Time to map out a plan for Villa's future
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Human tragedy on inhumane scale
Wednesday 15th April 2009, 10:23AM BST.
Journalists are taught not to become emotionally involved with the tide of human events, no matter how tragic, writes Martin Swain.
Our job is to tell the story first and save the tears of sympathy for later. In which case, I must confess, that on this day 20 years ago, I failed lamentably to fulfil the demands of my profession.
On this day 20 years ago, an afternoon lit up by beautiful Spring sunshine, I was dispatched to Hillsborough to cover the FA Cup semi-final between a Liverpool team in its final throes of greatness and a Nottingham Forest side managed by Brian Clough, a legend desperate to win the one trophy which had eluded him.
I was late. Held up by traffic congestion, the crawl to Sheffield Wednesday’s stadium was fretful.
The match was to be beamed live on TV – a rare occurrence in those days – but that only raised the importance of ensuring I was at the ground in good time to ring the Express & Star sportsdesk and dictate the two teams before beginning a running report of the match.
Steady down, I told myself. Each pub I passed was overflowing with red-shirted Liverpool supporters enjoying a pint under the warming sun little knowing, like me, the role they would play in the events to follow. Half an hour to kick off. If they weren’t worried, why should I be?
If I’m honest, the next thing I recall is the game starting. Just like any other game. Sure I was aware that, to our left, where the Liverpool fans were supposed to have gathered, there were vacant spaces either side of a congested, straining central area.
Where were they all? I thought. This is one of the best supported teams in the country. No matter. The game is on. An attack by Liverpool ending with Peter Beardsley striking an effort against the bar.
“Okay,” I said to the ‘copytaker’ waiting to dictate my report in Queen Street. “Let’s get going. First par: ‘Liverpool began brightly with a move that almost brought them an . . . hang on . . . it’s all kicking off in the Liverpool end . . . oh Jeez, what are they doing . . . hang on . . . they might have to stop this . . .’
And that’s pretty much the last coherent thought I remember issuing that day. What seemed like an eternity later, I recall our sports editor at the time, Brian Clifford, saying ‘Swainey, it’s OK, we’re seeing it all on TV, we’ll take it from here. Get something for Monday.’ But not much else.
I’ve never properly thanked Brian for somehow understanding that his reporter at Hillsborough was, by then, in a state of total shock. Of no bloody use to him whatsoever. I was there for a football match but by the time I heard those words they had carried out the first victims and covered their faces with blankets. In the penalty area. That meant they were dead. And that was Hillsborough, April 15, 1989.
I’m not a hack who has spent much time collecting memorabilia but, in a bedside table, I have the programme for Liverpool v Forest, an FA Cup semi-final which lasted but a few minutes before it was abandoned.
I never look at it. I know it’s there. A bit like my memories of the whole, ghastly experience. I never look at them, but I know they are there.
Actually, I have one other really vivid recollection. Even as the enormity of the tragedy was becoming clear to those of us who stared at the Leppings Lane End in a stunned disbelief, a Forest fan wandered down the walkway in front of the press box and began venting abusive scorn towards the Liverpool supporters who, he did not know, were being crushed to death.
This was four years after Heysel where Liverpool fans had fought with, and been blamed for the death of, Juventus supporters. English clubs were banned from Europe and the prime minister of the day, Margaret Thatcher, fully endorsed the suspension. There was no such thing as society, she claimed. And if there was, football supporters were a sub-human culture which existed beneath it.
If Liverpool fans were spilling on to the pitch in a desperate scramble to get out of the pens which were killing them, it can only have been to cause trouble. To threaten the Forest fans at the other end of the ground.
Such was the tragedy, the lunacy of Hillsborough, that while innocent young football fans were having the air crushed from their lungs, the police were more concerned about forming a cordon across the halfway line to prevent them getting at rival fans.
You have all heard the stories by now. The inevitable, wholly understandable demand for justice from bereaved families let down by a startled and incompetent police force who, it is claimed with good supporting evidence, falsified reports and even stole video tape to protect their mishandling of this grotesque human calamity. For me, there is just a numbness about the entire experience. Later that day, we were ushered over to Hillsborough’s gymnasium, which became an emergency morgue, for a briefing from a police official.
I took one brief look inside, saw the vomit on the chests and blood under the noses of those poor, terrified, desperate people and walked away.
Those who stayed later needed counselling . . . but we don’t talk about it. We never do. These are the first words I have written about the whole sorry day since. I hope they are the last. I can do no justice, offer absolutely nothing, to those poor people who died.
