Hillsborough disaster
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hillsborough disaster
 | |
| Date | 15 April 1989 |
|---|---|
| Location | Leppings Lane End Hillsborough Stadium Sheffield England |
| Cause | Overcrowding of confined pens on the terraces caused by a failure of police control |
| Injured | 766 |
| Deaths | 96 |
The match, an FA Cup semi-final tie between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, was abandoned six minutes into the game.
The official inquiry into the disaster, the Taylor Report, concluded that "the main reason for the disaster was the failure of police control."[3] The findings of the report resulted in the elimination of standing terraces at all major football stadia in both England and Scotland.[4]
Before the disaster
At the time, most United Kingdom football stadiums had placed high steel fencing between the spectators and the pitch, in response to hooliganism which had plagued the sport for several years.[5] Hooliganism was particularly virulent in England, where it often involved pitch invasions, the throwing of missiles, or both pre- and post-match violence; the Heysel Stadium Disaster is a prominent example, where Liverpool fans themselves were involved.[6] From 1974, when these security standards were largely put in place, English stadiums had an increasing number of crushes.[7]Hillsborough Stadium was a regular venue for FA Cup semi-finals during the 1980s, hosting a total of five. A previous crush had occurred at Hillsborough during the 1981 semi-final between Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers, causing 38 injuries.[7] This prompted Sheffield Wednesday to alter the design of the Leppings Lane end, dividing it into three separate pens. This was further divided into five pens when Wednesday were promoted to the First Division in 1984.[8] Liverpool and Nottingham Forest had also met at the semi-final stage of the same competition at the same ground the previous year with many Liverpool fans reporting crushing in the Leppings Lane end, leading to Liverpool FC lodging a complaint prior to the 1989 FA Cup Semi-Final.
The disaster
Build-up
As is usual at all important matches, Hillsborough was segregated between the opposing fans. The police chose to put the Nottingham Forest fans in the Spion Kop End of the ground, which had a capacity of 21,000. The Liverpool supporters were assigned to the Leppings Lane End of the stadium, which could only hold 14,600 fans, even though Liverpool were regarded as having a larger support than Nottingham Forest,[9] as with the opposite arrangement the routes of the opposing fans would have had to have to cross each other. Kick-off for the match was scheduled for 3:00 pm, with fans advised to take up their positions 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 fans had been delayed by unannounced roadworks on the M62 motorway over the Pennines and the resulting road congestion. Between 2:30 pm and 2:40 pm, there was a big 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.[10]
The crush
The result was that many thousands of fans entering 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. Hundreds of people were pressed against one-another and 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 otherwise have directed fans into the side pens, but on this occasion they did not, for reasons which have never been fully explained.[13] A BBC TV news report later stated that if police had posted two police horses correctly, they would have acted as breakwaters directing many fans into side pens, but on this occasion, this was not done.For some time, the problem at the front of the pen was not noticed by any persons other than those affected as the attention of most people present was absorbed by the match, which by this time had already begun. It was not until 3:06 pm that the referee, Ray Lewis, after being advised by the police, stopped the match after many fans had begun climbing the fence onto the pitch in an effort to escape the crush. By this time, a small gate in the fencing had been forced open and some fans had escaped via this route, as others continued to climb over the fencing, while still other fans were pulled to safety by fellow fans in the West Stand directly above the Leppings Lane terrace. The intensity of the crush had broken the crush barriers on the terraces; later, holes in the perimeter fencing were found to be caused by desperate tearing by fans attempting rescue.[13]
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 fans to waiting ambulances, and were forcibly turned back. Forty-four ambulances had arrived at the stadium but police prevented all but one from entering.[citation needed]
Only 14 of the 96 fatalities ever arrived at a hospital.[13]
Aftermath
94 people whose ages ranged from 10 to 67 years died on the day,[14] with 766 other fans injured: around 300 of whom were hospitalised.[15] Four days later, on 19 April, the death toll reached 95 when a 14-year-old boy named Lee Nicol – attached to a life support machine – succumbed to the crush injuries he had received at Hillsborough.[16][17] The final death toll reached 96 in March 1993, when artificial feeding and hydration of 22-year-old Tony Bland was withdrawn after nearly four years, during which he had been in a persistent vegetative state and shown no sign of improvement.[16]Andrew Devine, aged 22 at the time of the disaster, suffered similar injuries to Tony Bland and was later diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state, but in March 1997 – a month before the eighth anniversary of the disaster – it was reported that he had emerged from the condition and was now able to communicate using a touch-sensitive pad.[18]
79 of the fatalities were aged 30 or younger. Two sisters and three pairs of brothers, and a father and son were among the fatalities.[14] Also among the dead were two men who were about to become fathers for the first time; 25-year-old Steven Brown of Wrexham[19] and 30-year-old Peter Thompson of Widnes.[20]
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 commentary afterwards on television[citation needed] about the lack of administrable oxygen and metal-cutting tools, and that there was no way to get ambulances onto the pitch.
