towards me. Somebody started to scream and
then I heard that person fall to the floor with a
sickening thud. I looked arond frantically to see
who the person was. I struggled to find my
breath as the crowd was pushing inwards and
inwards towards me. I saw a gap in the crowd- I
saw my chance to escape. At the end of the
tunnel were a few few stewards to whom in
rushed towards in a frenzy.
"There's somebody being trampled on in the
tunnel!" I screamed.
They just looked at me blankley and walked
away-as they were walking I heard one of them
mutter
"Stupid scouser"
I felt like shouting, come and say it to my face-
but thought it was neither the time nor the
place to do so. It had been a young woman who
was trapped in the tunnel- in her mid twenties,
she had been taken to the first aid room in the
stand we were in- this was becoming
ridiculous.
"If this carries in were all going to get crushed."
i whispered to Mike.
We finally found our seats, on the front row
of the second tier. The gates had just been
opened and all the fans had just run in through
the tunnels causing even more injury- and in
some places two or more people were sharing
a seat. Mike, Shawn and myself had just one
seat between us as an old woman and her
grandaughter had taken ours as we had let
them. Despite the poor ground facilities, the
atmosphere was amazing, everyone stood up,
cheering and applauding as soon as the players
stepped onto the field. However I realised that
the amural of the players was not the reason for
the crowd standing. . . . they were standing up
because they had to do so. There was
absolutely no room at all down their end. There
were screems coming from below, what
happened to us in the tunnel was happening in
the stand below.
The match kicked off thirty minutes after the
original kick-off time, I do not know how they
managed to fit all these people into one football
stadium, I called a steward over to me about it
"Don't you think someone should sort that
out?"
"Sort what out?"
I looked in amazement at the steward- how
could he fail to realise what was going on?
"They're being squashed down there like paper
cups!"
"It's not my problem"
"Of course it's your problem!"
"Sir, any-more talk like that to me and ill have to
ask you to leave the ground- just enjoy the
game"
He then just walked away. I took the advise of
the man, i tried to watch stand there and watch
my favourite football team play- but could not,
all I could think about was those innocent
people in the stand below in pain and agony.
Then all of a sudden I thought "what if we
score?" when Liverpool usually score the fans
would rush towards the front of the stand in
excitement and if this was to happen the people
at the front would be suffocated further. I never
thought I would find myself rooting for the
against Liverpool to win a match- but I was at
this moment, only concerned for the safety of
the fans below.
As soon as I had started thinking such
thoughts, it seemed as if Liverpool had turned it
up a gear, and were constantly attacking the
Nottingham Forest goal. After twenty-five
minutes of the match . . . . ., Liverpool scored.
The crowd roared with excitement and, as
expected, the crowd below surged forward and
screams of anguish filled the air. Dosens of
spectators had only one choice and that was to
scramble onto the football field. I felt horrified
as the police tried to force these people back
into the stand- but were failing as the crowd
had took the little space made and there was
once again no room in the stand below.
To my amazement the people below were
now standing on top of each other in a
desperate attempt to reach the second tier. The
two stands were only about eight feet apart at
the lowest point. One person actually reached
his arms out towards Mike, Shawn and myself.
"Help me!" he uttered anxiously.
we reached our arms out and attempted to pull
him to safety before he tumbled to the floor
below and landed on the crowd below.
Thankfully he and the people he landed on were
fine, but more and more people were becoming
hurt. too many people had now flooded the field
and the referee and his assistants were
debating about calling the game off.
A few moments later, the players, in a calm
manner began to make their way off the field of
play as tens to hundreds of Liverpool players
lay injured and possibly deceased on the floor.
Ambulances had been called to the stadium and
first aiders tried to attend to the injured but
were simply out numbered by many. Fans then
started to head for the tunnel and started
running through towards the end in the fear of
being crushed. The people who were running
soon fell inside the tunnel and were being
trampled on and injured. Michael, Shawn and
myself had attempted to exit also and I had
been seperated from them in the tunnel and
had to start shouting their names to find them.
"Michael, Shawn!"
"Will- is that you?"
"Who is that?"
"Shawn!"
"Shawn- where are you?-ill meet you at the end
of the tunnel, wheres Mike?"
I felt as if I were talking to nobody, in fact I was
talking into space, there was not enough room
to see were we were going.
"I dont know- We split up, I thought he was with
you."
"Well he isn't"
At the end of the tunnel I met up with Shawn,
but there was no sign of Mike in sight.
"We'll have to back in and look for him"
we tried to find an easier way back into the
arena, but every single tunnel was the same-
too full to enter. Our break came when a few
moments later, an ambulance was making its
way through the side of the ground and people
had made way for the vehicle to drive through.
We followed the vehicle as the crowd parted
like the red sea.We made it back to the pitch
and jumped over the rails. Many kind-hearted
fans had also jumped onto the pitch in an
attempt to help the injured fans. Even some
Nottingham Forest supporters had started to
help.
Shawn and myself had been looking for
Micael for two hours with no luck whatsoever,
we gave up hope and surmised he may have
gone home, but realised he may also be at the
local hospital. The stadium was still not empty
despite the match postponement two hours
ago. Supporters had laid flowers from end to
end. One boy who had just come out of hospital
after suffering from pneumonia had enough
strength to walk to the goalmouth and place a
bouquet of flowers; the boy was two years old.
Shawn and I left the stadium and headed
towards the hospital in Sheffield via taxi. The
hospital-just like the stadium was crowded. I
had the oppurtunity to ask about Mike as a
doctor passed me by.
"Excuse me, have you admitted a patient
named Michael Stanton?"
I realised it was a foolish question to ask-he
had probably attended to over a hundred
patients that day, but I had to ask.
"I'm sorry-but I dont know half the patients
names in this hospital usually. But i've had so
many in today due to . . . . well you know"
"Well I had to ask some body. I hope you
understand."
"Do you have any photographs or any other
means of identification?"
I realised I had Mikes under sixteens bus pass
with me and pulled it out of my pocket.
"Him"
"Hold on one moment, please"
A few moments later the doctor returned and in
a serious voice said.
"I think you had better come this way sir."
his sombre tone of voice scared me, as he lead
us through a door which read "Mortuary"
"I am sorry sir- I have a person who fits that
picture in here, ill contact his family and bring
them down here so that they can make an
identification for us"
Mikes parents eventually arrived and after
staying in with the doctor for a while came out
with tears streaming down their faces.
"MIKE!" Shawn screemed and ran through the
door to see his friend. I had never seen Shawn
show this much emotion beforeand even
though he has a reputation as "Solid Shawn"
he didnt look like the boy who didnt care about
anyone now- he had a heart too. We just stared
at the prone body infront of us for what seemed
an eternity until finally we stepped outside.
"I'm sorry boys-I don't know what to say"
And with that we were taken home.
The 15th of April 1989 will live in everyones
memory for the rest of their lives. Ninety-two
people were confirmed deceased just three
nights later, including my best friend Mike.
Shawn and I both hope that both him and
everyone else who died on that day will rest in
peace.
