Heysel Stadium Disaster

[Chaimai]

Having been surprised that 2010 marked the 25th anniversary of the Bradford fire, I was equally amazed that 25 years have elapsed since the Hysel disaster.

The time has flown but I shall never forget either event.

[Mossfinn]

I remember listening to R5Live re: the Bradford incident and the first reports in was a small incident and fans were on the pitch.

Well, we know what that transpired into.

Heysal, a wholly differing incident:

Anticipation for the match, trouble in the crowd, not really knowing what is going on, delay, will the match go on. played in a dreadful atmosphere.

I remember a penalty appeal and Liverpool players getting angry, flares, smoke Italian fans with scarves over their faces.

A little strange, I can't really remember the match, just the visceral images of a crowd moving in the wrong direction, a wall collapsing flares, smoke and a strange, very atmospheric tension.

But the game, nothing except that penalty appeal,

25 years, wow, may they Rest in Peace

[Chaimai]

It is odd.

I watched the Bradford fire unfold on television - quite surreal, but I remember it all - vividly.

I was at Hillsborough but had no idea of the extent of the carnage until I travelled home. Again, I remember it like it was yesterday.

But Heysel, I remember nothing of the game only the disaster itself.

Edited May 29, 2010 by Chaimai

[StevieH]

i don't remember liverpool's penalty appeal from the match. only remember juventus getting their penalty which i think was outside the area anyway and then platini scoring it. i didn't care. tragic, horrible day. RIP the 39.

[basinboy]

My wife's two young sons were with their Dad at the Bradford game that day, fortunately on the other side of the pitch.

[sharecropper]

What was the verdict of the enquiry into Hesyel?

The tragedy seems to get little airtime now, in the UK at least.

[The Vulcan]

Not forgotten

Football match aims to heal wounds of Heysel

Here

[chrisll]

i don't remember liverpool's penalty appeal from the match. only remember juventus getting their penalty which i think was outside the area anyway and then platini scoring it. i didn't care. tragic, horrible day. RIP the 39.

it wasnt a penalty

[LaoPo]

Fans take part in Heysel anniversary friendly game

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england...de/10189892.stm

I watched the ongoing drama on a business visit in Barcelona....it was horror...pure horror

RIP for the 39 who died that day in Brussels.

LaoPo

[Chaimai]

i don't remember liverpool's penalty appeal from the match. only remember juventus getting their penalty which i think was outside the area anyway and then platini scoring it. i didn't care. tragic, horrible day. RIP the 39.

it wasnt a penalty

Irrelevant, as was the match.

[sharecropper]

Not forgotten

Football match aims to heal wounds of Heysel

Here

Thanks.

But I would like to know, in the eyes of the official enquiry, whose fault was it?

[Chaimai]

Not forgotten

Football match aims to heal wounds of Heysel

Here

Thanks.

But I would like to know, in the eyes of the official enquiry, whose fault was it?

There was no official inquiry.

[sharecropper]

Not forgotten

Football match aims to heal wounds of Heysel

Here

Thanks.

But I would like to know, in the eyes of the official enquiry, whose fault was it?

There was no official inquiry.

Thanks, but how can there not have been an offical enquiry into this international footballing tragedy, given the number of deaths?

And do Juventus fans blame Liverpool fans for this or was it the Juventus fans who precipitated the problem? And if it was the flimsy construction of the stadium, were there no prosecutions or lawsuits?

Given the place Hillsborough and Bradford have in the our footballing trauma, I find it surprising that there has been no official closure and blame apportionment on Heysel.

Edited May 30, 2010 by sharecropper

[StevieH]

Not forgotten

Football match aims to heal wounds of Heysel

Here

Thanks.

But I would like to know, in the eyes of the official enquiry, whose fault was it?

not hard to do a quick google and read this: "After an 18-month investigation, the dossier of top Belgian judge Mrs Marina Coppieters was finally published. In sharp contrast to the one-sided version of events on the UK side of the Channel, it concluded that perhaps blame should not rest solely with the English fans, but instead should be shared by the police and football authorities. Several top officials were incriminated by some of the dossier’s findings, including police captain Johan Mahieu, who had been in charge of security on May 29th 1985 and was now charged with involuntary manslaughter."

also not heard to see where you're trying to go with this.

