Heysel 30 years on

[ratcatcher]

Sobering reading.

 

Thirty years after a night that scarred football, when 39 people died moments before the Italian side took on Liverpool in the 1985 European Cup final, there are moves to in Turin to mark the loss

Heysel stadium disaster, Brussels, 1985: a wall collapses, crushing Juventus fans seeking to escape trouble with Liverpool supporters. Photograph: Eamonn McCabe/The Observer

Ed Vulliamy

 

Saturday 9 May 2015 23.03 BST
 

 

Juventus Football Club of Turin – one of the world’s most prestigious sides, and an Italian national institution – stands this week at a crossroads, epic even by the standards of its own illustrious history. A draw against Real Madrid on 13 May would see the team qualify for the European Cup final, which Juventus won on 29 May 1985 – the night 39 of its fans died when a wall collapsed at the aged Heysel Stadium in Brussels. The tragedy was triggered by Juventus supporters attempting to escape a violent charge by Liverpool supporters.

By a twist of fate, if Juve qualify again, the final tie in Berlin will be played just two days short of the 30th anniversary of a football massacre that has been all but airbrushed from mainstream memory in Britain.

For too many years, these 39 victims have been subject to scorn … attacking the black and white colours

Juventus FC statement

On 29 May, Juventus will hold a commemorative mass at the church of the Grande Madre di Dio in Turin, modelled on the Pantheon. A statement by the club announcing the occasion is probably its strongest yet: “For too many years,” it reads, “these 39 victims have been subject to scorn with the sole aim of attacking the black-and-white colours. This is a vile action that has no place in any stadium or sporting debate. This anniversary should also serve as a period of reflection, ensuring that such behaviour is not repeated.”

 

In March, Juventus refused to allow England’s Football Association to lay a wreath at its new stadium before a friendly between Italy and England, lest it detract from Juventus’s own plans.

But behind the mass lie months of backstage planning and wrangling among followers of Juventus and the club, and 30 years of painful reckoning – and general failure to reckon – with what the title of a book by reporter Jean-Philippe Leclaire calls: Heysel: the Tragedy Juventus Tried to Forget.

 

Juventus’s reference to “scorn” refers to the glee with which rivals in Italian football have taunted the club over the tragedy. In the minds of the victims’ relatives, that word scorn will apply also to two decades during which Liverpool – city, club and supporters – failed to formally apologise for what its fans had done. On the 20th anniversary in 2005, Bruno Guarini, who lost his son Alberto in the tragedy, said: “We’ve heard nothing from Liverpool or its supporters, no apology, no solidarity, nothing to say they did anything wrong.”

 

But that year, by a twist of fate, Juventus drew Liverpool in the month of the anniversary: militant groups of Liverpool fans organised a mosaic reading Amicizia – friendship – across the Kop, and an official delegation finally visited Turin. Liverpool captain Sami Hyypia joined his counterpart Alessandro del Piero to read out the names of the dead.

 

Juventus’s announcement of the 29 May mass says it is the result of “a heartfelt and sincere dialogue with the Association for the Families of Heysel Victims”, but thereby hangs a tale. Soon after the killings, a group of victims’ relatives was established in Arezzo by Otello Lorentini, whose son Roberto, a doctor, was killed while trying to administer first aid to other fans. The association had become a focal point for those who felt the club had done too little for the bereaved and wounded.

 

The campaign for justice and memory was always championed by Juventus’s organised fans, the ultràs – who gathered in groups with names such as Viking or Drughi (from the Droogs of A Clockwork Orange) on their favoured terrace, the Curva Filadelfia. “We were,” says one Drughi veteran, Salvatore, “always in the front line for truth and justice, to get the dead at Heysel honoured in the proper way.”

I was nine. I watched on television and saw the horror in my parents' faces. I grew up that day

Andrea Agnelli, Juventus president

The club’s reticence changed dramatically in 2010 when Andrea Agnelli – nephew of the man whose name is synonymous with Juventus, the late Fiat boss Gianni Agnelli – took over as president. Agnelli presided over a moving 25th anniversary ceremony at which he said: “I was nine years old – I watched on television and saw the horror in my parents’ faces. I grew up that day, became mature.”

