Today 15th April,2021 marks the 32nd anniversary of one of the most fatal tragedy which took place at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield. On 15th April 1989 an FA Cup Semi Final took place between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool in Hillsborough. Nobody in their wildest dreams would have guessed what would happen that afternoon.
The Hillsborough tragedy remains to be one of the worst tragedies in British sports history. The disaster which was a fatal human crush resulted in the deaths of 96 fans.
Liverpool were set to play Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup Semi Final. The match quickly got sold out as fans eagerly anticipated for this clash. More than 53,000 fans from both side headed for Hillsborough for the 3:00 PM kickoff (7:30 PM IST).
Due to Liverpool being the away team, they were allocated in a less tight space in two standing pens in the Leppings Lane Stand. With the kickoff slowly approaching there was a heavy influx of fans into the stadium. To ease the overcrowding, the match commander David Duckenfield ordered one of the exit gates to be opened which led to a disastrous flooding in of more supporters that eventually led to the crash.
The match was suspended inside 5 minutes at 3:05 pm after people started to get to safety as they standing became weaker. In the crash around 766 Liverpool supporters were left injured and 96 lost their lives.
LIVERPOOL vs The Sun:-
This tragic incident then became turned more ugly when the police and renowned English tabloid The Sun, blamed the Liverpool supporters for this disaster. The Police accused Liverpool fans as Drunken Hooligans.
Four days after the incident, The Sun published a front page piece of the incident with the headlines "The Truth". In that they accused the Liverpool fans of ultimately causing the deaths of 96 people. The Sun also published three sub headlines consisting of "some fans picked pockets of victims", "some fans urinated on brave cops" and "some fans beat up PC giving kiss of life".
The Sun's story then went to say that "Drunken Liverpool fans viciously attacked rescue workers as they tried to revive victims." The Sun's media coverage to this incident led to a major outrage in the city of Liverpool.
Liverpool as well as fellow city rivals Everton decided to boycott the media outlets. Since 2017 Liverpool FC banned Journalists from The Sun entering Anfield ,denying them access to matches and press conference, 28 Years after they received Justice. Everton would soon follow the same step and denied The Sun from entering the Goodison Park.
The Answer to the Question of whether The Sun apologized is somewhat of Yes and No. In 1993, Kelvin Mackenzie, editor of The Sun during the Hillsborough Coverage apologized for his actions. However in 2006, he took a U-Turn and said that the newspaper owner Rupert Murdoch made him record that statement and boosted proudly "I was not sorry then and I'm not sorry now."
In 2016, an inquest jury concluded that the 96 victims were "unlawfully killed" and that Liverpool's fans behavior did not cause the crash.
Liverpool Football Club released a message on their official Twitter account, paying their tributes to those 96 souls who tragically passed away.
32 years ago today, 96 children, women and men lost their lives at Hillsborough.
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) April 14, 2021
Our thoughts, as always, are with all those affected by the tragedy at Hillsborough and the 96 fans who will never be forgotten.
You'll Never Walk Alone. pic.twitter.com/GyIKZblPKa
We at the Su-Niti News pay our tributes to the fans who lost their lives in this tragic incident. You'll Never Walk Alone.
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