Why the bitterness still lingers 15 years after Hillsborough

Fifteen years have passed since one of the worst tragedies in football. On April 15, 1989, thousands of Liverpool fans set off for Hillsborough to watch their team play in the FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest.

Tragically, 96 of them were never to return home alive.

Unfortunately, there are still many who believe that the fans were to blame for this tragedy. In reality, nothing could be farther from the truth. By 1989, English football had managed to overcome the hooliganism problem that had blighted the game for well over a decade and there certainly was no crowd trouble that day in Sheffield.

When it comes to the semi-final stage, the FA Cup is played at a neutral venue. Both teams are allocated different sections at the chosen ground so that theoretically they have an equal number of fans at the game.

Tickets for such events are always scarce and this was the case in 1989, particularly for Liverpool fans who had been allocated the smaller end of Hillsborough.

Most fans set off early, yet there was a large influx at the Lepping Lane end with around half-an-hour to go for kick-off. It transpired that a number of coaches had arrived late having experienced delays due to road works and police searches. As a result, a large number of fans descended on the turnstiles at one go thereby creating a bottle-neck where over 10,000 fans had to pass through just three gates.

It was at this point that someone decided to open Gate C, an exit gate normally used at the end of matches when fans leave the ground. With no one to check whether the end was full, and with the supporters being directed to go through the gate it was a perfect recipe for disaster.

And, sadly, that is how it turned out to be. Those on the inside were struggling to breathe as the numbers swelled. Eventually, 96 died through crush asphyxia.

Anyone who has visited an English stadium over the past 15 years can vouch for the security and comfort that is to be found.

Indeed, these same stadiums have undergone a radical change thanks also to the millions of pounds that have been invested with the aim of improving the safety of those who go there.

This change was brought about after the Hillsborough tragedy when the British government commissioned Lord Justice Taylor to prepare a report about the tragedy, which report was to include suggestions on what steps had to be taken to avoid something of the same magnitude ever happening again.

Lord Justice Taylor concluded that all barriers caging in the fans had to be removed and that grounds had to be converted into all-seater stadiums.

But he also shed light on many other issues of the tragedy. Although he refrained from blaming one single person, he did declare that "the main reason for the disaster was the failure by the police to control the situation."

Different reactions

He condemned the stance taken by Chief Superintendent Duckenfield who was the highest-ranking official at Hillsborough.

It was Duckenfield who declared that Gate C had been opened by the supporters, something that Lord Justice Taylor described as a "lie".

In fact, the gate had been opened by policemen who had failed to realise what their action could lead to. According to Lord Justice Taylor, Duckenfield "froze" when he realised what was happening and failed to issue the orders that would have prevented the tragedy.

Not all the policemen had the same reaction. When one particular constable tried opening a gate to let people out, the sergeant who was in charge of that area ordered him to refrain from doing so. Fortunately, the policemen opted not to listen to him thus saving a number of lives.

If the results of Lord Justice Taylor's report are worrying, then the experiences of those supporters who were there are horrifying.

Many tell of the indifference and arrogance shown by the policemen. Eddie Spearrit was watching the game with his son Adam.

He says: "I turned towards Adam and it was obvious that he was suffering. There was a policeman nearby to the left, just five or six feet away and I started asking him to open the gate... I was screaming 'my son is dying'.

"I began begging him to help me but he did nothing."

Adam, 14, fell into a coma and Eddie never saw him alive again.

The biggest controversy was reserved to the findings of two TV programmes World in Action and the documentary Hillsborough.

When Lord Justice Taylor was compiling his report, he was told that the CCTV cameras hadn't been working. Yet, researchers for World in Action found tapes that had been shot by the same cameras. These tapes clearly showed people were getting crushed - clear evidence that the police could have limited the disaster had they acted promptly.

Fifteen years after the tragedy, many feel that justice hasn't been done with the relatives of those who died at Hillsborough. The bitterness over what happened still lingers on.

Yet, if some consolation is to be drawn from this tragic event, it is that football has become much safer. For, regardless of the all-consuming passion that often animates fans, no one should ever leave for a game and not return home alive.