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Hillsborough
Opinion: Remembering Hillsborough and how the tragedy influenced football as a sport and as a business.
This April saw the anniversary of possibly the most significant day in the history of English football. On the 15th of April 1989, 94 Liverpool fans died at Hillsborough, the home of Sheffield Wednesday, during the F.A. Cup Semi-Final against Nottingham Forest. Two fans later died as a result of the injuries they sustained that day and hundreds were injured. There have also been reports on numerous Hillsborough-related deaths since the tragedy.
Yet, leaving aside the horrendous human cost, the impact of Hillsborough on football itself was profound, and manifests itself even in today's game. To understand the effect it had, you have to understand how it happened, why it happened, and what was done to stop it happening again.
Effectively, too many people were let in to the Lepping Lane end of the ground, through too few turnstiles. This was partly down to the F.A.'s decision to allocate the Liverpool supporters, who outnumbered the Forest fans, the smallest end of the ground. Also, perhaps wary of the reputation of Liverpool fans, who rioted and killed 39 fans at the European Cup Final at Heysel four years previously, the police treated the South Yorkshire fans terribly, and refused any calls for help. When the disaster became evident, only one ambulance was allowed entry to the grounds, while 44 waited outside.
Too many fans were in a tiny space, and were crushed into the perimeter fences that were supposed to stop trouble at grounds. Some people vaulted the fences, and Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobelaar recalls fans screaming, “They're killing us, Bruce”. Tragedy soon ensued, and the game was called off after six minutes.
Yet it is the aftermath that I am concerned with. The Taylor Report soon suggested that all stadiums in the top two Divisions become all-seater, and that perimeter fences be removed. Football was in serious need of a revamp, and that's when Rupert Murdoch came calling. Sky Sports was introduced, along with the Premiership, in 1992, and in the words of presenter Richard Keyes: “Football was never the same again”.
Suddenly, live football was available all year round, to people in armchairs everywhere. Money came rolling in, along with foreign stars; ticket prices went up, noise levels and attendance dropped, and the working man, whose game football was, was suddenly alienated.
That's not to say that these changes didn't need to be made. Football had been declining for years, and it had to be glamorised. The Premiership and Sky, along with Nick Nornby's incredible book Fever Pitch, succeeded in doing that. Michael Thomas's last minute Championship winner for Arsenal at Anfield that season, heavily eulogised by Hornby, also helped in the most dramatic season finale ever.
Yet, as with most things, greed took hold, people had too much money, and then foreign investment was invented. In fact, the Taylor Report even suggested that ticket prices never rise over £6, which would now be equal to £14 or £15.
The thing about Hillsborough is how it united football fans everywhere, against the incompetence that caused it, and the disgusting nature in which it was covered up. Police officers were retired on a full pension, and told to “keep schtum”.
The Sun newspaper, still boycotted in all of Merseyside, even reported that Liverpool fans robbed from the dead, and attacked police officers. The truth is that the fans saved many lives that day, and treated the injured far more adequately than the police did on that day. Even now, The Sun refuses to apologise. That hurts so much, even for a fan from Ireland.
By: Ciaran Leinster
