The Hillsborough Disaster was not an accident, but it was waiting to happen.
You read about fans of other clubs than Liverpool being involved in crushes in the Leppings Lane end in previous Cup semi-finals. Fans were segregated and herded into areas they maybe didn't have tickets for. They were herded in like cattle with no escape route as Sheffield Wednesday's board, like many others, had decided to erect wire pens to keep the fans from invading the pitch. Did they forsee the possibility of fans invading the pitch to save their own lives? If they didn't they must have been pretty fucking thick.
It would be impossible to have complete justice for the tragedy. Unless you could imprison a Thatcherite mindset.
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Whenever we scoff at the latest Health and Safety restrictions (and I'm as guilty as anyone) we should think of this.
ReplyDeleteI was always a bit frightened when I stood up at matches. You're just so vulnerable, especially when leaving. The "Remember Ibrox" sign at Upton Park wasn't particularly comforting.
ReplyDeleteAnd that was without wire pens!
Wasn't there some talk of electrifying the wire pens, too? Chelsea, could it have been?
ReplyDeleteYes, that was kind uncle Ken Bates. According to Wikipedia "Bates had come up with the idea of an electric fence after the success it had when controlling cattle on his dairy farm."
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