Jon-Paul Gilhooley, cousin of current Liverpool F.C. captain Steven Gerrard, was the youngest person to die at Hillsborough, aged 10. Gerrard has stated that it was this tragedy that has inspired him and led him to lead his boyhood team and reach the heights of his career.[21]
The Taylor inquiry
Main article: Taylor Report
Following the disaster, Lord Justice Taylor was appointed to conduct an inquiry into the disaster. Taylor's inquiry sat for 31 days and published two reports, one interim report that laid out the events of the day and immediate conclusions and one final report that made general recommendations on football ground safety. This became known as the Taylor Report.[22] As a result of the report, fences in front of fans were removed and many of the top stadiums were converted to become all-seated.[23]
Police control
There was considerable debate over some aspects of the disaster; in particular, attention was focused on the decision to open the secondary gates. It was suggested that it would have been better to delay the start of the match as had often been done at other venues and matches. In defence, the police pointed out that the crush outside the stadium was getting out of control.Stadium design
Although it was noted that Hillsborough was considered "one of the best in the country" , Sheffield Wednesday were criticised for the low number of turnstiles at the Leppings Lane End and the poor quality of the crush barriers on the terraces there. However, the Taylor Report stated that the official cause of the disaster was the failure of police control. Due to the low number of turnstiles, it has been estimated that it would have taken until 3:40 pm to get all ticket holders into the Leppings Lane End had an exit gate not been opened. Gate C was opened to let more fans in, but the total number of fans entering the terrace is not thought to have been more than the capacity of the standing area.The disaster happened because most of the fans entering the terraces headed for the central pens 3 and 4 as directed by the large notice pointing them that way above the tunnel. Normally a police officer or steward would direct fans away from full pens, but on that day this did not happen. There were no stewards in that area at all. The official capacity of these pens was around 2,000, but the Health and Safety Executive later found that this should have been reduced to around 1,600 as the crush barriers did not conform to the Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds 1986. It is estimated that more than 3,000 people were in these pens shortly after kick off at 3:00 pm. This overcrowding caused the fatal crush.[24][25]
Other aggravating factors
There were accusations that the behavior of the Liverpool fans contributed to the disaster. These centered around consumption of alcohol before the game and attempts to enter the ground without a ticket. Although Lord Taylor acknowledged that these aggravated the situation, they were only secondary factors.Witness estimates of the number of fans who were drunk varied from a minority to a large proportion of the crowd. Although it was clear that many fans had been drinking, Lord Taylor unequivocally stated that most of them were: "not drunk, nor even the worse for drink". He concluded that they only formed an exacerbating factor.
The possibility of fans attempting to gain entry without tickets or with forgeries contributing to the disaster was also suggested. South Yorkshire Police also suggested that the late arrival of fans amounted to a conspiracy in order to gain entry without tickets. However, analysis of the electronic monitoring system, Health and Safety Executive analysis and eyewitness accounts showed that the total number of people who had already entered the Leppings Lane End was far below the capacity of the stand. Additionally, eye witness reports suggested that tickets were easily available on the day of the game, and that tickets for the Leppings Lane End were still on sale from Anfield until the day before the game. The report dismissed the conspiracy theory.
Impact on new stadium safety standards
The Taylor Report has had a deep impact on safety standards for stadia built since its publication until today. Most notably, all new stadia built in the Premier League and most Football League teams since then have been all-seater stadia,[26] the first having been Millwall's New Den stadium, which opened in 1993. The Deva Stadium of Chester City F.C., opened the year before, had been the first English football stadium to fulfill the safety recommendations of the Taylor Report, although not an all-seater stadium.Memorials
Permanent memorials
A number of memorials have been erected in memory of the victims of the Hillsborough tragedy, all are listed below:
- Flames were added either side of the Liverpool F.C. crest in memory of the 96 who lost their lives.
- Alongside the Shankly Gates at Anfield, Liverpool's home stadium.
