Is it justice or scapegoat for the 96?

[hang_up_me_boots]

Horrible horrible tragedy and thoughts are with the families.

I do think though that their search for justice should not only be directed at the authorities and media whose actions during and after the event were beyond contempt, but also at those who decided to attempt to gain access to the ground without a ticket, who need to take a good long hard look at themselves and need to hold their hands up and apologise for playing a substantial part in the tragic event.

[roger_ramjet]

Yep, I'm with Ratty as well, the supporters of LFC have to bear some blame here and as Roger says they do seem to have an always the victim stance.

However what happened on the day and the inept actions by South Yorkshire Police are even more disturbing. The whole cover up / blame culture that followed this event should never be forgotten.. There is an arguement that their actions indeed cost lives and they should be answerable for their actions and that I believe is where the 'justice' element should be.

Also some of the national press coverage at the time was truly shocking and they seem to think that a small apology 20 odd years later is enough.. They too like the law seem to think they are above the law.

To be fair to the people of Liverpool, they have stuck to their guns on never buying the Sun.. I guess they don't print too many copies up there.

But then again I have never bought the Sun either and I am not a Scouser.

[AngryRam]

Yep, I'm with Ratty as well, the supporters of LFC have to bear some blame here and as Roger says they do seem to have an always the victim stance.

However what happened on the day and the inept actions by South Yorkshire Police are even more disturbing. The whole cover up / blame culture that followed this event should never be forgotten.. There is an arguement that their actions indeed cost lives and they should be answerable for their actions and that I believe is where the 'justice' element should be.

Also some of the national press coverage at the time was truly shocking and they seem to think that a small apology 20 odd years later is enough.. They too like the law seem to think they are above the law.

To be fair to the people of Liverpool, they have stuck to their guns on never buying the Sun.. I guess they don't print too many copies up there.

But then again I have n

[clough08]

The main responsibility for this lies with the police not the fans. They got all the big decisions wrong: opening the gate without having police in place to direct fans to the side enclosures; refusing to delay kick off; treating it as a crowd disturbance; throwing fans back into the enclosure who had escaped onto the pitch; failing to open the gate from the terraces to the pitch; claiming the fans pushed open the outside gate; removing two CCTV tapes; stopping ambulances from getting onto the pitch - I could go on...

[Beardyram]

Firstly my sympathies to the families of the 96, it was a tragedy.

Its not as simple as a people are saying however. No one mentions the fact there were crush issues at the same venue the year before or that the team with the larger following was given the smaller end. There had been issues with the safety certificate at the ground for several years before also. In these cases why isn't the FA and Sheff Weds shouldering some of the blame too?

All these factors have been overlooked too.

Yes the police may have covered up evidence which is wrong, but it will turn into a witch hunt against the police force which is wrong too, some of the officers were only working to instructions and may be haunted by it too.

Liverpool have, I believe, an exemption that they can be excused having a fixture arranged on the date, or nearest Saturday yet Bradford still play on the anniversary of the fire every year and even incorporated black into their club colours as a permanent reminder.

[W8996]

Ignorance.

As a Liverpool fan, from Liverpool, engaged to a Derby fan so I have a bit of a soft spot for the Rams.

I'm dismayed by the responses so far. I'm a long time lurker so I know the rubbish spouted by the OP but I'm disappointed so many fans still hold so many myths about Hillsborough to be true and show an utter lack of compassion.

I want to address some of the myths surrounding the disaster but even putting that aside for the moment how can none of you really understand the need for justice?

Imagine that your teenage son or daughter is desperate to attend their first away match. You're a bit worried generally but he pesters and begs, he's so excited, he's followed his team at home all season and you did promise them they could watch the reds if he did well in their exams. You say yes to the utter delight of your son unaware that just a few years earlier there was were several crushes with injuries at the venue and that Hillsborough no longer holds a valid safety certific

[woolwhacker]

Ratty has a point, but it does not tell the full story.
We live in a civilised society, most pay taxes and in return expect certain things.
If you go to an event like this you expect that the venue is safe and fit for purpose.
You expect that the Police and stewards are competent.
You expect your Police to act with honesty and integrity.
You expect that standing a few feet away from the pitch your Police could see that the fans were in genuine distress.

Sadly anyone who has visited Hillsbourgh recently will see that the death trap has hardly changed, the concourse becoming dangerously overcrowded, whose fault would that be if a tragedy occurred.

Yes some fans were drunk, yes some probably didn't have tickets, and partly because of road works many turned up late.

Come on, who here has never been drunk at a match and turned up late?

I do agree it's wrong this gets more prominence than other disasters such as Bradford.

Just to add most Scousers I have ever met are ****s but that do

[woolwhacker]

and I wished I'd read W8996 before I posted

[chris311080]

Time to move on over this , 25yrs !!! , you dont hear people from Bradford or Lincoln bleeting going on over the what happened with their tragedy and wanting a nation to remember the deaths from what happened , the fact is if people didnt travel without a ticket , its unlikely this would have happened , what about Heysel ??you dont hear them go on about that do you !!

Good point, I was thinking the same especially about the Bradford fire. There's no memorial or 6 min late kick offs etc

After 25 years it and the poor people killed should be allowed to rest in peace

[tomsdubs]

Don't listen to Rattea, resident retard.