Tribute

On 15 April 1989, over 25,000 Liverpool fans travelled to Hillsborough, Sheffield for the FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest. 96 of them never returned.

Today marked the 18th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster. I could still vividly recall that very night 18years ago as I witnessed one of Britain's worst-ever sporting disaster on TV.

Being an ardent Liverpool fan at the age of just 9, I was eagerly anticipating the FA Cup Semi-final clash between 2 of the top teams in the 80s, Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, in my parents' room. I stayed up late for that game as such match-ups hardly came by and was not to be missed. Barely 5mins into the game, a commotion broke out and the game was being suspended. Totally oblivious of the main cause behind the stoppage, i got pissed off and irritated. "好不容易等到球赛开始了，现在无端端干吗要斩停呢？" The game was eventually called off and postponed to a later date. And I only came to know what exactly happened from the papers the next day.

At kickoff, more than 2,000 Liverpool fans had still not got into the stadium. A police spokesman said orders were given for the gate to the stand to be opened because they believed that the pressure of the fans outside the ground was "a danger to life" (how ironic). But as the fans rushed in, those already there were pushed forward and crushed against the high, wired-topped safety fences. However, it was more than 5mins into the game before what was happening became apparent to those not in the Leppings Lane stand. Then, alerted by fans spilling through a narrow gap onto the pitch or being lifted by others into the seating areas above, a policeman ran onto the field and ordered the referee to stop the game.

Improved safety measures recently introduced at grounds to keep rival fans apart meant , for many, there was no escape from the crush. Bodies were lifted forward and laid out on the pitch - many of them teenagers and children. In all, 96 died, at least 200 were injured, about 20 seriously. Some fans said bad ticket allocation contributed to the disaster. Liverpool had more fans than Nottingham Forest but were given 6,000 tickets less and allocated to the smaller Leppings Lane stand.

Who is to be blamed? The police who gave the orders to open the gate to the stand? The 2,000 odd travelling supporters who pushed their way in to the already packed stand? The person in charge of allocating the tickets? Or the management which introduced the safety measures at the Hillsborough Stadium? I really don't know.

A tribute dedicated to the 96 men, women and children who lost their lives at Hillsborough Stadium 18yrs ago. YNWA.