JF96 YNWA

[Bearlyknitted]

27 years. Justice at last.

www.theguardian.com/football/2009/apr/13/liverpool-hillsborough-disaster-anniversary
Hopefully such a disaster will never occur at a football stadium ever again.
to all who lost a loved one. I know how hard it is.

I remember the whole day so clearly. It was so obvious that people had lied and concealed the truth of the events so soon afterwards yet it has taken so very long.

It always reminds me of the Guildford four and Birmingham six cases. It's as if the lies are so huge they become harder to reveal instead of easier.

So happy for the families. What an absolute credit they are to their relatives and their city. Please let some heads roll from the SY police force. They were an absolute disgrace.

JFT96 at last.

I am from the south east and I was an adult when it happened. Not everyone down here bought the official version, some of us are human (!) and have been appalled by the cover up, and incredulous.

So pleased the truth is there now. That must be the definitive version now, surely.

YNWA JFT96

Finally JFT96! Or at least the beginnings of it.

Kelvin Mackenzie needs to stand up and admit that he lied and that he has continued to do so, half apologies notwithstanding, for far too long.

YNWA

JFT96

Channel 4 news have door stopped Kelvin McKenzie this afternoon.

Good. I hope they pissed on his milk bottles.

Justice at last. (or the beginning of, at least) It is horrific that it has taken so long.

I remember that day like it was yesterday. Not quite able to believe what we were seeing on TV. Then lots of phone calls trying to ascertain the whereabouts of various friends and family. Followed by the realisation that both my uncles were in that stand and the anxious wait for news. Then sheer relief when they finally managed to call to say they were OK. (tinged with guilt too as the death toll continued to rise)

Later, news that our neighbour's son had died. And a boy from my school. Both young men with their whole lives before them - like so many of the 96.

The whole city was eerily quiet afterwards, I think we were all in shock. Everybody knew someone affected.

JFT96 YNWA

I know 2 of the family's who both lost one of their precious sons that fateful day. All of the families concerned have shown nothing but strength, courage, patience and most of all dignity waiting 27 years for justice. JFT96 may they now at long last rest in peace and give their loved ones the peace they deserve X

doorstepped.

He's a fucking creature. But then again, so are pretty much all tabloid journalists

On the one hand, Kelvin McKenzie. On the other, Kenny Dalglish. Why focus on hating a man beneath contempt when you can instead think about how someone who had made his life in the bubble of professional football rose to the occasion?

I don't know how many funerals I went to. Marina and I went to four in one day. We got a police escort between them. All the funerals were harrowing. All those families mourning the loss of their loved ones. Most of the church services finished with 'You'll Never Walk Alone'. I couldn't sing through any of the songs or hymns. I was too choked up. The words would never come out. I just stood there in a daze, still trying to come to terms with what had befallen the club and the people I so admired... The last funeral I went to was as harrowing as the first. I didn't get used to the grieving. Every funeral devastated me, as another family bade farewell to somebody they loved and shared life with.

I would never have thought that a British police force would actually let 40-odd people die when they could have been saved and cause the death of 96 overall. I still don't understand why they did.

I would never have thought that a cover up of that shocking criminality would be successful for a week, let alone decades. So many people lied, dissembled, omitted, stayed silent, or looked away. There has been so much cowardice and so much prejudice. It's the modern Peterloo, almost, but astonishingly seems to have had fewer consequences for the perpetrators.

Hillsborough completely rocked the faith I had in British civil society. I still find it deeply disorientating and frightening.

Sadly, what we are likely to get from the political class is a series of mawkish speeches appealing to the emotions. What we need is clear analysis of how to stop incidents of lethal misconduct and concerted dishonesty like this from happening again.

I will admit I cried a little bit at the news, just like I did when the Bloody Sunday enquiry report was published, vindicating the (unarmed, totally innocent) demonstrators killed in 1972.

I pray that Orgreave will be the next miscarriage of justice to be tackled. I wonder if the miners have asked Jimmy McGovern to write their story? He seems to be a common link!

Finally. So pleased for the families and for Liverpool and for truth.

Here is a reminder of what the Scum newspaper wrote. All what many in power were trying to push

I would never have thought that a British police force would actually let 40-odd people die when they could have been saved and cause the death of 96 overall. I still don't understand why they did

Heysell. There was a feeling that Liverpool fans had got their comeuppance.

And because football fans were considered to be hooligan working class scum. Liverpool fans in particular.

I had a "friend" who told me in 1993 that it would never have happened if Everton fans had been in the stadium because they wouldn't have kept pushing and weren't as arrogant as Liverpool fans. For those who may have forgotten, Everton were playing in the other FA cup semi-final. For those overseas, Everton is the other major football club in Liverpool, their grounds are very close together - and often there are people in the same families supporting Liverpool and Everton. It was a ludicrous assertion but sadly normal for the time.

Had a little cry in the car on the way home tonight, then heard Margaret Aspinall on the radio and had a big cry.

I have seen old footage of how the disaster unfolded on TV on many occasions, each time feeling absolutely horrified. Tonight I was thoroughly shocked when watching the news as they showed an old piece of footage which highlighted 2 first aiders (unsure if they were ambulance staff) "walking" across the pitch away from the incident towards the exit to get an ambulance - which then came 6 minutes later - as you watched there was no urgency in their movement at all!! Also found it upsetting listening to the female police officer who was visited on several occasions and bullied into changing her original statement, so as to support the polices version of events rather than what actually happened.
My thoughts are with my DF who lost her beloved younger brother there and also her parents. Finally after 27 years justice prevails for the innocent 96 victims.

mrgrouper

Don't try and turn this thread into an injustice against you. Really not the time and pretty tacky.

gu.com/p/4ht3n/stw

Sorry the link on my post is to an amazjng but utterly harrowing guardian article

I am in awe of the dignity and incredible strength shown by the families who fought so hard for this. JFT96 at last. YNWA.

JFT96 YNWA

I too am in awe of the families and friends who have had the strength for 27 years to keep fighting. Wonderful to see messages of support from other football clubs around the country as well.