- A memorial at Hillsborough stadium, unveiled on the tenth anniversary of the tragedy on 15 April 1999, reads: In memory of the 96 men, women, and children who tragically died and the countless people whose lives were changed forever. FA Cup semi-final Liverpool v Nottingham Forest. 15 April 1989. "You’ll never walk alone."
- A memorial stone in the pavement on the south side of Liverpool's Anglican cathedral.
- A headstone at the junction of Middlewood Road, Leppings Lane and Wadsley Lane, near the ground and by the Sheffield Supertram route.
- A Hillsborough Memorial Rose Garden in Port Sunlight, Wirral.
- A memorial rose garden on Sudley Estate in South Liverpool (also known as the APH). Each of the six rose beds has a centre piece of a white standard rose, surrounded by the red variety, named 'Liverpool Remember'. There are brass memorial plaques on both sets of gates to the garden, and a sundial inscribed with the words: 'Time Marches On But We Will Always Remember'.
- 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 96 football supporters who died 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.[27]
Memorial ceremonies
The tragedy has been acknowledged on 15 April each year by the community of Liverpool and football in general. An annual memorial ceremony is held at Anfield and at a church in Liverpool. The 10th and 20th anniversaries were marked by special services to remember the 96 victims.Since 2007 there has been a Hillsborough Memorial service held at Spion Kop, KZN South Africa. The significance of this particular ceremony is that it is held on the Spion Kop Battlefield which gave its name to the Kop Stand at Anfield. There is also a permanent memorial to the 96 fans who died, in the form of a bench, positioned in view of the battlefield at a nearby lodge. Dean Davis and David Walters, members of the Official South African Liverpool Supporters Club (Gauteng Branch), are responsible for the creation of the service and the bench was commissioned by Guy Prowse in 2008.
Tenth anniversary
In 1999 Anfield was packed with a crowd of around 10,000 people ten years on from the disaster.[28] An individual candle was lit for each of the 96 people killed. The clock at the Kop End stood still at 3:06 pm, the exact time that the referee had blown his whistle in 1989 and the ground held a minute's silence, signalled by the match referee from that day, Ray Lewis. A service was led by the Right Reverend James Jones, the Bishop of Liverpool and was attended by past and present Liverpool players, including Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman and Alan Hansen. According to the BBC report: "The names of the victims were read from the memorial book and floral tributes were laid at a plaque bearing their names."[29] A gospel choir performed and the ceremony ended with a rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone". The anniversary was also marked by a minute's silence at the weekend's league games and FA Cup semi-finals.Twentieth anniversary
In 2009, on the twentieth anniversary of the disaster, Liverpool were granted their request that their Champions League quarter-finals return leg, scheduled for 15 April, be played the day before (at Chelsea, 4–4).[30]
Other services took place at the same time, including at Liverpool's Anglican and Catholic Cathedrals. After the two minutes' silence, bells on civic buildings rang out throughout Merseyside.[37]
A song was also released to mark the 20th Anniversary, entitled "Fields of Anfield Road" which peaked at #14 in the UK charts.[38]
Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United players showed their respects by wearing black armbands during their Champions League matches on 14 and 15 April.
On 14 May, more than 20,000 people packed Anfield for a match held in memory of the 96. The Liverpool Legends, comprising ex-Liverpool footballers beat the All Stars, captained by actor Ricky Tomlinson by 3–1. The event marked the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster and raised cash for the Marina Dalglish Appeal which will be put towards a new radiotherapy centre at University Hospital in Aintree.[39][40]
With the imminent release of police documents relating to events on 15 April 1989, the Hillsborough Family Support Group launched Project 96, a new fundraising initiative on 1 August 2009. At least 96 current and former Liverpool footballers are being lined up to raise £96,000 through the auctioning of limited edition (of 96) signed photographs.
Tributes from other clubs
The Hillsborough disaster touched not only Liverpool themselves, but also clubs in England and around the world as well.[41] In particular, supporters of Everton, Liverpool's traditional local rivals, were affected by the tragedy, many of them having lost friends and family. They laid down flowers and blue & white scarves to show their respect for the dead and unity with their fellow Merseysiders shortly afterwards.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 3:06 minutes into the game to stop play and hold a minute's silence for those who lost their lives 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.[42][43]
Also in April 1989, Bradford City A.F.C. and Lincoln City F.C. held a friendly to benefit the victims of Hillsborough. It was their first meeting since the Bradford City stadium fire in 1985 that claimed 56 lives at Valley Parade. Bradford won the match, 3-1.[44]
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. Arsenal won the game 2 – 0 and thus claimed the league title.
