The Hillsborough Disaster on April 15 1989, was a fatal human crush of Liverpool football fans, with 97 deaths and hundreds of injuries at the hands of police mistakes. Over 30 years later, Liverpool fans are still blamed and taunted. This month, on 5 November, Luton fans chanted ‘always the victims’ directly at Liverpool fans, which is unacceptable.
In this news feature today, I’ll share the history of the disaster and speak to the Chairman of the Hillsborough Survivors Support Alliance, Peter Scarfe. Additionally, I’ll be sharing the story of Anthony (Tony) Hynes, a Hillsborough survivor, in hopes of stopping tragedy chanting.
Tony Hynes, Hillsborough Survivor. Copyright: Richard Townshend Photography.
“I am originally from Liverpool. Lifelong Liverpool fan… I was in Pen 3 as a 17-year-old lad.”
It was the 1989 FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, with Liverpool supporters allocated the stadium’s west end, all having to use one entrance on Leppings Lane.
“I’d never seen a crowd like it.”
Due to heavy traffic and a limited number of turnstiles, crowding formed. To ease congestion, Police Superintendent David Duckenfield opened an exit gate to allow fans to get in, heading straight into packed pens 3 and 4.
Tony entered through this into pen 3, hoping to get into pen 2, the same spot he was in the year before. “You just couldn’t get into it.. you couldn’t move. You were just squashed, and you were just pushed. And it just got worse.”
“You weren’t watching the football. You were just trying to somehow make some space for yourself, which it was impossible.”
Memorial for the 97 lives lost due to the disaster. Copyright: Kenny1 | Dreamstime.com
At 3.06 p.m, just 6 minutes after kick-off, the match had been called off.
“You were pushed against the bar… it was go over or go under. So, I climbed, I went over it. Two lads went under it. I got to the other side and one lad I managed to pick him up. I don’t know where the other lad went.”
“There were people, incredibly brave, because they were stood there the other side of the railings, them railings could have collapsed any time, and they would put their hands through to help you get up and climb over.”
“I was safe then… I was naïve, I just thought you could sit on the side of the pitch, and they’d start the game again… I didn’t realise how severe it was at the time.”
The match was announced abandoned, and people headed back to the coaches.
“It’s quite rowdy on the coach after a football match, a lot of laughter and that and it wasn’t. It was just a silence.”
All seated stadia at Anfield: Lord Justice Taylor’s Report of the Inquiry into the Hillsborough Stadium Disaster recommended that all grounds should be all-seated. Image Credit: Anna Hynes.
On the way home, Tony’s coach stopped at a service station. “That stage you knew people had died, the numbers were just going up and up.” Tony queued for a phone.
“Just needed to get a message to my mum… I couldn’t speak… said ‘I’m here, I’m okay’ and that was it, put the phone down.”
The following days saw Duckenfield falsely claim to the media that the gate was ‘forced’ by Liverpool fans. On April 19, ‘The Sun’ newspaper produced a front page headlined ‘The Truth’. As The Independent notes, ‘the toxicity of the allegations has not faded with the years’. These allegations included that Liverpool fans stole from the dead, urinated on them, and beat up police helping the victims.
“I don’t think I wanted to read the newspapers… there soon became the rumours that the police were blaming Liverpool fans. That was just lies because you knew it wasn’t like that. There was no trouble, no one was drunk… to say that drunken fans stormed the gates… that’s not how you went to football matches in them days.”
In January 1990, Lord Justice Taylor ruled the failure to close the tunnel was a ‘blunder of the first magnitude’ and Duckenfield ‘failed to take effective control’. Despite Duckenfield admitting in March 2015 that not closing the tunnel before opening the gate ‘was the direct cause of the deaths of 96 people’, he’s legally innocent.
Tony added, “Justice will never be done by, the police got away with it… the loss of video tapes, the amendments to statements, the blatant lies,… there were so many mistakes made by many many people, and to blame it on the Liverpool fans, it’s never gone away.”
Interview with Peter Scarfe, Chairman of the Hillsborough Survivors Support Alliance. An ‘an all-inclusive group that provides support to anyone that has been affected by the events that took place at Hillsborough on April 15 1989‘.
It took until April 2016 for an inquest to conclude the victims were unlawfully killed. It’s agreed fans played no part in the deaths and instead blamed police failures, stadium design faults, and a delayed response from the ambulance.
“There are still people … who point a finger at Liverpool fans that day, it could have happened to anyone, any club, whoever was in the semi-final that day.”
Government petition on tragedy chanting and what more needs to happen to stop the chanting.
As a final statement, Tony said, “I kept it inside myself that I was just one of many people to get caught up in a tragedy. We live with it every day. You never forget it”.
As an aspiring sports journalist, I believe it’s my obligation to use my platform in a positive way and to give a voice to those who should be heard. I recognise this as a great privilege and responsibility to do so.
I hope all now reflect upon their own behaviours and known that it’s unacceptable to chant about tragedies and deaths. Finally, to all those affected by Hillsborough, know that you are seen, you are heard, and you’ll never walk alone.
Full interview with Peter Scarfe. HSA website: https://www.hsa-us.co.uk