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Heysel Stadium disaster
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The Heysel Stadium disaster (often simplified to Heysel or the Heysel Disaster) refers to the deaths of 39 (and injury of some 600 more) people, mostly fans of Juventus F.C., before the 1985 European Cup Final held in the Heysel Stadium, Brussels. The disaster is one of the most high profile and one of the worst cases of football hooliganism in European and world football.
Approximately an hour before the scheduled kick-off time a large number of supporters of English Liverpool F.C. breached a fence separating them from rival supporters of Juventus F.C. and charged at and attacked the Italian supporters.
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The Heysel Stadium disaster (often simplified to Heysel or the Heysel Disaster) refers to the deaths of 39 (and injury of some 600 more) people, mostly fans of Juventus F.C., before the 1985 European Cup Final held in the Heysel Stadium, Brussels. The disaster is one of the most high profile and one of the worst cases of football hooliganism in European and world football.
Approximately an hour before the scheduled kick-off time a large number of supporters of English Liverpool F.C. breached a fence separating them from rival supporters of Juventus F.C. and charged at and attacked the Italian supporters. Juventus fans were forced to retreat, putting pressure on a dilapidated retaining wall, which collapsed away from them. The crush of fans against the wall and its collapse led to the deaths and hundreds more injuries. The game was played despite the disaster in order to prevent further violence.
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 F.C. being excluded for an additional year and a number of Liverpool fans prosecuted for manslaughter. The disaster has been called "the darkest hour in the history of the UEFA competitions."
Background
In May 1985 Liverpool were the premier football team in Europe, having been European Cup champions 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. Again they would face Italian opposition, Juventus, who were the reigning Cup Winners' Cup holders and had a team comprising many of Italy's 1982 World Cup winning team, plus the mercurial Michel Platini of France, winner of the Ballon d'Or (awarded to European footballer of the year) in 1983, 1984, and 1985.
Earlier, in January, Liverpool had visited Turin to play Juventus in the European Super Cup. Juve won the game 2–0. There should have been a second match at Anfield, but Liverpool couldn't find time in their schedule for the return leg, so it was postponed until after Heysel, and was never played.
May 29, 1985
Despite its status as Belgium's national stadium, Heysel Stadium was not a suitable venue for a match such as the European Cup Final. The 55-year-old stadium had not been well maintained in several years, and large parts of the stadium were crumbling. 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. Liverpool CEO Peter Robinson urged UEFA to choose another venue, to no avail.
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, 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, had a large Italian community, and many expatriate Juventus fans bought the section Z tickets. 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.
To add to the tension, the Liverpool X and Y sections were overcrowded after many fans managed to get in without tickets, and most of the fans had been drinking all day.
Confrontation
At approximately 7pm local time, an hour before kick-off, the trouble started.
The Liverpool and Juventus supporters in sections Y and Z stood merely yards apart. The boundary between the two was marked by temporary chicken-wire fencing and a central thinly-policed no-man's land. It is not clear who started throwing missiles; but as a result missiles began to be exchanged across the divide. One often-quoted source of the missiles was the crumbling stadium; fans could pick up stones from the terraces beneath them. Many accounts of witnesses state that the Juventus fans started the missile launching.
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. The aging wall could not withstand the weight and collapsed.
It was at this point that the majority of the deaths occurred - 39 people died, and a further 600 were injured. 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. The situation became chaotic.
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 even fired a pistol (later verified as being a starting pistol). When the game eventually 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.
A much overlooked part of the tragedy is that, before the main match, a friendly game was played by very young Belgian selection players. By pure coincidence, the teenagers were playing in colours identical to the cup contestants. In their first half, the red Belgian team built a 3-0 lead, to the great pleasure of Liverpool fans who started 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.
39 victims
39 football fans died in the incident, 32 Italian fans of Juventus FC, 4 Belgians, 2 French and an Irishman.
- Rocco Acerra (29)
- Bruno Balli (50)
- Alfons Bos
- Giancarlo Bruschera (21)
- Andrea Casula (11)
- Giovanni Casula (44)
- Nino Cerrullo (24)
- Willy Chielens
- Giuseppina Conti (17)
- Dirk Daenecky
- Dionisio Fabbro (51)
- Jacques François
- Eugenio Gagliano (35)
- Francesco Galli (25)
- Giancarlo Gonnelli (20)
- Alberto Guarini (21)
- Giovacchino Landini (50)
- Roberto Lorentini (31)
- Barbara Lusci (58)
| | Benjamin Lyon (14) Loris Messore (28) Gianni Mastrolaco (20) Sergio Bastino Mazzino (38) Luciano Rocco Papaluca (38) Luigi Pidone (31) Bento Pistolato (50) Patrick Radcliffe Domenico Ragazzi (44) Antonio Ragnanese (29) Claude Robert Mario Ronchi (43) Domenico Russo (28) Tarcisio Salvi (49) Gianfranco Sarto (47) Amedeo Giuseppe Spolaore (55) Mario Spanu (41) Tarcisio Venturin (23) Jean Michel Walla Claudio Zavaroni (28) |
Juventus 1-0 Liverpool
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. Although accounts vary, it appears that most players from both teams were unaware that there had been deaths. Indeed, some supporters have said that it wasn't until after the game that they found out that people had died.
