Hillsborough: An Outsider's Perspective

Tonight I was in my local pub watching Liverpool's Europa cup game.

I was with a bunch of fellers I've been mates with since we were in our mid-teens (most of us are now only three or four years off 60).

The group is 'mixed', a majority of blues but a few reds.

They know, on the park, we blues are willing them (praying for them!) to lose every single game they play. They know we are wishing relegation and the worst humiliation on them - always (nb: and we know they are wishing the same on us).

But some of these lads, some of my best mates, were at Hillsborough in 1989.

They were all 'lucky' but have always understood, as has any supporter of any team who has given it any thought, 'there but for the grace of God go I'

Now I know that seems a rather trite thing to say, but let me try to give it some context and show it has meaning.

In 1985, I was at the Spurs-Everton game at White Hart Lane when we were going for the title. That night, for the first time ever, the thought 'shit, this isn't good - this could end very badly' occurred.

You simply could not move and it was genuinely frightening at times.

But we won 2-1, got out safely, everything but the great result almost forgotten.

And the reason it didn't go wrong?

Luck - that's it, dumb luck, pure and simple.

So after Hillsborough, it did occur that it could have been any supporter/s of any club at any game.

'There but for the grace of God go I', definitely more than a glib sentiment.

I remember my Dad telling me before going to the match on my own to keep my arms up around my ribs in case things got tight. So he must have known something from way back.

As much as I can't stand LFC, I watched the BBC tributes last night and felt a great sense of pride in the city. Those families / campaigners - I felt so happy for them. JFT96.

27 years.
To quote Neil Young ... the damage done.

I have posted before at the utter contempt shown by South Yorkshire Police because, 15 minutes before kick-off, they insisted boarding the coach "searching for alcohol" (like it is a fucking crime???), presumably with the intention of not allowing law abiding fans from attending the game just to piss them off?

Any grumbles at hurrying up were met with threats of arrest – presumably on some trumped up charge they would think up later. Anyway, we were lucky on my coach, we got in a couple of minutes after kick off and I saw all the goals. Loads of people didn't get in until half-time which meant they missed everything as it was over by half-time as a contest.

The main point of this ramble though is that I watched the footage yesterday and it has taken 28 years to realise that I was in Leppings Lane (although I was in the stand, not the pens), and given the circumstances above it could easily have turned into a surge and crush. It did make me think.

I was also at Villa Park and watching a programme on the cover-up I saw a document from someone in West Midlands Police force who wrote a letter about behaviour of drunken Everton fans at Villa Park and trying to make a character assassination connection that this type of behaviour was a "Liverpool thing".

I saw nothing out of the ordinary at Villa Park. Some lads got pissed, and then got dealt with, as will happen at every event including Royal Ascot and Wimbledon; 99%+just wanted to see the match. So the character assassination extended to Everton fans, 90 odd miles away and not connected to Hillsborough, just to protect criminally incompetent policemen.

In all the away matches I have attended over the years, the only two police forces I have ever experienced as being aggressive and prejudiced without any reason or cause have been South Yorkshire and West Midlands. It's not really a surprise that they have other been proven to be corrupt and failed organisations.

If I had my arms by my side it required a massive effort to get them up and in front of my chest where it felt safer. We were constantly off balance but couldn't move our feet to regain balance because of the crush. If anyone had gone down, they would never have got up again.

There was no question of celebrating when we scored to go one up, it was just all about keeping upright. By half-time, and it was a cool April night, we were soaked with sweat from the effort but managed to get out and got into the corner pen which was half-full.

On the way out we were abused by the police because we wanted to go home a different way to the rest of the crowd. My worst experience in a football ground.

1985, another step on the road to Hillsborough. It really could have been any football fans in the 1980s and if the draw had been different that year.......

The victory this week is for all football fans and victims of injustice as well as the families of the 96.

ps: Maybe the people taking flares and smoke bombs in should stop now.

The police deserve all they're going to get, I hope, regarding Hillsborough and whilst the 96 deaths are appalling the really sinister bit is the lies they spouted right from the start.

