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Outside the gates of Anfield - Source: Photosport -
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Chelsea may have won the sublime battle for the Champions League semi-final spot at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, but on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy there was a sense that a passionate Liverpool were playing for much more than that.
And even though Liverpool lost, as the players fought on in the face of footballing adversity on Wednesday the travelling supporters never stopped singing for the team and the 96 men, woman, husbands, wives, daughters, sons, brothers and sisters who went to watch a football match on the 15th of April in 1989 and never came back.
Most football supporters know the horror of Hillsborough - the day when travelling Liverpool supporters went to watch their team in an FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forrest at Hillsborough stadium.
What took place at that game was an easily avoidable tragedy where many fans were crushed to death in what remains Britain's biggest stadium disaster.
The crush occurred when fans, eagerly waiting to get into the game to see their heroes play, were let into a set of gates by police, intended to be an exit. A mass of fans then walked into a narrow tunnel in the Leppings Lane end of the ground - into two already overcrowded pens.
The result caused a huge crush at the front of the terrace where people were being pressed against the fence as more fans, unaware of what was happening, came in behind them.
What happened next was panic on a mass scale as people tried to scramble over the fence to escape the crush. Some escaped through a hole that had been made in the fence, while others were pulled to safety by fellow fans.
As the match was already underway, it was a long time before the events unfolding were noticed, and it was at 3:06 pm that the game was finally stopped.
The horror did not stop there as thousands of people across Britain watched the disaster on TV, with no one more effected than the people of Liverpool who were watching friends and family being pushed up against fences or lying helpless on the pitch as fellow fans made makeshift stretchers out anything they could find.
Ninety-four people died that day, with 766 injured. Two died later in hospital. The death toll rose to 96 when one man died after being in a coma for four years.
Never forgotten
On the 15th of April 2009, church bells will ring out 96 times across the city of Liverpool to remember each and every person who died on that day. At six minutes past three, a two-minute silence will be held and the city will come to a halt.
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard - whose 10-year-old cousin was the youngest victim of the tragedy - will lead the players to a memorial service at Anfield.
A scarf will be laid on the pitch by Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez and a candle will be lit to remember every life that was lost.
For the families of those who were tragically killed on that day the fight continues as there are questions that have never been answered and justice has never been done - but there is no doubt that the events at Hillsborough changed the face of modern football forever.
So now, when you sit in your policed and stewarded all-seater stadium you can have no fear of you or your family or friends being at a football match and never coming back and you should spare a though for those who senselessly lost their lives that day and were contributing factors in making a game loved by millions all over the world safer.
Remembering Hillsborough: Have your say
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Post new commentdaviddavidlim86 said on 2009-04-15 @ 16:34 NZDT: Report abusive post
Liverpool may have gone out of Europe on the night but there is no doubt they played with pride and a 4-4 draw was the best result for what was a magnificent game of football.. The 96 will be looking down at this match and have a big smile on their faces if they could. Rafa's men should be very proud of what they tried to achieve amidst the adversity of a big deficit from the first leg and the emotion of the occasion. Now a Premier League title would be fitting for a magnificient season.