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The Truth
Here we are, almost thirty years after the accident, and just now figuring out the truth. The truth, of what happened at Hillsborough. The day was set, April 15, 1989. The FA Cup semi-final set for Liverpool and Nottingham Forest to take battle at one of the most storied stadiums in all of the UK. Sheffield Wednesday’s stadium in Hillsborough was the site. Chosen for it’s large capacity of 56,000 people. Now of course, each team’s supporters had to claim their end. Liverpool, being the higher seed, got the first choice. They chose the Leppings Lane end. Made up of four pens, the standing room only section could hold over 11,000 people. The game, a sell out of course, was on a beautiful day. It was one of those April days when you wake up and see the sun, almost as if you haven’t seen it since the first day of winter. The sun baking into your skin as you walk down the stadium slowly getting the chills and nerves as you head to the ground hoping your team will win. Now let’s think here, the Liverpool end, having at least 11,000 people coming through it, only had seven turnstiles. Now you might ask why does that make sense? That would average about 1,570 people per turnstile. People will be crushed, unless the police have prepared well for this. David Duckenfield, head of the police academy in South Yorkshire, were going to be in charge of the game. David Duckenfield in his pre-match briefing said, and I quote “Now ladies and gentlemen I think we have covered for every possible of unsafe thing that might happen tomorrow.” but he did not mention one word on crowd safety. The day started slowly, not many people coming through the turnstiles, until about an hour before kick off. Then it was almost madness at about an hour ahead of kick-off. It was like a tsunami of red. The Liverpool supporters pouring in. Into the middle pen that was already packed. Through all of the rush and cursing and panic from the police, there was not a word from the control box, where David Duckenfield sat. He was supposed to be there to help with what was happening outside the gates and in the stadium. Soon enough the mass was so big outside that they had to open one of the exit gates to let all the people in to prevent injury outside the stadium. That was when trouble loomed. All of those thousands of people that just got let in the exit gate, most without a ticket, poured into the already stuffed middle pen. There were about 4,000 people in that middle pen at kickoff, with more coming, that was 798 more people than the maximum capacity was. People were alarmed, but when the match started it was almost like everyone stopped. Liverpool won an early corner, the volley coming from their star midfielder hit the crossbar, and that is when all pandemonium broke out. There was a push in the middle pen and lots out shouting, and all of a sudden there were fans on the pitch. Rushing out, because of the completely full pen. People climbing over the top and trying to jump the sides as more and more people were crammed into the middle pen. People were getting pulled up to the top deck trying to be saved, but it was almost as if nothing could be done to get those people out, and soon, there was death. 96 people died that day in Hillsborough. The blame was immediately set on the fans. David Duckenfield blamed the Liverpool fans for coming in drunk and violently “breaking” the exit gate that most of the fans got in, when Duckenfield had ordered for that gate to be opened! Now here we are in 2014, just now finding out the truth, that it truly was poor security and not violence by the Liverpool fans. All I must say is this, JUSTICE FOR THE 96!
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This is a true piece that I wrote in honor of the 96 people that sadly lost their lives that day,