 

Agnelli ensured a beautiful monument at the new stadium of 39 falling stars to represent the dead, and at its opening in 2011 the words “In Memory” were picked out in fire across the pitch. “The atmosphere was transformed,” says Beppe Franzo, one of the veteran fans’ leaders, who has written two books about the Curva and the legacy of Heysel. “The club was involved, the taboo lifted.”

 

“Juventus seemed finally to have made peace with Heysel,” says Domenico Laudadio, designer and curator of the relatives’ association’s “virtual museum”.

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Spectators flee the Heysel stadium terraces as the crush (rear left) continues on 29 May 1985: 39 people died. The cup final was still played, and Juventus won 1-0. English clubs were banned from European competition for five years. Photograph: Dominique Faget/AFP

For this month’s commemorations, Franzo and Laudadio set to work on projects more ambitious than the mass. One was a striking theatrical production designed by Laudadio, recited by actor Omar Rottoli. It envisaged strong imagery – Calvary, a “river of blood” – and a passage that squarely blames Liverpool fans and European football’s governing body Uefa for the massacre.

Franzo had for two years laid plans for a day of collective memory in Turin, to include Laudadio’s text, which “would bring together everyone: fans, relatives and the Juventus club, as it should be. It was also to include our partisans of both extreme right and left, united by their feelings of antagonism. A commemoration from the Curva and the street that belonged to us all: every fan, every family, and Juventus.”

 

Neither plan came to fruition. Laudadio’s drama failed to win the club’s backing: “They totally modified the rhythm, form and words,” he says. “The relatives’ association has decided not to accept the changed text.”

 

Otello Lorentini died last year, but his association was relaunched this January by his grandson Andrea Lorentini, who issued an impassioned plea from Arezzo: “The memories of Heysel, sadly, are solitary ones (I lost my own father there), and we’re happy every time anyone wants to share it with us. We thank Juventus, but we claim our role as guarantors of the memory … We’ll participate in the mass for the fallen; as our only shared [anniversary] moment with the club”.

Franzo approved of Juventus’s script changes, but counsels: “If we’re not united, leave it. We know who is to blame, we know who did it – now is the time for something more ambitious.” His vision is that: “On one hand, there is the private memory of each of the families, to be respected. But we also need collective tribute, collective commemoration and collective memory, so that what happened can belong to the history of Juventus and all its fans, as well as the private memories of those who suffered loss.” He seeks official sanction from Turin city council this week for a trip to Brussels to lay wreaths.

 

“To lose your son in that way,” says Guarini in Puglia, “killed by those people, is beyond sorrow. It is something time cannot cure. It leaves you dead in your heart.”

 

A young fan unborn at the time, Alessandro Borghi, added: “Ironically, the families of 96 people in Liverpool know the feeling well. But still we’re mostly forgotten.”

 

[Section_31]

Genuine question, as I don't know a huge amount about what happened on the ground that day, but my uncle - who was of that generation - always reckoned it wasn't that clear cut, mentioned something about the Liverpool fans being angered after a kid got dragged through a fence and hit. Police standing there while missiles rained down etc, people knifed in the arse and all the usual fun Italian fan jazz.

 

As a broader point, and while I have absolute sympathy for the families involved, two things have always come to mind.

 

(1) it's not the cross of 'the city and the fans' to bear. I was probably sat on a potty watching the A Team at the time, so I'll be fucked if I'm going to be tarred with a brush. As far as I'm concerned, the only people who should be made to feel guilty are the people there who were directly involved, UEFA and the Italian authorities.

 

(2) the moralising of Italian clubs and fans when it comes to football violence is on shaky ground to say the least, seeing as they've been the most consistently violent, racist, and generally snide fans in European football for decades. They also have a reputation for being able to dole it out and not be able to take it back.

[ratcatcher]

This is a dificult one because I do feel a section of our fans were culpable that evening.

