Untitled

April 15, 1989

Liverpool were playing their 17th FA Cup semi-final against Notts Forest.

The game started just like any other, but with only 6 minutes played, the referee called a halt to the game. An influx of supporters in the Lepping Lane end of the ground (the Liverpool supporters' end) was causing a crush.
This crush ultimately took the lives of 96 people.

A permanent tribute to those who tragically lost their lives can be found alongside the Shankly Gates at Anfield. A further tribute was set up in 1999 at Hillsborough.

On the Tuesday following the disaster, Kelvin MacKenzie, then editor of The Sun, a British tabloid newspaper owned by Rupert Murdoch, used the front page headline, THE TRUTH, in huge letters. Under that were three smaller headlines: 'Some fans picked pockets of victims' 'Some fans urinated on the brave cops' 'Some fans beat up PC giving kiss of life'.

The story accompanying this work of fiction claimed that 'drunken Liverpool fans viciously attacked rescue workers as they tried to revive victims' and 'police officers, firemen and ambulance crew were punched, kicked and urinated upon'. A quote, 'attributed' to an unnamed policeman, claimed that a dead girl had been abused and that Liverpool fans 'were openly urinating on us and the bodies of the dead'.

In their history of The Sun tabloid, Peter Chippendale and Chris Horrie wrote:

'As MacKenzie's layout was seen by more and more people, a collective shudder ran through the office [but] MacKenzie's dominance was so total there was nobody left in the organisation who could rein him in except Murdoch. [Everyone] seemed paralysed, "looking like rabbits in the headlights", as one hack described them. The error staring them in the face was too glaring It obviously wasn't a silly mistake; nor was it a simple oversight. Nobody really had any comment on it - they just took one look and went away shaking their heads in wonder at the enormity of it It was a "classic smear".'

Lord Justice Taylor?'s official enquiry into the disaster demolished The Sun's fabricated story and was unequivocal as to the disaster's cause:

'The real cause of the Hillsborough disaster [was] overcrowding the main reason for the disaster was the failure of police control.'

Following the Sun's report, that newspaper was boycotted by most newsagents in Liverpool, with many refusing to stock the tabloid and large numbers of readers cancelling orders and even refusing to buy from shops which did stock the newspaper. More than a decade after the Hillsborough disaster, there are still many independent newsagents in Liverpool which do not stock The Sun.

Those that died:

 John Alfred Anderson (62)
 Colin Mark Ashcroft (19)
 James Gary Aspinall (18)
 Kester Roger Marcus Ball (16)
 Gerard Bernard Patrick Baron (67)
 Simon Bell (17)
 Barry Sidney Bennett (26)
 David John Benson (22)
 David William Birtle (22)
 Tony Bland (22)
 Paul David Brady (21)
 Andrew Mark Brookes (26)
 Carl Brown (18)
 David Steven Brown (25)
 Henry Thomas Burke (47)
 Peter Andrew Burkett (24)
 Paul William Carlile (19)
 Raymond Thomas Chapman (50)
 Gary Christopher Church (19)
 Joseph Clark (29)
 Paul Clark (18)
 Gary Collins (22)
 Stephen Paul Copoc (20)
 Tracey Elizabeth Cox (23)
 James Philip Delaney (19)
 Christopher Barry Devonside (18)
 Christopher Edwards (29)
 Vincent Michael Fitzsimmons (34)
 Thomas Steven Fox (21)
 Jon-Paul Gilhooley (10)
 Barry Glover (27)
 Ian Thomas Glover (20)
 Derrick George Godwin (24)
 Roy Harry Hamilton (34)
 Philip Hammond (14)
 Eric Hankin (33)
 Gary Harrison (27)
 Stephen Francis Harrison (31)
 Peter Andrew Harrison (15)
 David Hawley (39)
 James Robert Hennessy (29)
 Paul Anthony Hewitson (26)
 Carl Darren Hewitt (17)
 Nicholas Michael Hewitt (16)
 Sarah Louise Hicks (19)
 Victoria Jane Hicks (15)
 Gordon Rodney Horn (20)
 Arthur Horrocks (41)
 Thomas Howard (39)
 Thomas Anthony Howard (14)
 Eric George Hughes (42)
 Alan Johnston (29)
 Christine Anne Jones (27)
 Gary Philip Jones (18)
 Richard Jones (25)
 Nicholas Peter Joynes (27)
 Anthony Peter Kelly (29)
 Michael David Kelly (38)
 Carl David Lewis (18)
 David William Mather (19)
 Brian Christopher Mathews (38)
 Francis Joseph McAllister (27)
 John McBrien (18)
 Marion Hazel McCabe (21)
 Joseph Daniel McCarthy (21)
 Peter McDonnell (21)
 Alan McGlone (28)
 Keith McGrath (17)
 Paul Brian Murray (14)
 Lee Nicol (14)
 Stephen Francis O'Neill (17)
 Jonathon Owens (18)
 William Roy Pemberton (23)
 Carl William Rimmer (21)
 David George Rimmer (38)
 Graham John Roberts (24)
 Steven Joseph Robinson (17)
 Henry Charles Rogers (17)
 Colin Andrew Hugh William Sefton (23)
 Inger Shah (38)
 Paula Ann Smith (26)
 Adam Edward Spearritt (14)
 Philip John Steele (15)
 David Leonard Thomas (23)
 Patrik John Thompson (35)
 Peter Reuben Thompson (30)
 Stuart Paul William Thompson (17)
 Peter Francis Tootle (21)
 Christopher James Traynor (26)
 Martin Kevin Traynor (16)
 Kevin Tyrrell (15)
 Colin Wafer (19)
 Ian David Whelan (19)
 Martin Kenneth Wild (29)
 Kevin Daniel Williams (15)
 Graham John Wright (17)