But remember this folks, lots of ordinary bobbies at the ground did the best they could DESPITE the malicious bastards in charge of them. And while it's easy to say, "All Coppers Are......you know the rest" the vast majority of bobbies, especially those in uniform, are anything but bent. It's their bosses who deserve to face the music.

(By the way, in the early '80s, if I could not attend GP due to being skint, we used to bunk in free of charge for the last 20 mins. They opened one of the gates at the corner of Gwladys St and Bullens Rd if memory serves. Also remember when they announced the attendances, there was general scepticism that they under-estimated for tax reasons. Different era – but some things have changed for the better. Sadly not the results.)

I can remember one really scary moment out of all the years following my beloved blues, and that was at Plymouth in the mid-70s. It was a 4th Round cup game and the crowd was over 30,000, plus hundreds who got in free over the zoo wall. We were placed in the large terrace the length of the pitch and it was woefully inadequate for the 15,000 Evertonians forced into it.

No-one had any control over their movement and breathing was sometimes challenging; the claustrophobic atmosphere was really disturbing and many people were carried out down the front having collapsed. One great surge after we scored caused one fan to break his leg, and if I'd been older and knew what I do know, I would have feared for my life.

The situation after the game was almost as bad as the police crammed nearly 10,000 fans into a station, smaller than Southport's. As Eugene said, during the 70s and 80s, we were just plain lucky.

Glad that the families have got justice – not happy it's taken 27 years. I'm sure if 96 people had died at an opera in a Drury Lane theatre, within a year, heads would have rolled

As an Evertonian who was born and has lived in Liverpool all my life you can be rest assured that for 27 years most Everton fans have also suffered a huge sense of loss and grief after that tragic day.

I was 21 when this happened and I remember like it was yesterday, standing at the goal under the KOP watching flower after flower being laid down. That memory will never leave me.

We move into a different era now, one of blame and accountability and we will all see and hear how corrupt the "establishment" really was and has been for so many years. Particularly against Cities like ours.

The first "crush" event / near miss that occurred at Hillsborough was back in 1957 during a semi final between Manu & Birmingham. The police on that day done a great job diverting people to other parts of the ground and away from the Leppings Lane end!

Why so many organizations failed to see the potential disaster is a crime in itself. Spurs in 1981, Coventry in 1987, LFC prior in 1988 all gave reports of "crush" experiences yet nothing was done.

With so many repeated failures by organizations and with so many reported near misses ignored you could be mistaken that Hillsborough was meant to happen!

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/27/the-hillsborough-verdict-shatters-the-fantasty-that-class-war-doesnt-exist

As pointed out above, we could easily have been in Sheffield, whoever pulled the balls out when the draw was made inadvertently saved Everton and Norwich fans from this unimaginable trauma.

The real culprits have now finally been officially identified. The families will leave no stone unturned making sure every single individual who wronged their loved ones that day will be dragged from his hiding place.
I just hope those who were merely following instruction from leaders who they trusted, are not tarred with the same brush.

Peace to the 96

I decided to do the same, indeed I'd been thinking along those lines anyway recently, Robbie just had the guts to go ahead and do it.

My view of football allegiance has always been pretty simple really. I LOVE Everton, I LOVE my Mam. Just because I LOVE my Mam isn't a reason to hate someone else or their Mam, is it ?

I've never ever sung the appalling "Munich Runway Song" at Man Utd fans, I've never ever chanted "Murderers" at the Kopites.

So last night I was quite pleased for Liverpool FC, their fans (many of my mates among them) until Villareal scored late on. It felt right for me not to punch the air when a team followed by strangers took the lead over my mates. I still hope that my mates get to go to the Europa League final and I'd like them to win.

I'm not expecting all Evertonians to adopt this and I still fully expect to take some stick for even contemplating this, I haven't become a "part time red", I'm just working at trying to be a "Better Blue". Feel free to join us.