I just stood there and watched their children, their sisters, brothers, fathers and mothers, pulled out, one by one. I was speechless and immobile.
They were dead.
I’m ashamed I could do no more and can only hope their cruel, senseless, terrible passing will one day be explained to their loved ones and ensure that no-one ever again suffers such a desperate fate.
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Martin – that is so powerful mate – it brings tears to my eyes just reading it… how you ever managed to write it I can’t imagine.
I can remember driving home on that saturday afternoon and hearing on the radio that 2 people were reported dead at the match – and i couldn’t believe that 2 people could die at a football match.
The feeling as the numbers went higher and higher throughout the day – it was just dumbing and I will never forget it.
The 96 that died should never ever be forgotten and their deaths should be a reminder to everyone who wants to bring back the terraces to improve “the atmosphere”.
God bless them all.
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An emotive and excellent article. I remember excitedly sitting down to watch the game and witnessing the tradegy unfold.
While at university i wrote a paper that investigated the changes in football ground match day management since the tradegies of both Hillsborough and Bradford, and gained an understanding of why we now have the systems in place at our modern grounds. This morning i listened to a radio debate arguing the case for the return of standing areas within grounds, and although i hold pleasant nostalgic feelings for terracing, my mind always drifts back to tradegies that wouldnt/couldnt happen today due to the taylor report and new stadia.
We all attend football matches due to our love for the game, Hillsborough should never be forgotten, but more importantly it should never be allowed to happen again.
96 gone never forgotten.
RIP
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A sorry day for football. The truth has never come out properly.
Wolves fans that went to the semi-final v Spurs can tell you that there were problems with Hillsborough and the Leppings Lane stand. Due to overcrowding Spurs fans were taken out of there to be put in the Kop next to Wolves fans.
The Liverpool 96 RIP.
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Like everyone, remember the day well. At Aldershot on a sunny day to watch Wolves. My mate had a radio and we heard the news coming in. Left the match early as it seemed entirely pointless.A terrible tragedy.
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Martin, a very very powerful piece of writing which really has bought the whole moment back to me. I was watching on TV with my mother and remember being completly devastated by what I was seeing.
A truly tragic day that should never be forgotton.
What followed this tragedy showed the positive side of football, where the family of football came together to show its heartfelt sympathy to the Liverpool Kop.
My father and I drove to Liverpool and layed a bouquet of flowers with a Wolves scarf round it. We layed it next to a WBA scarf which I felt said it all.
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I was away watching the wolves play at Aldershot when it came over the radios on the terraces about what was happening at Hillsborough.
My first thoughts were of my Liverpool supporting work mate,who I knew was attending the game. This was before the days of mobile phones and I didn’t know he was ok until Monday morning. He is a tall lad about 6ft 2. He said he got there early and entered the middle section first,which was cramped but beng tall he could see there were spaces at the side so he moved. He said he went to see a game of football and didn’t expect to see dead people.
God Bless all of those who died.
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A very powerful piece of writing Martin,
This bought the whole moment flooding back to me and has bought back so many vivid memories of watching it unfold with my mother on TV.
I also remember the positive side of football coming to the fore, when the family of football came together to show it heartfelt sympathy for the victims of that tragic day.
My father and I drove up to Liverpool and layed a bouquet of flowers with a Wolves scarf wrapped around it and layed it infront of the Kop, we layed it next to an Albion scarf, which I felt said it all. The family of football feels your pain.
We must never forget.
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Like all football fans I sat down to watch the match and as the events unfoulded, I remember sitting there watching as the tradegy occured,I remember crying throughout the day and still do now when I watch or read about it.
The people responsible (F.A & Police)for this happening will I fear never be brought to justice (why give Liverpool fans the smallest end?), as for seating – yes they are better, but I fear that in the event of an emergency they could be even more dangerous because unfortunatly people do not “walk” out in single file – they tend to panic! and a couple of thousand clambering over seats is too horrible to think about.
RIP the 96 We will never forget…..
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tragic,just tragic,rip.
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Cant imagine the pain of being there it was bad enouth watch on tv. hope we never have anything happen like this again. R.I.P.
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sorry I wrote the same thing twice. I kept gettting a failure message.
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Watching football focus on Saturday really bought home the tragic events that unfolded on that sad day. I was 12 at the time and just sat there dumbfounded at what I was witnessing. Your piece Martin has aroused the feeling of a united footballing family…united in our love of football but also united in grief! God bless the 96 at Hillsborough and all football fans that lost thier lives watching the game they loved!