 

I went to the final in Rome and from the day we arrived, coaches were vandalised by the locals, we were attacked in the ground by the roma fans lobbing stuff at us then baton charged by knuckle dragging carabinieri indiscriminately. I saw women and very young lads whacked by them.

 

After the game, we were bricked coming out of the stadium, one girl in our group was actually knocked out by a glancing blow and coach windows put in.

 

This, I think carried over to the final the following year.

 

We all know about the state of the Heysel stadium so Im not going over that again.

[Stickman]

From what I remember a lot of seeds had been sown regarding the treatment of Liverpool fans v Roma from the final the year before.

That and a cocktail of events leading up to the game contributed such as UEFA picking a totally unsuitable ground, giving Juventus a whole end to themselves whereas the fatal part of the stadium the fans were segregated by chicken wire.

A ground and the Belgium police who were not used to holding a game like this.

Obviously our fans have to take responsibility for what happened but Juventus fans were certainly no angels I can remember from the coverage at the time one of their fans had what appeared to be a gun as he was on the pitch taunting Liverpool fans.

UEFA as usual and like our own FA as we know only too well in 89 washed their hands of any sort of responsibility .

[Harry Squatter]

My Uncle went and stayed in a campsite just outside the city a few days before. Him and his mates were attacked several times over the course of those days by Italian fans. They tent was dragged away by some Italians on a motorbike and they got threatened at knifepoint a few times and told they would get killed.

 

The year before he went to Rome for the European Cup Final and lots of Liverpool fans were stabbed and beaten up. A set of Lazio fans approached them also attempting to "help" them fight Roma fans. The police offered no protection whatsoever and a lot of Liverpool fans retaliated because they had no option but to stand up for themselves.

 

On the footage of the disaster one Juventus fan walks into the running track with a gun yet I can't ever remember anyone condemning that. No one ever seems to mention in the media the reputation of Italian fans being snidey Stanley knife wielding thugs. It was all the English fans fault.

 

A lot of other fans perception of Heysel is that Liverpool fans just simply turned up pissed and decided that they would kill a load of Italians by deliberately shoving a wall over onto a set of opposition fans.

 

Sounds like a lot of decent people ended up in the middle of the trouble and got killed. I feel sorry for the fans who died as we know that no one should go to a game and not come home. The ones who ended up being killed were not involved in the actual fighting but just wanted to get away from it.

 

Liverpool fans did have a part to play in it but I don't think it's completely down to our fans 100 per cent. The stadium was shit (apparently the Nou Camp was available but UEFA insisted on it being played there). The police should have done more to segregate the fans who clearly didnt like each other and there were certain elements of their support who were causing trouble before the day of the game.

[Trumo]

No doubt the behaviour and actions of some fans from BOTH sides is a massive reason why this disaster happened. However, it's yet another one of those instances where decisions are made in smoky boardrooms by crusty old men who are both out of touch and ignorant of the climate around the very thing they are supposed to be responsible for. It beggars belief how such a dilapidated stadium ever got the nod for a showpiece event.

[Paco]

The perception of liverpool fans from some fans of other teams I've spoken too over the years and who are old enough to remember that period is that liverpool fans were causing trouble all over Europe for years. I dont know if thats from first hand accounts or through the media back then or over time and with the help of lots of sweeping statements they ve formed this opinion but that's what they think.

 

a lot of teams fans are pissed off about the ban especially everton who had a great team then. a lot of other fans who were shit then blame us for no standing at football anymore and a lot of them think we have a cheek looking jft96 after heysel while the majority just taunt us to wind us up because they couldnt care less about heysel or hillsborough.

[s(k)aturation]

I think this is one instance where the fans from both sides... and the authorities, for negligent aforethought... put their hands up and acknowledge, collectively, that regret and remorse rather than blame is the fairest aftermath and memoriam.

[coachpotato]

I was there. As is always the case in disasters, there's more than one contributing factor that causes the end result. Shitty ground, UEFA ignoring the Club and Merseyside polices warnings about ground, segregation etc, the events in Rome in 84, useless policing (again).

All factors.

