Former Sheffield Wednesday F.C. [247], The information was provided to the newspaper by Whites News Agency in Sheffield;[248] the newspaper cited claims by police inspector Gordon Sykes, that Liverpool fans had pickpocketed the dead,[249] as well as other claims by unnamed police officers and local Conservative MP Irvine Patnick. Burnham, by then the Sports Minister, addressed the crowd but was heckled by supporters chanting "Justice for the 96". They will have to answer 14 key questions about the disaster . [236], On 30 April 1989, a friendly match organised by Celtic F.C. [298], On 28 June 2010, following England's departure from the 2010 FIFA World Cup competition in South Africa, the UK's Culture and Sport Secretary Jeremy Hunt praised the England fans for their behaviour during the competition, saying "I mean, not a single arrest for a football-related offence, and the terrible problems that we had in Heysel and Hillsborough in the 1980s seem now to be behind us." Families believed that Popper was 'too close' to the police. [108] In England and Wales all-seating is a requirement of the Premier League[109] and of the Football League for clubs who have been present in the Championship for more than three seasons. FA Cup semi-final Liverpool v Nottingham Forest. It was performed by Lord Justice Stuart-Smith. List of archive and library material relating to the disaster held at Sheffield City Council's Libraries and Archives. [38] "There's gaps, you know, in parts of the ground. [53] Standing on terraces and the use of perimeter fencing around the pitch, the use of CCTV, the timing of football matches and policing of sporting events were factors for a subsequent inquiry to consider. The reason given was that the public inquiry in 1990, to which the altered statements were submitted, was not a statutory inquiry, and therefore not a Court of Law. [29] Other accounts told of fans having to be pulled to safety from above. A memorial garden in Hillsborough Park with a 'You'll never walk alone' gateway. [26] Serious overcrowding was observed at the 1987 quarter-final between Sheffield Wednesday and Coventry City[28] and again during the semi-final between Coventry City and Leeds United at Hillsborough. I have never, since hearing the Taylor evidence unfold, offered any other interpretation in public or private. It affirmed the position of the courts once again towards claims of psychiatric injuries of secondary victims. I held those views then, I hold them now. With 97 deaths and 766 injuries, it has the highest death toll in British sporting history. [180], The IPCC is[needs update] also investigating the actions of West Midlands Police, who in 1989 had been tasked with investigating South Yorkshire Police's conduct for both the original inquests and also the Taylor independent inquiry. [131] MacKenzie said he should have written a headline that read "The Lies", although this apology was rejected by the Hillsborough Family Support Group and Liverpool fans, as it was seen to be "shifting the blame once again. (Everyone in the office) seemed paralysed"looking like rabbits in the headlights"as one hack described them. [188], On 28 June 2017, it was announced that six people were to be charged with offences in relation to the disaster. [20], Risks associated with confining fans in pens were highlighted by the Committee of Inquiry into Crowd Safety at Sports Grounds (the Popplewell inquiry) after the Bradford City stadium fire in May 1985. The police became a convenient scapegoat, and the Sun newspaper a whipping-boy for daring, albeit in a tasteless fashion, to hint at the wider causes of the incident. South Yorkshire's police and crime commissioner Shaun Wright appointed chief constable Simon Parr of Cambridgeshire Constabulary to head an investigation into the matter. followed in April 2017 on the eve of the 28th anniversary of the disaster after a column by Kelvin MacKenzie concerning Everton footballer Ross Barkley. After an initial rush, thousands of supporters entered the stadium "steadily at a fast walk". No, his apology doesn't mean a thing to me. [55] Elsewhere on the same day, a silenceopened with an air-raid siren at three o'clockwas held in central Nottingham with the colours of Forest, Liverpool and Wednesday adorning Nottingham Council House. [294] Johnson apologised at the time of the article, travelling to Liverpool to do so,[295] and again following the publication of the report of the Hillsborough Independent Panel in 2012; Johnson's apology was rejected by Margaret Aspinall, chairperson of the Hillsborough Families Support Group, whose son James, 18, died in the disaster:[296]. . After the two minutes' silence, bells on civic buildings rang out throughout Merseyside. [66][67], By the disaster's 10th anniversary in 1999, at least three people who survived were known to have taken their own lives. The ceremony was held on the Spion Kop Battlefield which gave its name to the Kop Stand at Anfield. fans had died (a 96th fan died in 1993, and 97th in 2021).An interim report was