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A very powerful piece from you Martin, brings the memories rushing back! As brummierob said I was at Hillsborough when the Spurs fans were moved in 82 – it could have happened then. The police made the decision to push too many people into one section, then the decision to line the police up to prevent any problems (ie: violence) prevented the injured being treated! It is sheer complacency that states it can’t happen in seats! Because it was bad decisions that cost lives!!!
RIP the 96 fans that lost their lives that day
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3. I was also at Hillsborough that day and recall the problems with Spurs fans in Leppings lane end.Initially thought it was trouble and a pitch invasion but soon realised they were having safety problems. Had the fences been up that day this tradegy would have occured 8 years earlier. Remember Spurs fans lining the touchlines to watch the game.
Also went to watch Wolves at Sheff Wed on Boxing Day in 89. Sat in seats above, and twisted barriers were still there below us as a reminder. Only seats open in Leppings Lane that season.
Liverpool 96 RIP
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Wolves and Baggies United. RIP 96
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Mr Swain, that piece is an outstanding piece of journalism. The memory of Hillsborough could never be forgotten by football fans in the UK. Justice for those families has never been settled, and no doubt the people who are to “blame” will never be brought to justice, but for what I will say is this. Football in this country has learnt a massive lesson. The bedrock of football is not the money, the managers, clubs, players, agents, etc etc it the FANS! The fans who died on that fateful day have left a legacy to way the football is now today. All seater stadiums etc etc. Each one of those fans will be remembered by fans across the uk as much as fans who lost their lives at bradford, heysul, and many other tradies before then. Football fans must unite in sorrow and remember its only a game. As much as banter between rival fans are often funny as well as abit below the belt we can all say we would never think football is a place where you will never return home from a match. I hope we dont have to hear about another tragedy on the terraces again.
To all who lost their lives 20 years ago R.I.P
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although i was only 3 at the time, i dont remember a lot about the actual day itself but i have grown up knowing about the tragedy that happened that day & also realising how lucky i have been to attend matches in safety that these people should have been protected by!
it appalls me to think of what happened & any football regardless of age, sex or team will be haunted by this forever. sadly it seems that the authorities do not learn from this, only weeks ago there was a similar disaster in a game in africa, and although on a smaller scale there were still too many lives lost. we should be able to go out & support our teams with pride, passion & most importantly the knowledge that we are all safe
this tragedy must never be forgotten & we must always remember the 96!! rip!!
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I was 9 at the time and was sitting in front of the tv watching dead bodies being carried onto the pitch thinking “i stand at the front of the south bank up against the fence that could be me”! I’d never thought about my own mortality before. I remember going to molineux the following week with my dad against my moms wishes and seeing bucket after bucket full of money for the victims and their families in the pubs and outside the ground and my dad saying “football fans are a family and we look after our own, it doesn’t matter who you support” that’s always stuck with me. The terrible events of that day mean we now have the safest grounds in the world of football and guarentee those 96 who died didn’t do so in vain. It’s just a shame it took this disaster to bring about change!
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The Heysel, Hillsborough and Valley Parade tragedies were all terrible shocks and made me want to give up on sport altogether. With hindsight all the real culprits have got off with it because they either treated fans as cattle fodder or plain hooligans. But at the end of the day the true football supporter has benefitted in the UK from the lives of the poor victims of these tragedies. We must always remember these people and those who died at Burnden Park, Ibrox (Twice), in South America, Asia and is often happening in Africa.
At Hillsborough at the semifinal vs Spurs I left the Kop and did not put my feet on the ground all the way down the stairs, I had no control over my destiny for 5 minutes. It is an experience I had never had before or since (and I have been to many big matches). Thinking back it was because they had put the Spurs fans in the left hand section and blocked the exits there! It forced us to exit over the top.
A moving and sincere article by Martin Swain, and has made me reflect even more and I believe it is our duty to remember all the victims and their families, friends and loved ones, and try to continue to insist on a better level of facility and treatment of true football supporters.
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I was at Hillsborough for the ’81 semi final against Spurs. All Wolves fans will have witnessed hundreds of Spurs fans spilling onto the pitch at halftime due to congestion at the Leppings Lane end.For the second half a lot of the Spurs fans sat on the verge .Why didn’t someone who was in charge of safety not pick up this potential problem at the time? Many people complain about excessive health and safety,but we need to reflect that too much health and safety is a lot better than inadequate health and safety.
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It is very easy to lay the blame at the feet of the Police on the day – I was not there and therefore do not know who was to blame for this tragedy. However, as was so eloquently reported by Martin above, the police were so pre occupied with keeping the opposition fans apart that they apparently did not see the bigger picture unfolding.