Juventus won the match 1-0 thanks to a controversial penalty scored by Michel Platini. The penalty was awarded by Swiss referee Daina for a foul against Zbigniew Boniek, but the foul was apparently committed outside the penalty area. This created some conjectures about the intent of favouring Juventus in order to avoid extra time.
At the end of the game, the Juventus players celebrated their victory in the middle of the pitch and outside. It is debated whether they were aware of the dead. The former Juventus president Giampiero Boniperti recently maintained in his biography to "have ordered the changerooms to be locked and no information should have been leaked inside" since he feared the players could have been assaulted. Consistent statements have been released by Juventus striker Paolo Rossi
Aftermath
Officially the entire blame for the incident was laid on the fans of Liverpool FC. On May 30 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.
On May 31, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher put pressure upon the FA to withdraw English clubs from European competition, and then two days later UEFA banned English clubs for "an indeterminate period of time". On June 6 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 proviso being added that Liverpool would serve a further three year ban after the ban on other English clubs had been lifted. In the event English clubs were banned for five years. Liverpool in the end 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. The majority 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 Liverpool fans were given 3-year sentences for involuntary manslaughter. Half the terms were suspended 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 demolished and the King Baudouin Stadium built on the site. On August 23 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 May 8 1996 when Paris Saint-Germain defeated Rapid Vienna 1–0 to win the Cup Winners Cup.
Players' and supporters' reactions
Several Juventus players and supporters have expressed unhappiness with the way Juventus dealt with the incident, in that they displayed the trophy in their trophy cabinet straight after the game, and didn't do enough to help the bereaved families, for example, not having any kind of memorial to the supporters who died. Despite efforts by Liverpool F.C. and sections of the media to suggest otherwise, the majority of Juventus supporters have never forgiven the Liverpool supporters for their actions at Heysel and have displayed these sentiments on many occasions since.
Some Liverpool players and supporters feel that it was wrong to entirely apportion the blame for the disaster on Liverpool supporters. They believe other factors, such as the ticketing arrangements and inadequate policing, contributed to the events. Liverpool players and supporters also argue that Heysel was not adequate for a major football match; indeed, Liverpool's official account of the disaster implies that it would have never happened had UEFA staged it at any other ground that was available at the time. The fact that there was never an official inquiry also raised eyebrows.
A number of commentators have questioned Liverpool's handling of the disaster, particularly in comparison to high profile 'Justice for the 96' campaign fought after the Hillsborough Disaster - Liverpool Football Club has never accepted culpability, or responsibility for the actions of its fans and has never formally apologised for the events or compensated the families of those killed.
although in 2005 the Liverpool Echo published a front page emblazoned with the words 'We're Sorry' reflecting a widespread opinion that the fans of Liverpool football club were the main culprits and had brought shame upon the city.
Consequences for football in England
The ban from European competition had mixed effect on the game in England. In club football, before the 5-year ban English clubs had been dominant in European competition with 6 European Cup victories, 1977–1982, and again in 1984. Since the ban ended in 1990, English teams have won the tournament three times (1999, 2005, 2008). In the period 1991-1996, no champions of England made either the final group stages of the revised European Cup/UEFA Champions League or the knockout rounds from 1995-1996 onward.
However, English clubs won the European Cup Winners Cup in 1991, 1994 (losing finalists 1995) and 1998. Since 1997 English teams exited the UEFA Champions League 8 times at the semi final stage, 8 times at the quarter final stage - a substantial number of which are attributable to Manchester United - as well as Liverpool winning the UEFA Cup in 2001 plus two losing finalists (2000, 2006). It has been argued that the lack of English success during this period is attributable to the style of play employed by English sides rather than the ban, particularly the attacking style of play applied by Sir Alex Ferguson at dominant English side Manchester United, arguably better suited for the Premiership than for European football.
Further, at International level, the England national team reached the semi finals of the 1990 FIFA World Cup during the ban. A number of world class English players were produced during the ban - notably Paul Gascoigne - and notable successful players such as Gary Lineker remained in English football despite the lack of European competition.
From May 1 2008, the English league surpassed La Liga and returned to the top of the UEFA coefficient list, based on performance of English clubs in European competition against rival leagues, with the UEFA Champions League final being played by two English sides, Manchester United and Chelsea. This is the first time England has topped the list since the Heysel Disaster and the ban on European competition in 1985. This point can be argued as the quantifiable return of English football to the level just prior to the disaster - a period of 23 years.