I also remember the policing of the away fans by two over zealous coppers on horses at Coventry on the opening day of 1989-90. Night sticks out, assaulting anyone in their way. They had learned nothing because the Hillsborough cover up made them think they had nothing to learn.

By the way (I'll mention this for no other reason than it just popped into my head) there's a weapon (an effective one) that makes people (or many people) reticent to speak up.

I think of it as 'the whinging pom' tactic.

As many/some of you will know, in Australia there is the phenomenon of the 'whinging pom.'

Basically Brits arriving to make new lives Oz in the 50s/60s earned the title by informing locals "it's too hot 'ere, there are spiders in't lavvy, things aren't exactly like they are in Burnley' (or wherever).

My guess is, if I'd been a 'real' 1950s Australian, listening to some wool saying 'It's turrible, yer can't get proper sausages 'ere', I'd have come up a much harsher response than 'whinger.'

The problem with it though, is that eventually, it forces every pom only to be able to express him/herself in positive terms about the country - anything that doesn't refer to Australia in glowing terms and you'll be a whinging pom.

Your right to complain or point out when something is wrong will simply waved away and dismissed in two words.

The reason I mention this is that it occurred when I first heard the 'self-pity city' thing.

A short little 'catchy' expression that can/could restrict people speaking out.

Legitimate complaint?

'Tut! Self-pity city' etc.

Result - reticence to speak out.

It's fantastic that the Hillsborough campaigners weren't duped or put off by any of the deflection and slick tricks contrived to throw them off the scent and sidetrack them.

The result they achieved in the face of everything that was thrown at them, truly remarkable.

The following link shows that goal and the Everton fans celebrating. Not a very good picture but it shows how jam packed the Leppings Lane was.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YBGOpQEicP4

From there they both seem to have set a priority for their children (18 of them) to educate & learn skills - they were regional immigrants with a lot of similarities to today's international immigrants. Back then Liverpool was rivaling London to be the capital city of England and our streets were paved with gold too.

The latest generation - my children's - are all going to be graduates, one already qualified as a doctor and yes out on the streets this week picketing to protect the NHS. A doctor. Imagine telling that to my Grandad's to whom doctors were very much part of the privileged upper classes. From working class to the very edges of upper class in two generations - and there is nothing special about my family.

The Guardian article 'aggressively understates' our ability to transcend 'class' barriers, they have been eroded extensively. Even our great working class game of football see's one glorious mass of people from all parts of our society rubbing together with a common purpose - if police were to line up against a football crowd now they would be far more likely to be looking 'up' the social order at a football supporting 'toff' from the standpoint of a working class lad with 5 'O' levels compared with 25 years ago.

Is the label 'working class' an excuse or a barrier? Can a graduate be 'working class' if he/she comes from a working class family? Is someone who was born upper class and ends up down on his/her luck living on benefits still upper class? I don't know, I don't particularly care to think too hard about it - they are just people with all the problems we all have. Those without money will build the new world, those with it carry a high risk of underachievement - I have met both. Its the poor sods in the middle who carry them all.

Thatcher's Government MUST have known about the injustice perpetrated by their figureheads and I just hope that the precedent set by the tenacity of the people of our great city becomes the forerunner of a more just and less bigoted society.

Tax payers money was used to defend the liars and perjurers whilst the people of Liverpool had to foot the bill to take on and defeat the innate corruption of the Governments in power during the last 27 years plus the top police authority who are paid to represent and defend us.

It is only during wars that the rank and file of this country are valued and this value is very temporary and soon forgotten.

The waste of public tax money in defending the scum that have been found guilty of this heinous crime is a blot on the integrity of our country and must be repaid in a way that will benefit the working classes otherwise a curtain will come down on this monumental event.

Why is it ok to say things like that? Being working class doesn't make you a good or bad person, neither does being born into wealth.

Sling a few slurs at the upper classes and you're a man-of-the-people hero it seems.

This debate is not about 'class', it's about stereotyping and subsequent discrimination.

