HIllsborough Disaster 25 Years : RIP 96

The Hillsborough disaster was an incident that occurred on 15 April 1989 at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England. During the FA Cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest football clubs, a human crush resulted in the deaths of 96 people and injuries to 766 others. The incident has since been blamed primarily on the police for letting too many people enter the stadium, and remains the worst stadium-related disaster in British history, and one of the world's worst football disasters.

At the time, semi-finals of the FA Cup were contested at a neutral venue. For the 1989 tournament, the Football Association (FA) selected Hillsborough (home ground of Sheffield Wednesday football club) for the contest between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. As is standard in domestic English football matches, opposing supporters were segregated in the stadium. Liverpool fans were allocated the Leppings Lane stand.[2] Entry to the Leppings Lane stand was possible only via one of a small number of decrepit turnstiles,[2] a restriction that led to dangerous overcrowding outside the ground before kick-off. In an attempt to ease pressure outside the ground, Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield, the senior police officer responsible for the match, ordered an exit gate to be opened. The opened exit gate led to a tunnel marked "Standing", which led directly to the two already overcrowded enclosures. In previous years, the tunnel had been closed off by police when the two central pens were full; however, on this occasion the tunnel was unmanned.

The ensuing influx of supporters caused crushing, and some fans climbed over side fences or were lifted by fellow supporters onto the stand above to escape the crush. Moments after kick-off, a crush barrier broke, and fans began to fall on top of each other. The game was stopped after six minutes. To carry away the injured, supporters tore down advertising hoardings to use as stretchers, and emergency services were called to provide assistance. Of the 96 people who died, 14 were admitted to the hospital. When the FA Chairman visited the Control Box to find out what had happened, Duckenfield falsely claimed that the supporters had "rushed" the gate.[