Hillsborough

I was in Nottingham yesterday for the marking of the 20th Anniversary of the Hillsborough stadium disaster. As happened in Liverpool and Sheffield, the town hall bell tolled 96 times to remember those lives tragically lost on 15th April 1989.

As a Forest fan myself, Hillsborough has always been mentioned in hushed tones. Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest were Liverpool’s opponents that fateful match – the match which paled into insignificance as the scale of what was happening at the Leppings Lane end unfolded.

The disaster is not a personal memory of mine – I had just celebrated my first birthday when it happened – but one that has been passed on to me. Passed on by those who was there on the Leppings Lane terraces. Passed on by those football fans watching on TV who could not believe what he was seeing. Passed on by everyone who can remember the events of that day.

Since Hillsborough, stadiums have become safer. Many are now all-seater, while perimeter fencing has long become a thing of the past.

The 96 deaths on that day taught football a lesson. Unfortunately, in the words of a Hillsborough anthem, “If a lesson's been learned, it's a lesson too late.”

By Tom Snee, Live Media UK