Of course you can't help being born into incredible wealth, but when you get to the age of reason and think (as most of that ilk seem to) 'yeah I deserve this and it's fine for me to have caviar and chips every night and slag the oiks for wanting flat-screen tellies', then for me that does make you a bad (shitty) person.

Tony Benn was born into a few bob and it would have been dead easy for him to think 'jackpot!'

But he didn't, he understood the concept of fair and had a crack at making things a little fairer.

How many Tony Benns are there?

Fingers of one mitten etc

Ultimately of course it comes down to you and your world view, how you've been raised, influenced - by who and what.

What you've read and haven't read.

For me, I know the 'upper' classes (I prefer self-serving elite) are a tiny minority, so I arrive at the question 'how come they wield so much power?'

The answers (to me) are blindingly obvious - they manipulate to survive (they have to)

They need help, they need..dupes.

They need to be able to manipulate the proles.

They need to get a certain amount of people to buy into things like flags and nationalism.

They need those same people to be constantly distracted - they need us to need Royal weddings, wars, enemies within, (gays, immigrants etc) X-factor, Bake-fucking-Off (basically all the distracting shite that fills The Mail, S*n etc).

They need to divide to conquer, for you to hate him, for him to hate you, for you to be in that gang, him in the other gang.

They need 'lower middle', 'middle' 'upper middle' 'working' 'under' etc.

And they do it - very successfully.

'Robbing scousers - there you go - told you.'

As Bill Hicks once said 'I'm going to vote for the puppet on the left - Yeah well 'm going to vote for the puppet on the right...hold on a minute, the same guy is holding both puppets!'

The French showed us the way, imo a crying shame we didn't follow.

I was at Hillsboro that fateful day, and I knew Duckingfield was guilty straight away because at 2:40pm, someone pointed out to me how full those middle two pens already were.

Gross negligence led to those deaths, and I knew it that same evening. Open the gates by all means, but put a line of police across those middle two pens, to stop anyone else entering them.

How Thatcher could go to Hillsboro that very next day, to wash the blood from the guilty... It may have taken 27 years to be proven, but now hopefully these same guilty people can be made to suffer. Hopefully in time to come, this will also be the legacy on which Thatcher will also be remembered.

Tony 14, I really do understand your sentiments, especially for the reasons you have given. I'm not sure how long it will last though, because that bitter blue shout is best described in Eugene's really thorough and excellent post!

The next time we went to Hillsborough was the game before we won the League against QPR. and I said to my mates, "Let's get to the left side of the goal, touchline, standside" away from the packed pens as it was that day.

For the life of me, I can never get over why each pen at that end was never managed and only allowed so many in each pen. Sadly the rest is history.

As has been said many a time... There go I...

The "Self Pity City" comment was thrown at Liverpool after the James Bulger tragedy, not Hillsborough.

Talking of institutional cover ups but not football related....I was in the Summerland Fire in Douglas, Isle of Man in 1973 when about 53 people died mainly due to a building being built of flammable unsuitable materials. I was 14. I eventually walked out of a fire door when a bouncer smashed a padlock and chain of with a fire axe. As far as I am aware there was a total whitewash and no one got any compensation. In fact they only erected a memorial about 2 years ago. The place was owned by Trusthouse Forte as I recall who have probably gone from strength to strength since. The architects got away with it too. Being a young lad I was unaware of all this at the time but I know consider it to be a scandal and a national disgrace but then the IoM is not a part of the UK or even the EU and can presumably do what it liked, certainly back then when people generally didn't complain of make a fuss.

Hillsborough is not only the most disgraceful miscarriage of justice ever but it highlights that there was a belief that the dreadful lies about those whose lost their lives that day would be accepted by the Establishment (and they were in many circles). It is indicative of the perception held and encouraged by those in positions of influence.

Liverpool people continue to be portrayed as "whinging, thieving, work-shy Scousers" in the contemporary media. The attitude of Lord Howe and his "managed decline", the observations by Boris Johnson and of course MacKenzie despite their subsequent weasel-worded retractions, found a receptive audience. Its not the Liverpool or the people that I know and see every day and frankly its a disgrace that needs expunging.