The Heysel Stadium disaster occurred on 29 May 1985 when escaping fans were pressed against a wall in the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, as a result of rioting before the start of the 1985 European Cup Final between Liverpool of England and Juventus of Italy. Thirty-nine Juventus fans died and 600 were injured.
Approximately one hour before the Liverpool-Juventus final was due to kick off, a large group of Liverpool fans breached a fence separating them from a "neutral area" which contained rival Juventus fans. The Juventus fans ran back on the terraces and away from the threat into a concrete retaining wall. Fans already seated near the wall were crushed; eventually the wall collapsed. Many people climbed over to safety, but many others died or were badly injured. The game was played despite the disaster in order to prevent further violence.[1]
The tragedy resulted in all English football clubs being placed under an indefinite ban by UEFA from all European competitions (lifted in 1990–91), with Liverpool being excluded for an additional year and several Liverpool fans prosecuted for manslaughter. The disaster was later described as "the darkest hour in the history of the UEFA competitions".[2]
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In May 1985 Liverpool were the premier football team in Europe, having been European Cup winners in four of the previous eight seasons. Liverpool reached the final again in 1985, and were looking to defend the title that they won by defeating Roma the previous year. Trouble occurred at the previous season's European Cup final, with several Liverpool fans being attacked by fans of Roma both before and after the match.[3] Again they would face Italian opposition, Juventus, who had won the Cup Winners' Cup the previous season and had a team comprising many of Italy's 1982 World Cup winning team, and Michel Platini of France, winner of the Ballon d'Or (awarded to European footballer of the year) in 1983, 1984, and 1985.
Despite its status as Belgium's national stadium, Heysel Stadium was in a poor state of repair by the time of the 1985 European Final. The 55-year-old stadium had not been well maintained for several years, and large parts of the stadium were crumbling. For example, the outer wall had been made of cinder block, and fans who did not have tickets were seen kicking holes in it to get in.[4] Liverpool players and fans later said that they were shocked at the abject conditions of the ground, despite reports from Arsenal fans that the stadium was a "dump" when the Gunners played there a few years earlier. They were also surprised that Heysel was chosen despite its poor condition, especially since Barcelona's Camp Nou and Madrid's Bernabéu were both available. Liverpool CEO Peter Robinson urged UEFA to choose another venue, claiming that Heysel was not suitable to host a European Final, but UEFA refused to consider a move.[5]
The stadium was crammed with 58,000–60,000 supporters, with more than 25,000 for each team. The two ends behind the goals comprised all-standing terraces, each end split into three zones. The Juventus end was O, N and M. At the other end Liverpool were allocated X and Y, with the Z section (to one side) being reserved for neutral Belgian fans. The idea of this large neutral area was opposed by both Liverpool and Juventus,[6] as it would provide an opportunity for fans of both clubs to obtain tickets from agencies or from ticket touts outside the ground and thus create a dangerous mix of fans.
At the time Brussels, like the rest of Belgium, already had a large Italian community, and many expatriate Juventus fans bought the section Z tickets.[7] Added to this, many tickets were bought up and sold by travel agents, mainly to Juventus fans. A small percentage of the tickets ended up in the hands of Liverpool fans.
At approximately 7 p.m. local time, an hour before kick-off, the trouble started.[8] The Liverpool and Juventus supporters in sections Y and Z stood merely yards apart. The boundary between the two was marked by temporary chain link fencing and a central thinly policed no-man's land.[9] Missiles began to be thrown across the divide. Fans could pick up stones from the terraces beneath them.
As kick-off approached, the throwing became more intense. A group of Liverpool fans charged across the terraces through and over the wire fence into section Z causing the Juventus fans to retreat. Having no way out, the Juventus fans moved towards the side perimeter wall, near to the corner flag. Some tried to climb over the wall to escape. Many escaped; however, the wall could not withstand the force of the fleeing Juventus supporters and collapsed.
It was at this point that the majority of the deaths occurred — 39 people died, and a further 600 were injured.[9][10] Bodies were carried away on sections of iron fencing and laid in piles outside, covered with giant football flags. As police and medical helicopters flew in, the down-draught blew away the modest coverings.
In retaliation for the events in section Z, Juventus fans then rioted at their end of the stadium. They advanced down the stadium running track towards the Liverpool supporters seeking confrontation, but police intervention stopped the advance. The Juventus fans fought the police with rocks, bottles and missiles for two hours. One Juventus fan was captured on television footage apparently firing a pistol[11] (later verified as being a starting pistol). When the game kicked off, riot police were still fighting a pitched battle with Juventus supporters, and they maintained a presence around the entire pitch for the duration of the game.
Before the main match, a friendly game was played by very young Belgian selection players, who were playing in colours identical to the cup contestants. In their first half, the red Belgian team built a 3–0 lead, to the delight of the Liverpool fans who were acting as if the cup game had already started. When the white selection team scored in the second half, around 19:10, the English and Italian fans were starting to brawl. With several minutes to go, the game was called off and the young players were taken away.[12]
Despite the scale of the disaster, it was felt that abandoning the game would have risked inciting further trouble, and the match eventually kicked off after the captains of both sides spoke to the crowd and appealed for calm.
