15 April 2010
Twenty-one years to the day we sat in the Kop to remember and pledge our support for justice that has been so long in the waiting.
On 15 April 1989 thousands of Liverpool supporters traveled to Sheffield to a FA Cup Semi-Final Game against Nottingham Forrest. The traveled by coach, car, train...however they could to see their beloved Reds take on Forrest at Hillsborough Stadium.
96 never came back.
Twenty-one years on and Liverpool...the City, the club, the supporters, and the families are still searching for Justice for the 96. There are better places to get the hard facts, I will list them near the bottom for more reading. Before Hillsborough, before the Taylor report that came after it, fans were put into standing pens...like animals. Which in Thatcher's England that is what they were. The stadium was a disgrace and had been the sight of an earlier crush in 1981. The police were unprepared and inept in dealing with the event.
Oh they had been told to watch out for, "those Scouse bastards" and plagued fans all the way from the motorway to the stadium. They sat and watched as people died. People...mothers, fathers, daughter, sons, grandparents...died.
And the police sat on their hands and lied. The chief superintendent said there was a "pitch invasion" that a gate was forced open. That Liverpool supporters had "shown up late, without tickets, and drunk."
Families rushed however they could to Sheffield to learn about their loved ones, because this isn't the modern age, instant messaging and cell phones didn't exist. There was no Internet. Families and friends that had been separated tried anyway they could to find out what was happening the were taken by bus to hospitals and then back to a nearby gymnasium that had been turned into a morgue. There they were forced to look at Polaroid pictures pinned to a wall, then questioned like guilty parties on how much their son or daughter had to drink, how much they had had to drink. Once identified bodies were whisked away, "property of the coroner."
Lord Justice Taylor was head of the first inquest in which he exonerated the fans and laid the blame on the police and stadium management. The Taylor Report change the way stadiums were run, built, and controlled. But then the cover up came. And the out and out lies.
Another inquest was begun by the West Midlands Police Department, investigating the South Yorkshire Police Department. And the lies and cover up began in earnest. Families were drug in and out of courtrooms for years, finding new evidence and seeing it never come to light.
"The Sun" newspaper ran an article that was nothing more than propaganda and fancy. The full page headline said..."The Truth: Some Fans Picked the Pockets of Victims. Some Fans Urinated on the Brave Cops. Some Fans Beat Up PC Giving the Kiss of Life." All lies, purportedly overheard in a pub and ran to make money. Fact is it was fans out there "giving the kiss of life." Fans who tore down advertisement boards to carry victims out to the ambulances that the police wouldn't let in. Fans who had been crying for days and would cry for days more.
The search for the Real Truth goes on, and still the people of Liverpool fight for justice. Not just the families, the Club, the supporters, but the entire City. This is one of those things that makes Liverpool very special. Even the cross town rivals Everton care, they were there in the aftermath, a line of scarves and flowers crossed Stanley Park which separates the clubs stadiums. They were there then and they are still there twenty-one years later. They cried out for "Justice for the 96" with the rest of us. They even sang our anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone" the people care. Try and imagine your hometown doing that, standing together on something for so long.
A moment of silence was started with the blow of the refs whistle at 3:06, the time when the match was called off. A silence that draped the whole city and then the church bells rang 96 times. Prayers were said, hymns were sung, candles lit, and 96 balloons were set free into the sky.
Liverpool has been doing this for twenty-one years and if need be will surely go on for eternity. But God I hope they don't have to.
Below are the names and the ages of the 96.
Rest In Peace
Rest In Peace
- John Alfred Anderson (62)
- Colin Mark Ashcroft (19)
- James Gary Aspinall (18)
- Kester Roger Marcus Ball (16)
- Gerard Bernard Patrick Baron (67)
- Simon Bell (17)
- Barry Sidney Bennett (26)
- David John Benson (22)
- David William Birtle (22)
- Tony Bland (22)
- Paul David Brady (21)
- Andrew Mark Brookes (26)
- Carl Brown (18)
- David Steven Brown (25)
- Henry Thomas Burke (47)
- Peter Andrew Burkett (24)
- Paul William Carlile (19)
- Raymond Thomas Chapman (50)
- Gary Christopher Church (19)
- Joseph Clark (29)
- Paul Clark (18)
- Gary Collins (22)
- Stephen Paul Copoc (20)
- Tracey Elizabeth Cox (23)
- James Philip Delaney (19)
- Christopher Barry Devonside (18)
- Christopher Edwards (29)
- Vincent Michael Fitzsimmons (34)
- Thomas Steven Fox (21)
- Jon-Paul Gilhooley (10)
- Barry Glover (27)
- Ian Thomas Glover (20)
- Derrick George Godwin (24)
- Roy Harry Hamilton (34)
- Philip Hammond (14)
- Eric Hankin (33)
- Gary Harrison (27)
- Stephen Francis Harrison (31)
- Peter Andrew Harrison (15)
- David Hawley (39)
- James Robert Hennessy (29)
- Paul Anthony Hewitson (26)
- Carl Darren Hewitt (17)
- Nicholas Michael Hewitt (16)
- Sarah Louise Hicks (19)
- Victoria Jane Hicks (15)
- Gordon Rodney Horn (20)
- Arthur Horrocks (41)
- Thomas Howard (39)
- Thomas Anthony Howard (14)
- Eric George Hughes (42)
- Alan Johnston (29)
- Christine Anne Jones (27)
- Gary Philip Jones (18)
- Richard Jones (25)
- Nicholas Peter Joynes (27)
- Anthony Peter Kelly (29)
- Michael David Kelly (38)
- Carl David Lewis (18)
- David William Mather (19)
- Brian Christopher Mathews (38)
- Francis Joseph McAllister (27)
- John McBrien (18)
- Marion Hazel McCabe (21)
- Joseph Daniel McCarthy (21)
- Peter McDonnell (21)
- Alan McGlone (28)
- Keith McGrath (17)
- Paul Brian Murray (14)
- Lee Nicol (14)
- Stephen Francis O'Neill (17)
- Jonathon Owens (18)
- William Roy Pemberton (23)
- Carl William Rimmer (21)
- David George Rimmer (38)
- Graham John Roberts (24)
- Steven Joseph Robinson (17)
- Henry Charles Rogers (17)
- Colin Andrew Hugh William Sefton (23)
- Inger Shah (38)
- Paula Ann Smith (26)
- Adam Edward Spearritt (14)
- Philip John Steele (15)
- David Leonard Thomas (23)
- Patrik John Thompson (35)
- Peter Reuben Thompson (30)
- Stuart Paul William Thompson (17)
- Peter Francis Tootle (21)
- Christopher James Traynor (26)
- Martin Kevin Traynor (16)
- Kevin Tyrrell (15)
- Colin Wafer (19)
- Ian David Whelan (19)
- Martin Kenneth Wild (29)
- Kevin Daniel Williams (15)
- Graham John Wright (17)
http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=hillsborough+
That's all I've got for now. I am a bit drained and moved, but remind me next time, cos I do have a funny anecdote from the day. I just wanted this to stand on it's own. I could go on and on, but I just wanted to say Something...Anything.
Oh, one more thing. When Rafael Benitez was fired (again Mutual Agreement my arse) he donated 96,000 Pounds to the Hillsborough Family Support Group, tell me he's not a stand up guy. A guy we shoulda kept, I know it's "All Hands on Deck" for Roy now but...Rafa you were a class act.
Cheers
g
"Justice for the 96!"
Very well done, moving tribute to the 96.
ReplyDeleteYou are a bit of a class act yourself.