This reaction by the police was, however, surely a direct consequence of their need to separate opposition fans and therin lies the problem. We (football fans) should not need police presence at football matches! I am as passionate as the next person anout the beautiful game and Wolves in particular, but just because somebody else supports another team, I do not have an overwhelming desire to do them harm! If we all supported one team, there would be no football and that is what makes the mindless hooliganism from the minority of society so difficult to understand! Without them, the police on duty at Hillsborough on that fateful day may have been able to concentrate their efforts on saving the tragic victims and not have their thoughts primarily dominated by trying to keep opposition fans apart.
I recently attended the Coventry v Wolves game but was unfortunately in the Coventry end! My mate and I had some good banter with the Coventry fans, especially when we were awarded the last minute penalty. At the end of the game we said “well done and good luck for the rest of the season”. Inside we were gutted that we had lost but we did not feel the need to punch someone because of the defeat and surely that is what football should be about, after all look where we are now in terms of potential promotion!
It is devastating that it took a tragedy of this or any size for improvements to be made to our grounds to ensure the fans safety and for police to review the manner in which they act at football matches but I would also ask that the next time some yob wants to lash out at a fan of a rival team, they should also think of the possible consequences!
RIP 96
NEVER FORGOTTEN!
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I,like many of those who have commented already was moved to tears by this fantastic piece of writing. I took a call from a friend this morning who supports Chelsea. On the 15th April 1989, I rang him around 11.30am and asked him if he wanted to come down to Aldershot with me to watch the Wolves play. It was a gorgeous sunny afternoon and the visiting fans were penned into a ramshackled old stand that was a disgrace even by the standards of 1989. Wolves being top of the division were used to taking 3,000 plus to away matches and the facilities that day we worst than most. Mid way through the first half the news started to filter through about what was happening in Sheffield. Trouble was the first assumption, how wrong we were! As the match continued, it started to dawn on everyone that this was serious, and then how exposed we were given the condition of the stand we were in. As I look back on the that day now and hear the debate that seems to rage on about sitting versus standing (a pointless one in my opinion) I can’t help but think of that afternoon in Sheffield and my experiences against that backdrop. Whilst the dead can never be bought back to us and we should never forget, their legacy is in grounds like Molineux, Old Trafford, The Hawthorns and the Emirates. I took some children to see Wolves play on Friday and never once worried for their safety, they would never have gone to Aldershot with me. The only good thing that ever came from this is that is truly changed football and for that we should be thankful.
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Like several others on here, I was only young (13). Looking back, I’m more affected now by what happened, than I was at the time when I was only 13. I loved the old Southbank terrace but I’m glad we can wtch matches in much more safety now. Having read many peoples views of that day on various football forums, it’s fair to say there were many contributing factors to the tragedy that unfolded. However, one thing that we should all be in agreement with, is that justice must be done and a new enquiry should be opened with all previously unseen evidence brought to the fore. The original enquiry stated that they were all dead by 3.15pm. Police and ambulance officers stated that some were still alive at 3.55pm. To end the families grieving, the truth MUST be told.
May the Hillsborough 96 rest in peace.
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Very moving article Martin, even though it was 20 years ago I remember watching it unfold on t.v (I also had the misfortune to see the bradford fire live on tv too)and it was something that I’ll never forget my thoughts go out to the families and friends of the 96. R.I.P.
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still such an emotive and poignant event. The footage brings it all back. Well done to Martin Swain for writing this, and in an age when every emotion is played out in front of the media at the slightest opportunity, good to see a more measured approach, reminiscent of our grandfathers and their war memories.
RIP all of those who died, and sympathy always to their families and to all those who suffered that day and suffer still.
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scottwolf, you are way of beam about the Police. The match day commanders WERE very much to blame.
They made the crucial decisions that affected the outcome of that tragic day, nobody else.
They took the decision to open the gates and let people in instead of going through the turnstiles, nobody else.
They won’t be charged because the ”establishment” looks after its own. They will now all be retired on inflated pensions
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Moving words Martin, and with every football fan in this country, the 96 who died that day live on.
I remember watching it on TV, and knowing something terrible had happened from the start.
RIP friends, and maybe one day Justice will be done for you.
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English Exile
As I said I was not there and do not know who was to blame, my point was just that the only good thing that came from this tragedy was the improved safety at most grounds, it is a pity that other negative aspects could not be improved as well.
A disaster of this proportion must surely put into perspective the fact that it is only a game and that 1 human life is worth more than any football rivalry
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