I was in Cleethorpes - went out for a drink with mum and dad. Came back when game should have finished and I couldn't understand why it was still on - was only after the game I realised what had gone on. Awful day for football and coming so soon after the Bradford fire and I think the fan killed at Birmingham- dark days for football
The playing of the game was in my view a wrong decision. The excuses at the time were to prevent further disorder. How any player had the stomach to play. is beyond me. I know they were in tears etc. They should not have been put in that position.
Could see both points of view but totally agree it shouldn't have gone ahead after what had happened. Seem to remember Juventus winning with a slightly dubious penalty but that was immaterial - game was just a poor side show
Remember I did a couple of hours overtime and got home for 7.30 in time to watch the game. Absolute horror when I watched. Shocking that UEFA made the players come out and play that game. I visited the Heysel Stadium the next year and took a picture of the inside from outside through a crack in the wall. The place was simply crumbling. R.I.P. to all those who died.
The game should never have taken place there anyway. The stadium was an utter disgrace. It’s even claimed that fans without tickets were able to literally kick a hole into the crumbling stadium wall and just climb in. Then the ‘neutral’ section which was dividing the Liverpool and Juve fans was filled with Juve fans, many of whom resided in Belgium. Absolutely right that Liverpool fans were sanctioned, some even getting prison for manslaughter, but many a heads, outside of LFC, that should have rolled, did not. Course, with this still fresh in the memory, it was all too easy to pin the Hillsborough Disaster on them, just four years later.
Watched a documentary a couple of years ago. The fa men in suits were summoned by Thatcher the following week. She had leaked to them her starting point was making it a crime to charge an admission fee to watch a football match. They interviewed the fa chauffeur who said they were sh#tting themselves.she made them sign up to whatever the popplewell enquiry she was setting up recommended, in essence all seater grounds.
I'm probably wrong, but I thought the Popplewell Inquiry was set up after the Bradford Fire disaster?
All happened within a few days/weeks of each other. So definitely was a factor, also a factor was Millwall riot at Luton a couple of months prior and the riot when Leeds played Brum and a 15 year old lad was killed when a wall was pushed over by fighting fans, that was same day as Bradford. Something had to be done. Also resulted Sporting Events Act 1985 re alcohol at grounds and on coaches etc
Fair enough, mate. I thought the Popplewell Inquiry was set up specifically after the fire, with mentions to Millwall & Leeds. I didn't think that Heysel played a part in the Inquiry.
I think we could both be right buddy. Hard to tell either way as all the events except the Millwall thing were very close together. Thatcher may well have started it by the time of Heysel but I think Heysel broke the camel's back and she was ready to shut down football completely if they didnt swallow what was to come out of Popplewell. I think at that point football was still seen very much as a working class sport so the iron lady would have lost no sleep over it, that said something very clearly needed to done, the football authorities themselves were useless. Crumbling stadia, rampant hooliganism etc
