Hillsborough - Justice for the 96

[StateOfPlay]

I was watching TV, I think it was Grandstand, and news came in of crowd trouble at Hillsborough, where Liverpool were taking on Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup semi final. I was still living at home, and was with my sister and brother at the time.

What I saw as I watched horrified me. I saw the tragedy unfolding. I saw the opposing fans cheering, thinking that Liverpool fans were causing crowd trouble. I then saw those same fans realise that it was far more than that.

The faces of the people on the pitch told you all you need to know. 95 people died on the day, and 1 more died later making it 96 deaths. Those that dies were crushed to death.

And all these years later we still haven't got the truth about how this was allowed to happen. One thing that did change straight away is that the anti hooligan fencing was removed and seating is in at all stadiums in the top leagues.

Hopefully today we will hear and see the truth. Hopefully those families and supporters will get the truth.

 

[ruffrida]

As a SWFC fan, i am happy that these documents / statements will be released lets just hope it gives the family's some closure and answers to a tragic event, my heart goes out to all the people affected

 

[murran]

i dont really understand the point of all this fuss about the truth etc.
logic says too many people crowding into the grandstand, people falling over, suffocating, pushing and trampling on each other, being crushed against the fence, caused these deaths. whether people were forcing there way into the ground to over crowd it or not doesnt matter.......can only be the fault of the organsers and marshals of the ground, and the police on the day. and the obvious communication failure/breakdown.
and as said, soon after (1990), the fencing was all removed from grounds and seating room only in major grounds. so it cant happen again.

even if the police attempted to cover up some of their failings and shift the blame (obviously there was imo.), it doesnt change the outcome of 96 peoples deaths.
im not sure what sort of closure people are looking for tbh. i think they'll be dissapointed. i dont think there was a major conspirisory etc.

no i wasnt there and i was too young to remember it. but ive read quite a bit of info on it.

 

[phil miller]

i remember that sad day (and the bradford fire) as a football fan that day changed football forever, some good ways some bad days (i hate sitting down at football) i went to hillsborough to watch my team beat wednesday 2-1 a couple of seasons ago and i found the whole thing very moving, the ground is part of history, im glad that after 23 years the police have been blamed for this, they have covered up the truth, families have been ripped apart because of the lies, i hope now every copper that had a hand in this is taken to court,

Justice for the 96

 

[StateOfPlay]

Well, finally we have the truth. It was a cover up.

The grieving families have had to deal with the Police accusations that it was drunken louts that arrived late with no tickets that were a factor in the deaths.

Turns out there is no evidence at all to support those accusations.

I still have an image of young men and women, children, being crushed up against the anti hooligan fence. That will live with me forever.

And the Police only allowed 1 paramedic through to treat the dying. 41 deaths may have been prevented, we will never know as they were not given a chance.

Now we can see people that covered up the truth in court to answer for their actions.

 

[murran]

i hope now every copper that had a hand in this is taken to court.

23 years after the disaster? taken to court for what? im sure most coppers that were in a high position of authority on the day will have retired by now and all the younger lower ranked ones wouldnt have known about the attempts of the higher powers to cover up the forces blame anyway.

whether the truth comes out or not nothings going to come of it.

 

[Turbo jay]

i dont really understand the point of all this fuss about the truth etc.
logic says too many people crowding into the grandstand, people falling over, suffocating, pushing and trampling on each other, being crushed against the fence, caused these deaths. whether people were forcing there way into the ground to over crowd it or not doesnt matter.......can only be the fault of the organsers and marshals of the ground, and the police on the day. and the obvious communication failure/breakdown.
and as said, soon after (1990), the fencing was all removed from grounds and seating room only in major grounds. so it cant happen again.

even if the police attempted to cover up some of their failings and shift the blame (obviously there was imo.), it doesnt change the outcome of 96 peoples deaths.
im not sure what sort of closure people are looking for tbh. i think they'll be dissapointed. i dont think there was a major conspirisory etc.

no i wasnt there and i was too young to remember it. but ive read quite a bit of info on it.

Listen mate I've been born and raised in Liverpool all my life and a life long Liverpool fan, let me tel you part of what you call "fuss" is all about, family's have been looking for closure for twenty three years and not knowing when there loved ones died or if they where still alive and left too long the whole thing was a cover up and complete f*** up by the police hiding the truth if there was never anything to hide then why is it takin 23 years too release documents, all the family's wanted too know was the truth! So its not all fuss mate anyone's family would want too know!