May they rest in peace.

Hillsborough Attitudes Survey Report
(from ATTITUDES TO HILLSBOROUGH)

Conducted for Radio City, Liverpool, and Radio Hallam, Sheffield
Rex Nash and Sam Johnstone, Football Industry Group

University of Liverpool, April 1998

The following is a summary of the research report presented by the
FIG to Radio City and Radio Hallam, based on a survey of 1,350 members of the public, addressing
their attitudes towards the Hillsborough Disaster. Respondents were not necessarily football fans.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The tragedy that claimed the lives of 96 Liverpool football fans, shattered a community and shook the world of football took a matter of minutes to unfold.
In its simplest terms, Hillsborough was a case of overcrowding in the central standing area allocated to Liverpool fans at the FA Cup semi-final match against Nottingham Forest.

In his extensive 1989 report into the disaster, Lord Justice Taylor gave a detailed account of the events leading up to the catastrophic crush.

With half an hour before kick-off, most of the Nottingham Forest supporters were in their seats.
The crush at the turnstiles

Meanwhile the area reserved for the Liverpool supporters - the Leppings Lane end of the stadium - was half empty.

But outside, it was a different story, with more than 2,000 Liverpool supporters building up against the turnstiles to the Leppings Lane entrance.

Some had arrived late from their journey across the Pennines. Others had stayed outside to make the most of the sunshine.

There were also a those who had come without tickets to the all-ticket match, hoping to buy them at the ground.

But whatever the reason for the late rush, anxiety among both fans and police was mounting as the minutes to kick-off ticked by.

By 2.45pm the crowd had swelled to over 5,000, making entry to turnstiles virtually impossible. Those who did get through were short of breath and sweating profusely from the crush.

As the minutes passed, it became increasing clear that, despite police efforts, the mass of people would never get through by 3pm.
Advertising hoardings were used as stretchers

There was also a more serious risk of some being dangerously hurt. Something had to be done.

Suddenly at 2.52pm, the large blue, concertina steel door - Gate C - in the perimeter wall was slid open by a police officer.

Those at its entrance tumbled through. Those at the back pushed harder still. The logjam was unstuck. But things quickly got out of control.

Where fans had been entering in ones and twos through the turnstiles, there was now a wave of about 2,000 racing to the see the start of the game.

The majority took the most obvious route: straight ahead through the tunnel of gangway 2.

They piled into the back of pens of 3 and 4, which were already uncomfortably full, crushing those at the front.

At 2.54pm the teams came onto the pitch. Fans at the back of the pens pushed forward for a better view, unaware that people were dying in the front.

As the excitement of the game grew, there were more surges, each causing a squeeze more perilous than the last.

Finally, with fans spilling through a narrow escape onto the pitch or being lifted to the seating areas above, a policeman realised what was happening.

Only then did the scale of the disaster become clear. Bodies were lifted forward and laid out on the pitch - many teenagers and children.

Advertising hoardings were torn down as makeshift stretchers in a desperate attempt to bring faster relief.