In 2006, Celtic F.C. fans produced a banner featuring the Liverpool crest and the Celtic crest with a flame in the middle surrounded by the words 'Justice For The 96, You'll Never Walk Alone' and presented it to the Kopites during their Champions League quarter-finals return leg (vs PSV Eindhoven, 1–0) at Anfield.[45]
On 11 April 2009 Liverpool fans sang "You'll Never Walk Alone" as a tribute to the upcoming anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy. This was prior to their home game against Blackburn Rovers (which ended in Liverpool winning 4–0) and was followed by the former Liverpool player, now at Aston Villa, Stephen Warnock presenting a memorial wreath to the Kop showing the figure 96 in red flowers.
Charity Single
In May 1989, a charity version of the song "Ferry Cross the Mersey" was released in aid of those affected by the disaster. The song featured famed Liverpudlians Paul McCartney and Gerry Marsden and other popular artists of the time. The song was produced by Stock Aitken Waterman and reached #1 on the UK and Irish charts.Charges against officials
Inquests
The process of inquests into the deaths of those who died at Hillsborough proved controversial. The coroner, Dr Stefan Popper, limited the main inquest to events up until 3:15 pm on the day of the disaster – just nine minutes after the match was halted and the crowd began to spill onto the pitch. Popper said this was because all of the victims were either dead, or brain dead, by 3:15 pm. This decision angered the families of the victims, many of whom felt this meant the inquest was not able to consider the response of the police and the other emergency services after that time.[46] The inquest returned a verdict of accidental death.Relatives have failed in their attempts to have the inquest reopened, to allow for more scrutiny of the police actions at Hillsborough, as well as closer examination of the circumstances of individual cases. Anne Williams, who lost her 15-year-old son, Kevin Williams, appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, on the strength of witness statements that her son was still showing signs of life at 4:00 pm. Her case was rejected in March 2009.[47]
It was announced on 19 April 2009 that the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith had requested that secret files concerning the disaster should be made public.[48]
On 8 March 2011 the Hillsborough Independent Panel announced that they would examine previously-hidden documents to determine what took place after the 3:15 pm cutoff imposed during the inquest of 1991. A HIP spokesman said: “We have a wide remit to analyse all documents relating to the context, circumstances and consequences of the tragedy and its aftermath.”[49]
Following a Governmental e-petition which had reached over 139,000 signatories on 17 October 2011,[50] Parliament has agreed to debate the full release to the public of Cabinet documents relating to the disaster.[51]
During this debate in the House of Commons the Labour MP for Liverpool Walton Steve Rotherham, read out a list of all the victims of the tragedy and, as a result, these names will now be entered into Hansard - the official publication of printed scripts of all House of Commons debates. Link to article - [52] Full transcript of speech in Liverpool Echo newspaper - [53]
Prosecution
A private prosecution was brought against David Duckenfield and another officer on duty, Bernard Murray. Prosecutor Alun Jones QC[54] told the court that Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield gave the order to open gates that allowed hundreds of fans to flood on to the already crowded terraces at the Hillsborough stadium. Mr Jones then stated that minutes after the disaster, [Duckenfield] "deceitfully and dishonestly" told senior FA officials that the supporters had forced the gate open themselves. Duckenfield admitted that he had lied about certain statements regarding the causes of the disaster. Several other officers, including Norman Bettison, were accused of manipulating evidence. Bettison was later to be appointed Chief Constable of Merseyside in controversial circumstances. The prosecution was abandoned when Duckenfield's doctor declared him unfit to stand trial due to illness. Because he was unavailable, it was decided that it would be unfair to proceed with the charges against Bernard Murray. Duckenfield took medical retirement on a full police pension.[55][56][57]Psychiatric injury claims
Various negligence cases were brought against the police by spectators who had been at the ground on the day, but had not been in the pens, and by people who had watched the incident unfolding on television (or heard about it on the radio). A case, Alcock and others v Chief Constable of the South Yorkshire Police [1992] 1 A.C. 310, was eventually appealed to the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords and was an important milestone in the law of claims of secondary victims for negligently inflicted psychiatric injury. It was held that claimants who watched the disaster on television/listened on radio were not 'proximal' and their claims were rejected.Another psychiatric injury claim was also brought to the House of Lords, White v Chief Constable of the South Yorkshire Police [1999] 2 A.C. 455. It was brought by the police officers on duty on that day against the Chief Constable who was said to have been vicariously liable for the disaster. Their claims were dismissed and the Alcock decision was upheld. It affirmed the position of the courts once again towards claims of psychiatric injuries of secondary victims.
