Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Memorial - Sheffield, Yorkshire, UK. - Disaster Memorials on Waymarking.com

On 15 April 1989 Hillsborough, the home ground of Sheffield Wednesday was the neutral venue for an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool FC and Nottingham Forest FC. This was always going to be a well attended game, both of the contestants in the match being major teams in England at that time. Hillsborough was a regular host to important games, being a large stadium. There had been previous crushes in this ground and the Leppings Lane end, where this disaster took place had been the subject of a complaint by Liverpool after a previous semi-final. Sheffield Wednesday had divided and further sub-divided this end effectively penning fans in.

British football had been through an unpleasant period and gang violence was a serious problem. In addition there had been a number of pitch invasions and as a result fans were now separated from the pitch by fencing.

This game was always going to be well attended and getting masses of fans into and out of the ground, logistically something of a problem. Fans without tickets had been advised not to travel to the ground. In the event there had been significant congestion on the roads leading to Sheffield and many fans turned up close to the time of the kick off. A crush developed outside of the turnstiles as fans surged forward keen not to miss the kick off. In an effort to avoid injury and deaths from crushing outside of the ground, the larger gates, used to allow fans OUT of the ground were opened and there was a surge of people coming through and entering the standing terraces rapidly. More people tried to enter than the fenced areas at the Leppings Lane Stand could accommodate. During the resulting crush due to the volume of fans at the back of the terrace, 96 football fans died and 766 were injured. The match which was being televised, was abandoned after 6 minutes.

There was a lengthy inquiry into the causes of the disaster and the result was a change in the way that football fans were managed and accommodated in grounds. All seater stadiums were introduced in the top divisions of English football, not a popular move with many fans for whom standing was the way to watch their game. In lower divisions, more anti-crush barriers were added. Now, 22 years later, there is pressure from many fans to re-introduce standing areas at all football grounds.

The memorial carries the words 'You'll never walk alone'. This is a line from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel. Liverpool fans had taken to singing this at the start of games after Liverpool band Gerry and the Pacemakers had had a hit with it in 1963.

See also WM97FW and WMB4KD.

Disaster Date: 04/15/1989 Memorial Sponsors: Liverpool FC Parking Coordinates: N 53° 24.622 W 001° 30.083 Disaster Type: Sociological Relevant Website: [Web Link] Date of dedication: Not listed

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