 

[phil miller]

23 years after the disaster? taken to court for what? im sure most coppers that were in a high position of authority on the day will have retired by now and all the younger lower ranked ones wouldnt have known about the attempts of the higher powers to cover up the forces blame anyway.

whether the truth comes out or not nothings going to come of it.

I wouldnt be to sure on that, 96 people died and the police covered it up, there are gonna be massive circles from his drop in the ocean, IMHO no different to war crimes, regardless of age they should still face court over there actions

 

[StateOfPlay]

The officer in charge on the day said it was Liverpool fans that had kicked in the gate that led to the crushing of innocent men, women and children.

He later changed his story and admitted that he had ordered the gate to be opened.

He was a Chief Superintendent, a senior police officer, and he started his account of what happened by lying.

As a nation, we believe that people are responsible for their actions. No exceptions, no waivers. And it seems that at last that might finally happen.

 

[murran]

wow oh wow. on reading the star today, how wrong was i? i honestly didnt think anything really new would come up from this new enquiry. but 160 odd witness statements drastically altered to remove blame from the police. that is a huge conspiriosy!
i never thought it was the fault of the fans, but more the police and marshals, design of the ground/grandstand etc.

to think that the police would do that, altering statements etc is shocking. conveinient that the syp chief constable at the time died last year. probably couldnt live with himself anymore!
but from reading between the lines i wonder if the order of a cover up came from higher up tho? it says an mp was involved in the cover up too. who's betting the order to cover up the polices failings in the 1990 enquiry came from thatcher herself??

 

[phil miller]

wow oh wow. on reading the star today, how wrong was i? i honestly didnt think anything really new would come up from this new enquiry. but 160 odd witness statements drastically altered to remove blame from the police. that is a huge conspiriosy!
i never thought it was the fault of the fans, but more the police and marshals, design of the ground/grandstand etc.

to think that the police would do that, altering statements etc is shocking. conveinient that the syp chief constable at the time died last year. probably couldnt live with himself anymore!
but from reading between the lines i wonder if the order of a cover up came from higher up tho? it says an mp was involved in the cover up too. who's betting the order to cover up the polices failings in the 1990 enquiry came from thatcher herself??

like i said massive circles from this, the police are in the wrong, ive heard (radio 2) that there will now be legal action against every officer involed, could take a long time to complete, i also believe some may even face prison over it, no wonder each goverment has kept it covered up for so long, its not just the 96 that died, ive read and watched alot about the families and friends of the dead, one (and i cant remember his name) gave his ticket to a friend for that game, the friend died and last year he killed himself due to grief, there are many more, families ripped apart by that day, the way it was handled and actions taken, then changing things to make SYP look good makes me feel sick, im not a Liverpool fan, im a football fan, alot of people think we are all yobs looking for a fight, some are some arent, the 96 wanted to watch there beloved team win, every football fan in the world knows how that feels, to then see what happened on that day and then 23 years later have fact the police covered it up to protect themselfs is the lowest of the low, in the 80s football esp Liverpool had a rep for trouble, SYP had somewhere to lay the blame, i hope they lock the lot of them up

 

[StateOfPlay]

Yes Murran, it is what the families had been saying all along.

LOL at Thatcher being responsible. I grew up with Thatcher in power, most of my family marched in London against her, for ruining the Unions. I heard the TUC have arranged party packs for all it's members for when she dies

Thatcher would not have been a fan of football fans. They were mostly union members, they were renowned for football violence. Thatcher also worried about any bad publicity for the South Yorkshire Police, it seems the force may have also tried the same trick on the striking miners. And Thatcher hated the miners, and loved the Police.

Anyway, I think Thatcher should be made to visit the Kop, and to take Kelvin Mackenzie as her chaperone

 

[RYes3]

I was at this game in fact, it was the first football game I had ever been to!

I was lucky enough to be in the family enclosure and away from the trouble. I was 7 at the time and my Dad covered my eyes as it got real bad. Even though I was so young at the time I can remember where the trouble started and how it escalated...

The police were terrible yes, but today's revelations came as a shock to me. I had made my mind up where the trouble was all those years ago and to this day believed what I saw. Quite honestly i'm very surprised about today's U turn....

I was at that game as a neutral being a Wolves fan