35 years ago today, 97 Liverpool FC fans went to a match in Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield, and never returned home.
The Hillsborough Disaster – a deadly crush that claimed the lives of 97 Liverpool FC fans at a match against Nottingham Forest in 1989 – has been marked in the minds of British football fans ever since.
53,000 fans descended upon the Yorkshire suburb for a sold-out match on a sunny April day – the air was filled with optimism, one attendee recalled.
But when Liverpool’s Peter Beardsley hit the bar four minutes into the game, a crowd surge began at the Liverpool end of the pitch.
Some fans managed to escape, but others were crushed to death in the chaos. It is the deadliest disaster in British sporting history.
On 26 April 2016, a British court returned a verdict of unlawful killing of the disaster’s victims, placing blame on police for lack of crowd control after years of blaming the innocent Liverpool fans who had been killed in the chaos.
Now 35 years have passed, but the pain of that day is fresh in the minds of survivors and relatives of those who were killed as they continue to seek justice and educate others about the tragedy.
What happened on April 15, 1989?
Ahead of a 3pm kickoff for a match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough ground, crowds of Liverpool supporters were gathering outside of Leppings Lane pens to enter the stadium for kickoff.
More fans were arriving than could be safely filtered through the turnstiles, resulting in police opening a large exit gate, followed by two other gates.
The opening of these gates caused a large rush of supporters to enter the stadium into a narrow tunnel, worsening the crowd. Then at 3.04pm, Liverpool’s Peter Beardsley took a shot that hit the bar, causing a massive surge in the third pen, making metal barriers give way.
The match was stopped one minute later, but it was too late – hundreds were pressed against the fencing, and began suffocating from the pressure.
Ninety-seven people died as a result of the disaster, with 766 more suffering injuries. It’s a day that has been marked in the minds of all football fans forever.
Survivors and their fight for justice
Ian Byrne is an MP for Liverpool and West Derby, and was in attendance during the fateful football game. His father was seriously injured in the crush.
He spoke to Metro.co.uk about that fateful day
Mr Bryne said: ‘I’ll always recall the optimism we all felt. It was a lovely sunny day and the semi-final of the FA Cup.
‘Before, we knew that the stadium was crap, was dilapidated, but I was 16 years old, full of optimism that I was going to watch a fantastic game.
‘Then, it was complete chaos. Lack of any help, any assistance, and that’s something that’s always stuck in my mind.’
His experience at Hillsborough was the main reason he helped propel the Hillsborough law.
What is the Hillsborough Law?
‘There is no clearly defined duty for state bodies to tell the truth. There is a common law duty, but this is ill-defined and limited to very specific circumstances.
The cover-up following the Hillsborough disaster was not an isolated incident. We have seen the same issues arise following the Bloody Sunday, Infected Blood, Grenfell Tower fire and Manchester Arena bombing inquiries, and in inquests for the hundreds of people who die in state institutions every year.’
What would the bill do?
- Establish an enforceable, legal duty of candour on public authorities, public servants and corporations who have a responsibility for public safety.
- Require public authorities, public servants and corporations to proactively assist investigations, inquests and inquiries.
- Ensure victims and families have equal representation and receive public funding for lawyers from the start.
- Provide a legal ‘toolkit’ to help families and others to enforce the duty, via access to courts and tribunals.
- Provide‘backstop’ criminal offences to ensure compliance.
- Make new offences of wilfully failing to discharge the duty to fully assist inquiries, or to intentionally or recklessly mislead the public or media.
He said: ‘At the moment, without the Hillsborough law, you have professionals who go on the stand and not tell the full truth and face no consequences.
‘It’s about rebalancing the scales of justice so that every single person who ends up in a position where they’re going against the state has the ability to get justice.’
The Hillsborough Survivors Support Alliance is currently the only organisation offering support to those still suffering from the disaster.
Peter Scarfe, 55, works as a builder and is the Chairman of the Hillsborough Survivors Alliance, where he works to provide help to fellow survivors.
He was just 20 when he was caught in the chaos at Hillsborough – a trauma which he says has never left him.
Mr Scarfe said: ‘I know the pain. It’s not just surviving the Hillsborough Disaster – it’s surviving every day ever since. We’ve lost so many people over the years.’
In 2019, they created a specific form of therapy with the help of a trained therapist and provided it to survivors who reach out for help. But some survivors never get help.
Mr Scarfe told Metro.co.uk he recently discovered one of his neighbours had been a Hillsborough survivor. Rather than go to his GP to seek help, Mr Scarfe said his neighbour began to self-medicate with alcohol – which ultimately killed him.
He added: ‘There’s a lot of people like that who become dependent on self medication, whether that’s drugs or alcohol. But we lose so many to suicide as well.
‘That’s why we do the work we do. To prevent survivors taking their own lives, and to give them access to therapy. There’s people that are still suffering today.’
Education
A lack of education has contributed to shocking incidents in recent years, like hate chants from the Manchester United side of a pitch during a match against Liverpool last month.
Mr Scarfe said the issue is hard to tackle, but the key is education: ‘We need to educate the next generation about what happened in Hillsborough.’
Mr Byrne agrees: ‘Education is always the way forward on things like this. A lot of it is ignorance.’
To help better educate people about the Hillsborough Disaster, Mr Bryne is part of the ‘The Real Truth Legacy Project’ – an education project which is aiming to get Hillsborough in the national curriculum.
He explained: ‘It’s called that because of that famous paper headline that said it was ‘the truth’.
‘Hillsborough was a national disaster, there were so many elements around it that were unique not just nationally, but also in the fight for justice.
‘There are massive lessons to be learned. It’s something created with families, survivors and educators and now it’s in schools across Liverpool.’
But even with widespread initiatives to educate people about Hillsborough, the pain of the disaster is still raw Steve Rotheram, the Metro Mayor of Liverpool tells Metro.co.uk.
Mr Rotheram was there on that fateful day 35 years ago, and said part of the reason the pain is still so raw is because many didn’t accept fans weren’t responsible for the crush until 2016.
He said: ‘‘We always knew the truth, but now everybody else does. But so many still don’t accept it, and that’s a sticking point for many of us who have been through that trauma, who have tried to clear the names of the 97.’
A strong community
Mr Rotheram said Liverpool truly came together after the chaos of the Hillsborough Disaster and the media coverage that came with it.
He added: ‘It’s very personal to me, what I witnessed. Then to come back home, and everyone letting families know what happened – then to see those headlines.
‘The fans are the ones who tried to save lives whilst people who were paid and charged with our safety stood idly by with arms folded – with photos for everyone to see.
‘It was the fans who made makeshift stretchers. Then they were scapegoated.’
Each year, groups gather outside of Anfield to pay their respects to the victims in the horrific crush in 1989 – providing a sense of togetherness for victims and their families.
Mr Byrne added : ‘Liverpool came together to fight for truth and justice.
‘Hillsborough will never be forgotten.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
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