published in August 1989 . [94], Lord Taylor concluded that the behaviour of Liverpool fans, including accusations of drunkenness, were secondary factors, and said that most fans were: "not drunk, nor even the worse for drink". Just one person has been convicted for anything related to the Hillsborough disaster: Graham Mackrell, the then Sheffield Wednesday secretary, of a safety offence, for which he was fined. He dismissed the claim by senior police officers that they had no reason to anticipate problems, since congestion had occurred at both the 1987 and 1988 semi-finals. Bettison had been one of a number of police officers who were accused of manipulating evidence by the Hillsborough Independent Panel. Such an unrealistic approach gives cause for anxiety as to whether lessons have been learnt".[105]. [115] Falconer added: "It made the families in the Hillsborough disaster feel after one establishment cover-up, here was another. [293], In November 2007, the BBC soap opera EastEnders caused controversy when the character Minty Peterson (played by Cliff Parisi) made a reference to the disaster. In memory of 96 people, that have lost their lives.song: ''Denez Prigdent & Lisa Gerrard - Gortoz A Ran'' [221], The event was remembered with a ceremony at Anfield attended by over 28,000 people. "[285], The Times was the only major UK newspaper not to give the story front-page coverage other than fellow News UK-owned Sun. A memorial at Hillsborough stadium, unveiled on the tenth anniversary of the disaster 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. In April 2016, a private prosecution was launched on behalf of victims' relatives against both SYP and the West Midlands Police force (who had investigated the actions of SYP), alleging a concerted cover-up designed to shift blame away from the police. [252], The story accompanying The Sun headlines claimed "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 further 20 were from counties adjacent to Merseyside. "[115], The Hillsborough Independent Panel was instituted in 2009 by the British government to investigate the Hillsborough disaster, to oversee the disclosure of documents about the disaster and its aftermath and to produce a report. [250][251] The Daily Express also carried Patnick's version, under the headline "Police Accuse Drunken Fans" which gave Patnick's views, saying he had told Margaret Thatcher, while escorting her on a tour of the ground after the disaster, of the "mayhem caused by drunks" and that policemen told him they were "hampered, harassed, punched and kicked". [264], In 2004, after Wayne Rooney gave exclusive interviews to The Sun, causing backlash in Liverpool, The Sun ran a front page story apologising for "the most terrible mistake in its history", saying "We long ago apologised publicly We gladly say sorry again today: fully, openly, honestly and without reservation". [71][72] The death toll reached 96 in March 1993, when artificial feeding and hydration were withdrawn from 22-year-old Tony Bland after nearly four years, during which time he had remained in a persistent vegetative state showing no sign of improvement. The Crown Prosecution Service subsequently dropped all charges against one of the defendants. [86] The Hillsborough Independent Panel considered the available evidence and stated that "the initial pathologist's opinion appeared definitive, but further authoritative opinions raised significant doubts about the accuracy of that initial opinion. [39] Those still trapped in the pens were packed so tightly that many victims died of compressive asphyxia while standing. "[112] Therefore, evidence such as witness statements which had been altered were classed as inadmissible. [26], Liverpool and Nottingham Forest met in the semi-final at Hillsborough in 1988, and fans reported crushing at the Leppings Lane end. [203], In response to the acquittals, Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg called the lack of accountability over Hillsborough "the greatest scandal of British policing of our lifetimes". [242][243], In other regional newspapers, the Manchester Evening News wrote that the "Anfield Army charged on to the terrace behind the goalmany without tickets", and the Yorkshire Post wrote that the "trampling crush" had been started by "thousands of fans" who were "latecomers forc[ing] their way into the ground". Well, if you look at the Liverpool end, to the right of the goal, there's hardly anybody on those stepsthat's it. Representatives of the 96 victims of the disaster stated that they would be asking for an independent review of the decision under the Right to Review Scheme. Several British stadiums have a stand called "Spion Kop" or "The Kop". [36] Many supporters wished to enjoy the day and were in no hurry to enter the stadium too early. ", "Original 'copy' of Hillsborough story filed by White's news agency", "Hillsborough Inquests: 'Regrets' over pickpocketing claims", "Hillsborough: 20 years on, Liverpool has still not forgiven the newspaper it calls 'The Scum', "Hillsborough report: