On this day in 1985...... 1985: Fans die in Heysel rioting Thirty-nine Juventus football fans have died during rioting at the European Cup Final in Brussels. The tragedy occured when a wall collapsed in the stadium and crushed Juventus fans as they tried to escape Liverpool supporters. The two sets of supporters had spent the day drinking in the Belgian city and had arrived at the Heysel stadium waving flags and chanting. But shortly before kick off the atmosphere turned violent and Liverpool supporters stampeded through a thin line of police towards the rival fans. As the Juventus fans retreated a wall collapsed under the pressure and fans were crushed and trampled to death in the panic. Police at the scene were unable to contain the violence and riot police were called in to calm the situation. As the full extent of the tragedy unfolded the Red Cross moved in to treat the injured in tents set up at the scene. A priest was also called to give the Last Rites. There were 58,000 fans in the ground and, as well as the dead, over 350 were injured. Despite protests from both team managers the game went ahead with Juventus winning 1-0 thanks to a second half penalty. Trouble had been reported since the two sets of fans arrived in the city. There were reports of stabbings and police numbers were dramaticaly increased to separate the fans.
[video=youtube;uQbW5ww1mCo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQbW5ww1mCo[/video] Hope we never see anything of the like again.
Remember the shock of it well. Why they ever had a final in that crappy old stadium remains a mystery...
Unlike the Hillsborough disaster this is one anniversary that the bin dippers don't shout a lot about, Guilty conscience me thinks.
.. a bad time to be British and on holiday .... the country had been tarred with the hooligan brush ..
It led to a 5yr ban for ALL English clubs from European competitions. Nobody wanted to know us and the term "English disease" was coined to described hooliganism from then on. It happaned after that in other countries but no ban for them.
Yep, And although the Scousers were the worst of the 2, the Juve fans did rush the Liverpool fans, they never banned Italian clubs from **** all. 2 to tango.