[sharecropper]

Not forgotten

Football match aims to heal wounds of Heysel

Here

Thanks.

But I would like to know, in the eyes of the official enquiry, whose fault was it?

not hard to do a quick google and read this: "After an 18-month investigation, the dossier of top Belgian judge Mrs Marina Coppieters was finally published. In sharp contrast to the one-sided version of events on the UK side of the Channel, it concluded that perhaps blame should not rest solely with the English fans, but instead should be shared by the police and football authorities. Several top officials were incriminated by some of the dossier’s findings, including police captain Johan Mahieu, who had been in charge of security on May 29th 1985 and was now charged with involuntary manslaughter."

also not heard to see where you're trying to go with this.

I'm not really trying to go anywhere with it, except wondering why there hasn't been the furore surrounding Hillsborough (where one of my best mates died, so I don't take footy tragedy lightly) and Bradford, where official enquiries are still being challenged and people cannot accept what was officially decided, yet in Europe, at Heysel, where hooliganism was a factor, seemingly a fudge was produced, which everyone seems to accept.

I don't see many fans in the UK clamouring for reviews of the evidence in Heysel and asking for heads on plates.

More a judicial than a fan issue for me.

[Mossfinn]

i don't remember liverpool's penalty appeal from the match. only remember juventus getting their penalty which i think was outside the area anyway and then platini scoring it. i didn't care. tragic, horrible day. RIP the 39.

I think you are right, the complaint could have been against the penalty awarded. I wondered then, was it really worth the angst.

As an aside Stevie, do you think the match should have ben played?

[lordcharles]

Found this on a website called football-hooligans.info

Officially the entire blame for the incident was laid on the fans of Liverpool FC. On 30 May official UEFA observer Gunter Schneider said “Only the English fans were responsible. Of that there is no doubt.” UEFA, the organiser of the event, the owners of Heysel Stadium and the Belgian police were never investigated for culpability. There was no official inquiry into the causes of the disaster.

The British police undertook a thorough investigation to bring to justice the perpetrators. Some 17 minutes of film and many still photographs were examined. TV Eye produced an hour-long programme featuring the footage and the British press also published the photographs.

There were 27 arrests on suspicion of manslaughter – the only extraditable offence applicable to events at Heysel. The majority of these people were from Merseyside. Some of these people had previous convictions for football-related violence. In 1989, after a 5-month trial in Belgium, fourteen Liverpool fans were given 3-year sentences for involuntary manslaughter. Half the terms were suspended and it is unclear how many served their sentences.

[StevieH]

i don't remember liverpool's penalty appeal from the match. only remember juventus getting their penalty which i think was outside the area anyway and then platini scoring it. i didn't care. tragic, horrible day. RIP the 39.

I think you are right, the complaint could have been against the penalty awarded. I wondered then, was it really worth the angst.

As an aside Stevie, do you think the match should have ben played?

nah, hel_l no. you can read several of the players' involved in their autobiographies that their hearts weren't in the match at all. people had died, there was rioting on the terraces, the belgian police were incapable of handling the situation and a part of the stadium had collapsed. there's no way on earth that the game should have gone ahead.

it was a terrible, preventable disaster. a number of them who sparked and continued the fighting in the stands wouldn't be allowed to travel to football matches abroad today and rightly so. and a european final wouldn't be played in such a run-down and inadequate stadium today either, and also rightly so.

i was at anfield in 2005 for the match against juventus when the kop held up the big 'amicizia' mosaic and a lot of the juventus fans turned their backs on it. couldn't really blame them.

Edited May 31, 2010 by StevieH

[sharecropper]

i don't remember liverpool's penalty appeal from the match. only remember juventus getting their penalty which i think was outside the area anyway and then platini scoring it. i didn't care. tragic, horrible day. RIP the 39.

I think you are right, the complaint could have been against the penalty awarded. I wondered then, was it really worth the angst.