Juventus won the match 1–0 thanks to a penalty scored by Michel Platini awarded by Swiss referee Daina for a foul against Zbigniew Boniek.[13]
At the end of the game, some Juventus players celebrated their victory in the middle of the pitch and outside. The former Juventus president Giampiero Boniperti said in his biography that he "ordered the changing rooms to be locked and no information should have been leaked inside" since he feared the players could have been assaulted.[14] Consistent statements have been released by Juventus striker Paolo Rossi.
Officially the entire blame for the incident was laid on the fans of Liverpool FC. On 30 May official UEFA observer Gunter Schneider said, "Only the English fans were responsible. Of that there is no doubt." UEFA, the organiser of the event, the owners of Heysel Stadium and the Belgian police were never investigated for culpability. There was no official inquiry into the causes of the disaster.[7]
After an 18-month investigation, the dossier of top Belgian judge Marina Coppieters was finally published. It concluded that blame should not rest solely with the English fans, but instead should be shared by the police and football authorities. Several top officials were incriminated by some of the dossier’s findings, including police captain Johan Mahieu, who had been in charge of security on 29 May 1985 and was now charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Belgium was banned from hosting a major European final for 10 years. In a private action brought by Otello Lorentini, a bereaved parent, UEFA were judged to be co-responsible for future UEFA events and their statement on the match Tickets 'The organizer disclaims all responsibility in case of accidents of any kind' was rejected, the judge ruling that 'UEFA could not relinquish all responsibility and simply go to the cashier' [after compensation payments were agreed].[15]
On 31 May, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher put pressure upon the FA to withdraw English clubs from European competition,[16] and two days later UEFA banned English clubs for "an indeterminate period of time". On 6 June FIFA extended the ban to all worldwide matches, but this was modified one week later to allow friendly matches to take place. The ban did not apply to the English national team. English clubs were banned indefinitely from European club competitions with a provision being added that Liverpool would serve a further three-year ban after the ban on other English clubs had been lifted.[17] In the end, English clubs were banned for five years, and Liverpool only served one year of the extra three-year ban.
The British police undertook a thorough investigation to bring to justice the perpetrators. Some 17 minutes of film and many still photographs were examined. TV Eye produced an hour-long programme featuring the footage and the British press also published the photographs.
There were 27 arrests on suspicion of manslaughter – the only extraditable offence applicable to events at Heysel. Sixty percent of these people were from Merseyside. Some of these people had previous convictions for football-related violence. In 1989, after a 5-month trial in Belgium, fourteen English fans were given 3-year sentences for involuntary manslaughter.[18] Half the terms were suspended[19] and it is unclear how many served their sentences.
Heysel Stadium continued to be used for hosting athletics for almost a decade, but no further football matches took place in the old stadium. In 1994, the stadium was almost completely rebuilt as King Baudouin Stadium. On 23 August 1995 the new stadium welcomed the return of football to Heysel in the form of a friendly match between Belgium and Germany. It then hosted a major European final on 8 May 1996 when Paris Saint-Germain defeated Rapid Vienna 1–0 to win the Cup Winners Cup.
After Heysel, English clubs began to impose stricter rules intended to make it easier to prevent troublemakers from attending domestic games, with legal provision introduced to exclude troublemakers for 3 months introduced in 1986, and the Football (Offences) Act introduced in 1991.
Serious progress on legal banning orders preventing foreign travel to matches was arguably not made until the violence involving England fans (mainly involving neo-Nazi groups such as Combat 18) at a match against the Republic of Ireland on 15 February 1995 and violent scenes at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Rioting at UEFA Euro 2000 saw introduction of new legislation and wider use of police powers – by 2004, 2,000 banning orders were in place, compared to fewer than 100 before Euro 2000.[20][21]
The main reforms to English stadiums came after the Taylor Report into the Hillsborough disaster in which 96 people died in 1989. An example of the new rules is that fans are now often required to become members of clubs in order to apply for game tickets, and closed-circuit cameras have been installed. Fans who misbehave can have their tickets revoked and be legally barred from attending games at any English stadium.
During Euro 2000, all the members of the Italian team left flowers on the site, in honour to the dead fans of Juventus.
On 29 May 2005, a £140,000 sculpture was unveiled at the new Heysel stadium, to commemorate the disaster. The monument is a sundial designed by French artist Patrick Rimoux and includes Italian and Belgian stone and the poem Funeral Blues by Englishman W. H. Auden to symbolise the sorrow of the three nations. 39 lights shine, one for each who died that night.[22]
Juventus and Liverpool were drawn together in the quarter-finals of the 2005 Champions League. This match took place 20 years after the Heysel incident and was the first time the clubs faced each other since that time. Before the first leg at Anfield Liverpool fans held up placards to form a banner saying "amicizia" ("friendship" in Italian). Many Juventus fans applauded the gesture, though a significant number chose to turn their backs on it.[23]
British composer Michael Nyman made a piece called "Memorial" which was originally part of a larger work of the same name written in 1985 in memory of the Juventus fans who died at Heysel Stadium.
On Wednesday 26 May 2010, a permanent plaque was unveiled on the Centenary Stand at Anfield to honour the Juventus fans who died 25 years earlier. This plaque is one of two permanent memorials to be found at Anfield, along with one for the 96 fans killed in the Hillsborough disaster in 1989.
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