Chaotic scene recalled from Heysel Stadium disaster: Witness recounts every individual fending for themselves.
Forty years ago, on May 29, 1985, a tragic event unfolded at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels during the European Cup Final match between Juventus and Liverpool. The disaster left 39 spectators dead and hundreds more injured. One of the victims was Patrick Radcliffe from Belfast.
The pre-game atmosphere was tense, with escalating tensions between the fans of the two teams. Incidents of stone throwing and flare-ups by a minority group of Liverpool supporters targeted the Italian section of the stadium. As the Juventus fans fled, they were trapped against a wall, which subsequently collapsed.
Michael Hamell, an Irish spectator present in the stadium, recalls the incident from a neutral part behind one of the goals. He describes the initial lobbing of harmless objects such as fruits, but as the situation escalated, rocks and bottles began to fly. He felt the crowd moving downwards towards the pitch, and once Liverpool fans breached the wire mesh, the panic ensued. Hamell was caught in the midst of the chaos, caught in a wave of the crowd that swept him and fellow spectators to the ground like an avalanche.
The Red Cross eventually arrived and extracted Hamell from the crowd. He survived with minor injuries but remembers the moment vividly. He believes that the disaster was largely due to the violence and irrationality of football fans, and that there was a lack of accountability on the part of the British press and authorities to acknowledge the role English supporters played in the tragedy.
Several Liverpool fans were eventually found guilty of manslaughter following the disaster. The match proceeded with Juventus securing a 1-0 victory over the depleted Liverpool team.
Since then, the Heysel disaster has had a lasting impact on football safety and fan behavior. It highlighted the need for stricter regulations and increased vigilance at major sporting events, and marked a turning point in addressing hooliganism in football.
- The general-news headlines in the following days reported on the crime-and-justice case involving Liverpool fans after the Heysel Stadium tragedy, where several supporters were found guilty of manslaughter due to their actions.
- The Heysel disaster, an accident that occurred during the European Cup Final match between Juventus and Liverpool in 1985, brought sports into the spotlight, specifically football and its role in crime-and-justice incidents, as well as the need for improving safety measures in European leagues.
- In the aftermath of the Heysel disaster, discussion surrounding sports expanded from on-field performance to include crime-and-justice issues, as well as accident prevention, with the Champions League and other European leagues implementing stricter regulations to combat hooliganism and improve fan behavior.