As an aside Stevie, do you think the match should have ben played?

nah, hel_l no. you can read several of the players' involved in their autobiographies that their hearts weren't in the match at all. people had died, there was rioting on the terraces, the belgian police were incapable of handling the situation and a part of the stadium had collapsed. there's no way on earth that the game should have gone ahead.

it was a terrible, preventable disaster. a number of them who sparked and continued the fighting in the stands wouldn't be allowed to travel to football matches abroad today and rightly so. and a european final wouldn't be played in such a run-down and inadequate stadium today either, and also rightly so.

i was at anfield in 2005 for the match against juventus when the kop held up the big 'amicizia' mosaic and a lot of the juventus fans turned their backs on it. couldn't really blame them.

If I recall, didn't they argue that they had to play it to prevent an even bigger problem occurring in the ground from disgruntled supporters?, although at that stage they probably didn't know how bad it was. It was grotesque wathcing it on TV, as all the viewers knew what most inside the stadium did not.

[carmine]

i don't remember liverpool's penalty appeal from the match. only remember juventus getting their penalty which i think was outside the area anyway and then platini scoring it. i didn't care. tragic, horrible day. RIP the 39.

I think you are right, the complaint could have been against the penalty awarded. I wondered then, was it really worth the angst.

As an aside Stevie, do you think the match should have ben played?

nah, hel_l no. you can read several of the players' involved in their autobiographies that their hearts weren't in the match at all. people had died, there was rioting on the terraces, the belgian police were incapable of handling the situation and a part of the stadium had collapsed. there's no way on earth that the game should have gone ahead.

it was a terrible, preventable disaster. a number of them who sparked and continued the fighting in the stands wouldn't be allowed to travel to football matches abroad today and rightly so. and a european final wouldn't be played in such a run-down and inadequate stadium today either, and also rightly so.

i was at anfield in 2005 for the match against juventus when the kop held up the big 'amicizia' mosaic and a lot of the juventus fans turned their backs on it. couldn't really blame them.

If I recall, didn't they argue that they had to play it to prevent an even bigger problem occurring in the ground from disgruntled supporters?, although at that stage they probably didn't know how bad it was. It was grotesque wathcing it on TV, as all the viewers knew what most inside the stadium did not.

Yep, that was the reason given. I think the officials said it would help to contain "things" and give the authorities time to take charge of the situation that they had totally lost control of.

Do i remember right that the stadium was later deemed too old and did not meet acceptable standards for such a competition?

RIP to those poor people that lost their lives that aweful night.

[StevieH]

dupe. fuc_king <deleted> ISP.

Edited May 31, 2010 by StevieH

[StevieH]

i don't remember liverpool's penalty appeal from the match. only remember juventus getting their penalty which i think was outside the area anyway and then platini scoring it. i didn't care. tragic, horrible day. RIP the 39.

I think you are right, the complaint could have been against the penalty awarded. I wondered then, was it really worth the angst.

As an aside Stevie, do you think the match should have ben played?

nah, hel_l no. you can read several of the players' involved in their autobiographies that their hearts weren't in the match at all. people had died, there was rioting on the terraces, the belgian police were incapable of handling the situation and a part of the stadium had collapsed. there's no way on earth that the game should have gone ahead.

it was a terrible, preventable disaster. a number of them who sparked and continued the fighting in the stands wouldn't be allowed to travel to football matches abroad today and rightly so. and a european final wouldn't be played in such a run-down and inadequate stadium today either, and also rightly so.

i was at anfield in 2005 for the match against juventus when the kop held up the big 'amicizia' mosaic and a lot of the juventus fans turned their backs on it. couldn't really blame them.

If I recall, didn't they argue that they had to play it to prevent an even bigger problem occurring in the ground from disgruntled supporters?, although at that stage they probably didn't know how bad it was. It was grotesque wathcing it on TV, as all the viewers knew what most inside the stadium did not.

yeah that does ring a bell as it goes. i remember the news filtering through on the tv about the wall having collapsed and people dying but there was no way for fans in the stadium to know the extent of the disaster - nobody in football stadiums then having iphones and internet connectivity of course. i wasn't very old when that final took place and year later my dad told me that i just sat watching it crying. actually in hindsight him making me sit through it probably qualified as child abuse.

[PST]

A terrible night,RIP to the 39.It actually started the year before when Liverpool played Roma in Rome,scores of Liverpool fans including a 7 year old boy with his father were slashed up before and after the game,scores more were injured by roma fans hurling glass bottles as fans left the stadium.1 year on,there was always going to be flare -ups,just very sad the way in ended up.

PST.