issue 28// vol 47 sports // no. 9

TY, part two

6¢ 22

While the whole city was in disbelief at what happened, the days,
weeks, months, and years that followed did nothing but pour salt
in the wound. The characterization that Liverpool fans were at
fault played to a painful stereotype about the city.

— Paul Chapman, Deputy Editor of 'The Province’

 

when he was back. J had a shirt ironed and ready on the
bed for him to get changed into. I'll never, ever forget
that night.’

Joan stated the first couple of years after Ray’s
death, she was in shock. She fell into depression and
had suicidal thoughts. But for the sake of her two
children, Andrew and Karen, she decided to carry on
with her life. Joan remembered going to Sheffield to
identify Ray’s body. “All the victims were in one room
and it was like a madhouse with screaming and crying,”
she said. “I was terrified of seeing him in case he was
badly injured but he just had a bruise on his face and
looked asleep. His hair was slightly out of place and I
wanted to fix it for him but he was behind glass casing
[....] He was a lovely man [and a] real gentleman who
was a great father and husband. I wouldn't be surprised
if he had gone back to help someone before he died.”

Paul Chapman said the Hillsborough tragedy could
have been prevented had there been better planning by
police officials beforehand (to control the overcrowding
at the stadium). After the 96 deaths, police were more
focused on covering up their mistakes rather than being
accountable and admitting errors were made.

Perhaps giving a sincere apology immediately to the
families of the victims would have gone a long way in
helping them cope better in the healing process. Their
lives were forever changed on that fateful day on April
15, 1989. “There was no crowd control plan,’ Chapman
said. “The lies were started by media and perpetuated
by police, trying to save their own careers and covering
up their own negligence. You go to a hockey game,
you take for granted that there are police, ushers, and
private security who have a plan on how to manage
people so this kind of thing never happens. On that
day in Sheffield, 96 fans went to a game excited to see
Liverpool, the Tricky Reds, the best team in England at
the time, make it to another FA Cup Final. They never
came home.”

 

 

Illustration by Janis McMath