Prime Minister David Cameron's statement in full", "How the Sun's 'truth' about Hillsborough unravelled", "Hillsborough: telling the truth about the scum", "MacKenzie speaks out on Hillsborough comments", "Hillsborough: Former Sun editor apologises to Liverpool", "Liverpool Vs The Sun: How the City Rid Itself of the UK's Biggest Paper", "Liverpool's 23-year boycott of The Sun newspaper", "Sun boycott reduced Euroscepticism on Merseyside, study shows", "Hillsborough: The Sun 'profoundly sorry' over false fan conduct reports", "Newspaper review: Hillsborough 'justice' hailed, but not on Sun's front page", "News International chairman James Murdoch apologises to Liverpool over Sun's coverage of Hillsborough tragedy", "Hillsborough files: Reaction to release of government papers", "Hillsborough: Kelvin MacKenzie offers 'profuse apologies to the people of Liverpool', "Not Even The Sun Could Have Expected This Level of Anger After Hillsborough Inquest", "The Sun Relegates Hillsborough To Page 8, Outrage Ensues", "Sun and Times front pages criticised for ignoring Hillsborough verdict", "S*n and Times slammed for ignoring Hillsborough on front pages", "Hillsborough: Times admits front page 'mistake', "The Hillsborough Verdict Shows People Still Haven't Forgiven The Sun Even After 27 Years", "The S*n hides behind wall of silence after landmark Hillsborough verdicts", "Liverpool FC ban for Sun journalists over Hillsborough", "Everton join Liverpool in banning Sun journalists over coverage", "Hillsborough Inquiry: Press Release No. . A boycott of advertisers by American Liverpool fans eventually brought about an apology from him. For the second time in half a decade a large body of Liverpool supporters has killed people the shrine in the Anfield goalmouth, the cursing of the police, all the theatricals, come sweetly to a city which is already the world capital of self-pity. I had absolutely no reason to believe that these authority figures would lie and deceive over such a disaster. Peter McKay in the Evening Standard wrote that the "catastrophe was caused first and foremost by violent enthusiasm for soccer and in this case the tribal passions of Liverpool supporters [who] literally killed themselves and others to be at the game"[242][243] and published a front-page headline "Police attack 'vile' fans" on 18 April 1989, in which police sources blamed the behaviour of a section of Liverpool fans for the disaster. Match commander Duckenfield decided to open a gate into the stadium to alleviate pressure at the turnstiles . [156][157] Liberal Democrat MP John Pugh called for David Cameron to make a formal apology in the House of Commons to the families of those killed at Hillsborough and to the city of Liverpool as a whole. Is there, perhaps, a lesson there for the Hillsborough campaigners? [32], Meanwhile, Hillsborough was accepted as the FA Cup semi-final venue on 20 March 1989 by the Football Association. With the imminent release of police documents relating to events on 15 April 1989, the Hillsborough Family Support Group launched Project 96, a fundraising initiative on 1 August 2009. The record was produced by Stock Aitken Waterman and featured Liverpool musicians Paul McCartney, Gerry Marsden (of the Pacemakers), Holly Johnson, and The Christians. [3] The match was abandoned and restaged at Old Trafford in Manchester on 7 May 1989; Liverpool won and went on to win that season's FA Cup. [273][274][275][276][277], However, on Sky News, The Sun's Political Editor Tom Newton Dunn defended this decision, saying: "I don't think it should all be about The Sunit was not us who committed Hillsborough. Margaret Aspinall, chairperson of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, asked for a face to face meeting with Hunt before deciding if she would[needs update] accept the apology. Merseyside Police Authority confirmed that Bettison would receive an 83,000 pension, unless convicted of a criminal offence. Ninety-four people, aged from 10 to 67 years old, died on the day, either at the stadium, in the ambulances, or shortly after arrival at hospital. Two thousand traveling Liverpool away fans entered an already packed terrace via a . They buried their dead, comforted the bereaved and succoured the injured. The Hillsborough inquest jury must answer a detailed questionnaire before delivering their verdicts. Blaming Liverpool fans persisted even after the Taylor Report of 1990, which found that the main cause was a failure of crowd control by SYP. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the two standing-only central pens in the Leppings Lane stand allocated to Liverpool supporters. [58], At the 1989 FA Cup Final between Liverpool and local rivals Everton, held just five weeks after the Hillsborough disaster, the players from both participating teams wore black armbands as a gesture of respect to the victims. Team captain Steven Gerrard and vice-captain Jamie Carragher handed the freedom of the city to the families of all the victims.
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