It was more the final sentence that bothered me than the ticketless claim which I'm sure was true, but to suggest that played any part in the disaster is utter crap.
**** me sideways, that verdict couldn't have been any more damning on SYP and Hillsborough, and any more apologetic for Liverpool fans. As for this back and forth on fans without tickets etc. obviously that happened, but bottom line is the SYP had the accountability and responsibility for managing the entry of those fans into the ground.
I've had some people make similar comments at work, and have seen other comments elsewhere along the same lines
Liverpool fans were certainly involved. That doesn't make them to blame. Justice has been served today and certain former police officers really do need to be made accountable for their decisions on the day. Primarily the one that put a totally inexperienced officer in charge of policing a major football event in a stadium that was well known to have unsafe aspects to its control and layout.
Unfortunately, the lies that were told at the time have become deeply ingrained in our society. Its deeply uncomfortable to have to face unpleasant truths that jolt us out of our safe view of the world, particularly when it involves authority figures and/or institutions abusing their trust and revealing themselves to be actually completely untrustworthy. It shakes our view of the world and some people cope by blaming the victim(s) instead.
The jury said that the Liverpool fans weren't to blame. Its was a unanimous decision. It is the end of this part of the story. The police opened the gates, the police let fans into the 2 pens behind the goal knowing they were full. The police were solely responsible for the deaths of 96 people. The jury returned a verdict of unlawful deaths. The only reasonable verdict based on the facts.
The only question that was decided by majority verdict was unlawful killing. All the rest were unanimous, including whether Liverpool fans were in any way culpable.
Fair enough, I stand corrected. Quite moving seeing the round of applause that David Conn got from the families at the post inquest press conference.
staggering the amount of time that has passed , especially for those of us who were a bit young at the time to remember it happening... they mentioned on radio at dinner its like an incident happening now, then justice not getting served until 2043, seems a lifetime away!
What I remember is believing at the time that the Liverpool fans were to blame because that is what we were fed in the press and by the "Establishment". How naive I was then to believe such Bullshit - but that's exactly what we were fed in those days.
They got what they wanted, all seater stadia and spectators instead of supporters. Now they feel safe in letting the truth come out. 27 years too late.
Anyone who hasn't read David Conn's article today should give themselves half an hour to do so and then think on it. You can't finish it and still think the same as when you started it unless you've already sat through this inquest. It's gutwrenching.
The Chief Constable that appointed the inexperienced Duckenfield a few weeks before the game died in 2011 His actions are damning, Duckenfield to a lesser degree. There were known problems at Hillsborough, that is the worst aspect of the tragedy.
I'm not defending the actions of the SYP but all those football fans from all clubs that contributed to violence during the 70's and 80's must shoulder some moral responsibility for Hillsborough. Fencing fans in enclosed areas was a direct result of trouble on the terraces.
I know Liverpool fans stormed the gates at the 2005 and 2007 CL Finals has it showed it on the TV afterwards. Besides that 36 people where taken. to hospital after getting crushed going into the Leppings lane in 1981 so lessons should have been learned long before 1989 so SYP should never have let it get to this situation.
