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.[3] 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.[4] From 1974, when these security standards were largely put in place, English stadiums had an increasing amount of crushes.[5]
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.[5] 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.[6] 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.
Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield
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 considerable 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.[8]
The scene outside the ground as the disaster began.A bottleneck developed with more fans arriving than could enter the two cages set in the middle of the Leppings Lane Stand. People who had been refused entry could not leave the area because of the crush behind them but remained as an obstruction. The fans outside could hear the cheering from inside as the teams came on the pitch ten minutes before the match started, and again as the match kicked off, but could not get in; the start was not delayed while the fans got in. A small gate was opened to eject someone, and twenty people got in through it.[9] A side gate was opened to ease the build-up. With an estimated 5,000 fans trying to get through the turnstiles, and increasing security concerns over crushing outside the turnstiles, the police, to avoid deaths outside the ground, opened a set of gates, intended as an exit, which did not have turnstiles (Gate C).[10] This caused a rush of supporters through the gate into the stadium.
For some time, the problem at the front of the pen was not noticed by anybody other than those affected; the attention of most people was absorbed by the match, which had already begun. It was not until 3:06 pm that the referee, Ray Lewis, after being advised by the police, stopped the match several minutes after fans had started climbing the fence to escape the crush. By this time, a small gate in the fencing had been forced open and some fans escaped via this route; others continued to climb over the fencing, and 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 due to the desperate tearing at them from fans attempting rescue.[11]
Liverpool fans desperately try to climb the fence onto the safety of the pitch.The fans were packed so tightly in the pens that many of the fatalities died standing up of compressive asphyxia. The pitch quickly started to fill with people sweating and gasping for breath and injured by crushing, and with the bodies of the dead. The police, stewards and St John ambulance service present at the stadium were overwhelmed. Uninjured fans helped as best they could, many attempting CPR and some tearing down advertising boards to act as temporary stretchers.[11]
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 supporters to waiting ambulances, and were forcibly turned back. Forty-four ambulances had arrived at the stadium but police prevented all but one from entering.
Only 14 of the 96 fatalities ever arrived at a hospital.[11]
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.[1]
79 of the fatalities were aged 30 or younger. Two sisters, three pairs of brothers and a father and son were among the fatalities.[12]
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.[16]
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.[5] 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.[6] 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.[7] 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 considerable 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.[8]
The crush
The result was that an influx of many thousands of fans 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, where people were being pressed up 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 have directed fans to the side pens, but on this occasion they did not, for reasons which have never been fully explained.[11] A BBC TV news report said that if the police had posted two police horses correctly, they would have acted as breakwaters directing some fans into the side pens, but that was not done.For some time, the problem at the front of the pen was not noticed by anybody other than those affected; the attention of most people was absorbed by the match, which had already begun. It was not until 3:06 pm that the referee, Ray Lewis, after being advised by the police, stopped the match several minutes after fans had started climbing the fence to escape the crush. By this time, a small gate in the fencing had been forced open and some fans escaped via this route; others continued to climb over the fencing, and 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 due to the desperate tearing at them from fans attempting rescue.[11]
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 supporters to waiting ambulances, and were forcibly turned back. Forty-four ambulances had arrived at the stadium but police prevented all but one from entering.
Only 14 of the 96 fatalities ever arrived at a hospital.[11]
Aftermath
94 people whose ages ranged from 10 to 67 years died on the day,[12] with 766 other fans injured: around 300 of whom were hospitalised.[13] 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.[14][15] 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.[14]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.[1]
79 of the fatalities were aged 30 or younger. Two sisters, three pairs of brothers and a father and son were among the fatalities.[12]
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.[16]