Impact on Liverpool
The impact on Liverpool football club is arguable. Liverpool had already captured four European Cup titles within the 8 year span, but they would have to wait twenty-one years to win the fifth. However, Liverpool continued to perform well in the Football League and FA Cup during the ban from Europe, only falling into relative decline following the replacement of Kenny Dalglish as manager with Graeme Souness in 1991. Liverpool also faced increased competition following the rise of Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson throughout 1990s and Arsenal F.C. under Arsène Wenger from 1996 (and to a lesser extent, from Chelsea FC, Newcastle United and Leeds United) making qualification for Europe far more difficult until the expansion of the UEFA Champions League qualification to 3 teams in 1999-2000 and to 4 in 01-02 - the financial implosion of Leeds and decline of Newcastle after the exit of Bobby Robson greatly reducing competition for 4th position at the same time. The impact on local rivals Everton F.C. was significant in that the ban denied the side the chance to appear in the European Cup and other European competition and led to the loss of manager Howard Kendall and several key players; however, during the ban the club remained relatively successful.
It can be argued the impact of the introduction of the Premier League on Liverpool and those affected by the ban was far more severe than the European ban - Liverpool have yet to secure a league title since its introduction and Everton have narrowly escaped relegation on a number of occasions.
Impact on Stadia
After Heysel, English clubs began to impose stricter rules intended to make it easier to prevent trouble-makers 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.
However, serious progress on legal banning orders preventing foreign travel to matches was argueably 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 February 15 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, 2000 banning orders were in place, compared to fewer than 100 before Euro 2000.
The main reforms to stadia in England did not come until after the Taylor Report resulting from the Hillsborough disaster (also involving Liverpool supporters), 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 throughout stadiums. Fans who misbehave can have their tickets revoked and be legally barred from attending games at any English stadium.
Teams affected by the ban
During the duration of the ban arising from the Heysel disaster, 17 teams missed out on the chance to play in the three European competitions.
| Club | European Cup | UEFA Cup | Cup Winners' Cup |
|---|
| Liverpool | 1986-87, 1988-89, 1990-91 | 1985-86, 1987-88 | 1989-90 | | Everton | 1985-86, 1987-88 | 1986-87, 1988-89 | 1986-87 * | | Arsenal | 1989-90 | 1987-88 | | | Tottenham Hotspur | | 1985-86, 1987-88, 1989-90 | | | Manchester United | | 1986-87, 1988-89 | 1985-86 | | Chelsea | | 1985-86, 1986-87 | | | Norwich City | | 1985-86, 1987-88, 1989-90 | | | Nottingham Forest | | 1988-89, 1989-90 | | | Southampton | | 1985-86 | | | Oxford United | | 1986-87 | | | West Ham United | | 1986-87 | | | Sheffield Wednesday | | 1986-87 | | | Luton Town | | 1988-89 | | | Queens Park Rangers | | 1988-89 | | | Derby County | | 1989-90 | | | Coventry City | | | 1987-88 | | Wimbledon | | | 1988-89 |
* Everton were eligible to enter either the Cup Winners' Cup or the UEFA Cup for the 1986-87 campaign, Everton had finished runners-up in the First division in 1986 and had also finished runners-up to Liverpool in the FA Cup, because Liverpool had won the First division and FA Cup Everton could therefore enter the Cup Winners' Cup as Liverpool would enter the European Cup.
Even after the ban was lifted in 1990, English teams had to wait five seasons before earning back all of the European places which they had held before 1985. This affected eight teams, who missed qualification for the UEFA Cup until and including the 1994-95 tournament.
Commemorations
During Euro 2000, all the members of the Italian team left flowers on the site, in honour to the dead fans of Juventus.
On May 29, 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.
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. Many refused to accept the offer of friendship, citing the 20-year gap between the tragedy and the apology. Others dismissed it as a tacky publicity stunt that in itself was too little too late.
See also
External links
Journal Articles
- The International Journal of the History of Sport; Football hooliganism as a transnational phenomenon: Past and present analysis: A critique – More specificity and less generality, (Routledge; Volume 24, Number 4/April 200
- Soccer and Society, (Routledge; Volume 5, Number 2/Summer 2004)
- Soccer and Society, 'Heads in the Sand': Football, Politics and Crowd Disasters in Twentieth-Century Britain, (Routledge; Volume 5, Number 2/Summer 2004)
- Soccer and Society, English Football Fan Groups in the 1990s: Class, Representation and Fan Power, (Routledge; Volume 5, Number 2/Summer 2004)
- Soccer and Society, For Club and Country: Taking Football Disorder Abroad, (Routledge; Volume 3, Number 1/Spring 2002)
- Soccer and Society, Hit and tell: A review essay on the Soccer Hooligan Memoir, (Routledge; Volume 5, Number 3/Autumn 2004)
- Soccer and Society, The Nature and Extent of Football Hooliganism in England and Wales, (Routledge; Volume 7, Number 4/December 2006)
- Soccer and Society, The Ownership and Control of Elite Club Competition in European Football, (Routledge; Volume 8, Number 1/January 2007)
- Soccer and Society, This Sporting Life: The Realism of The Football Factory, (Routledge; Volume 8, Number 1/January 2007)
- Soccer and Society, 'Protect Me From What I Want’: Football Fandom, Celebrity Cultures and ‘New’ Football in England, (Routledge; Volume 7, Number 1/January 2006)
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