really shocked and deeply saddened to have seen the scenes live and heard the news over the radio. Unfortunately for myself and my family we got the dreaded knock the next morning to say that a member of our family was at the game and had been tragically killed. Obviously it was difficult to take that my cousin Jon-Paul had been there. Seeing the reaction of his mum, dad and family helped drive me on to become the player I have developed into today. Even when I stop playing for the first team I will continue to go to the service and show my respects every year. I see Jon-Paul’s family there as well so it’s nice to go and share the memorial service with them.”

Brian Reade, Daily Mirror columnist

“The fans in the central pens looked like sardines packed in together. You could see on either side that there was more space and it seemed weird so many were in that same area.Suddenly, the game stops and people start pouring onto the pitch. Then you see fans going underneath you with ripped advertising hoardings as stretchers and fans putting coats over faces. Once I saw that I started to think the worst. I heard the president of UEFA at the time saying that Liverpool fans were like beasts entering the arena and that was the last straw for me. It was the young, innocent ones who died. As a result of that there was a sense of guilt among those who had gone home alive that day. The one overriding feeling I am left with is sadness. It still comes to me if it’s a sunny day or I see a number 96 bus… I cry and the sadness gets to me.”

Me, Kunal Shankar, supporter

“I was 16 years old when I first came to know about this disaster, I read everything I could about the disaster which included interviews from suporters, club members, investigators. I heard about the story of Kenny Dalglish. The biggest surprise was that LFC won the FA cup that year and the stadium was again jam-packed with LFC supporters. There are things which you can’t explain. And this might be one of them. This is the very reason I say that even if LFC gets relegated to second division, I will still follow them and they will still be the best team in the world for me.”

The dawn arrives to greet the day Daffodils dance and songbird’s sing I know that grief is on the way Another year – another springIf you want more reactions from people then we can come up with part 2 of the same article. YNWA.