There have been a lot of stories in the last few weeks and days about the impending 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough Disaster, which occurs this coming Wednesday. Clearly it was and still is a real tragedy that is rarely seen in the usually safe world of sport. Yet one of the saddest aspects about it is that almost twenty years on there remains a need for a campaign for justice.

 

 

The Hillsborough Justice Campaign continues to fight for a new enquiry into the loss of the 95 fans who died on 15th April 1989. The 96th and final victim Tony Bland never re-awoke from his coma and died in 1993. The reason for the ongoing campaign is linked with the fact that no person has ever been successfully prosecuted for their role in the disaster. Not only that but the original enquiry concluded that by 3.15pm on the day, all of the 96 victims had either died or were brain dead.

As a result of this outcome it was deemed unnecessary to delve into the actions of the Yorkshire Police force after that time. This is a very significant point because at 3.13pm the first and only ambulance arrived onto the pitch, and it soon became overwhelmed by the size and scale of the casualties. Meanwhile around forty other ambulances were gathering outside the ground but were denied access to the pitch. This was as a result of police communication which was still conveying that the incident occurring was related to football hooliganism.

Eye-witness accounts are certain that some lives could have been saved after the 3.15pm cut off point stipulated in the coroner's report. This information along with the way the police response was controlled has prolonged the sense of injustice by the families of the victims. If some of the ambulances and their crews had been allowed to join the lone St John's ambulance that made it onto the pitch at Hillsborough, it seems highly likely that a few of the 96 may have survived their injuries.

Of course there is also the underlying sense that the issue was whitewashed. The Taylor Report that followed the tragedy made significant and far-reaching changes to the dynamics of football in this country forever. Mistakes were highlighted and blame was attributed to some extent, but the closure of knowing that those responsible had to answer for their actions has never surfaced.

The police were blamed for their role in the build-up to the crush in the Leppings Lane End. This mostly consisted of a failure to control the crowds and to contribute to proper stewarding which could have directed fans away from the pens behind the goal and into the relatively empty side pens. More damningly the failure to delay the kick-off or to control the crowds coming into the ground before entering the stadium, contributed significantly to the overcrowding.

Naturally the opinion that it was twenty years ago and that pursuing it will change nothing holds little sway. Several players from the Liverpool team that day have poignantly said that if their family had been amongst the victims they too would still be campaigning for answers and ultimately for justice. Similarly, if you see the footage yourself and the pictures of twisted crash barriers in the aftermath, you can only imagine the unbearable pain and suffering that should never have occurred that day or any.

The infamous actions of the Sun newspaper in the aftermath have caused anger in Liverpool to this day, it is not helped that many allegations made were attributed to David Duckenfield, the chief superintendent on the scene. The factors raised concerning ticket-less fans and consumption of alcohol were acknowledged as minor contributory ones, but were subsequently dismissed as a way of trying to shift the blame onto those who were ultimately the victims.

Private prosecutions were attempted against Duckenfield and an officer called Bernard Murray in 2000. These came to nothing, which considering all the emotions of the case and the time difference, is perhaps not too surprising. On a more cynical note, you would be extremely hard-pressed to find many successful prosecutions against any police officers in the line of duty.

The Hillsborough disaster and the subsequent Taylor Report undoubtedly changed the nature of football to how it is now. The all-seater stadiums are the obvious result but also the knock-on effects of that. Going to football now is a far safer experience than it ever was before, fans have commented on many incidents prior to 1989 and the surprise that it didn't happen sooner, aside from the deaths at Ibrox in 1971 which should be noted.

The cost of the new stadiums have unfortunately contributed to the pricing-out of traditional, more working-class fans. Naturally emphasis must be placed on safety but the clubs can now afford to encourage back the fans who stuck by them during the darker years, when they were herded to the grounds and then placed behind bars to watch their team. It should be imperative as the major loss from losing the terraces has been to lose some of the atmosphere too, a point hit upon by Roy Keane's famous 'prawn sandwich eating' diatribe.

When Wednesday comes we should remember the 96 who perished at Hillsborough and the countless others affected by it since and hope that maybe one day the full answers will be known. Liverpool's manager that day Kenny Dalglish recalls in his autobiography the famous quote of one of his predecessors, Bill Shankly. With regards to football being more important than life and death, Shankly said "Listen, it's more important than that'." Dalglish more than anyone knows that this isn't really true at all...