But if some of ours hadn't rushed theirs, then there wouldn't have been the massive crush that caused the wall to collapse and those 39 wouldn't have died.

That's the one thought that's always stuck with me, rightly or wrongly.

We shouldn't forget them.

[s(k)aturation]

I was there. As is always the case in disasters, there's more than one contributing factor that causes the end result. Shitty ground, UEFA ignoring the Club and Merseyside polices warnings about ground, segregation etc, the events in Rome in 84, useless policing (again).

All factors.

But if some of ours hadn't rushed theirs, then there wouldn't have been the massive crush that caused the wall to collapse and those 39 wouldn't have died.

That's the one thought that's always stuck with me, rightly or wrongly.

We shouldn't forget them.

 

Rightly, I think mate.

And respect to you for it.

[xerxes]

I followed most of our aways in Europe in the eighties. Nicky Alt’s warts and all “The Boys from the Mersey: The Story of Liverpool's Annie Road End Crew Football's First Clobbered-up Mob” tells it how it was.

 

Our speciality was going on the rob, rather than mass violence, so the events of that day were atypical of our travelling support then. English clubs abroad had a deservedly terrible reputation, and we played our part, but usually in a supporting role. That campaign was an odd one. I attended every game apart from the final because I had had enough of the hassle. In Poznan, Benfica, and for the semi-final in Athens we didn’t take that many, in Vienna we wreaked havoc, mainly stealing from clothes shops, that was what almost stopped me going, against Panathanaikos it was toe to toe all day, after which I called it quits. So the first easy to get to game was at Heysel, and loads went, I didn’t, there was a dreadful inevitability of problems, although not the scale of the disaster which was to unfold.

 

It is certainly true that our fans, along with those of most English clubs, had come in for a tough time on previous occasions in Italy. It is also true that the stadium was wholly inadequate for a final, the city’s restaurants and night clubs being the pull for UEFA’s elite, not the facilities. The police were also unprepared for a game of that magnitude where rivalry between mass sets of supporters was not known. Friends who went told of skirmishes throughout the day.

 

Were we to “blame” for the Juve deaths? Our charge certainly set a chain of events in motion, though no-one could have anticipated the consequences. Several top officials were incriminated by some of the dossier’s findings, including police captain Johan Mahieu, who had been in charge of security on 29 May 1985 and was subsequently charged with involuntary manslaughter Belgian Judge, after 18 months enquiry, incriminated by several officials, including police captain Johan Mahieu, who had been in charge and was subsequently charged with involuntary manslaughter.

 

What was inadequate was the response. No formal UEFA enquiry, no FA or League enquiry, no Club enquiry. Those Reds who were prosecuted, most of whom were known faces, served no post- conviction sentences in jail. Had the aforementioned Enquiries taken place in this country, the familiar themes of inadequate stadia, standing, poor stewarding and policing, and indifferent licensing arrangements might have headed off Hillsborough – we will never know.

 

But no-one should go to a football game and die.

[Harry Squatter]

Does anyone think that the club could have done more to apologise or accept part of the blame?. As I've stated above it wasn't 100 per cent down to us but some of our fans we were responsible. John Smith the chairman at the time said Chelsea and Millwall fans were there causing shit.

 

It wasn't really until we played them ten years ago that we ever did anything publicly to apologise. By that time I think it was too late and their fans who attended the game turned their back on it.

 

The FA were asked by Juventus not to get involved in any memorial ceremony in March when England played Italy in Turin. I haven't heard anything about Liverpool involving themselves in any ceremony.

 

As mentioned above, I've had a few Mancs and Evertonians asking why we are so committed for JFT96 yet conveniently ignore Heysel.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

I think this is one instance where the fans from both sides... and the authorities, for negligent aforethought... put their hands up and acknowledge, collectively, that regret and remorse rather than blame is the fairest aftermath and memoriam.

Indeed.

 

It's worrying to see someone in that article calling for Juve fans to remember the victims of Heysel "united by their feelings of antagonism".  Antagonism towards whom?  And to what end?

 

When the Mancs and the Blueshite try to use Heysel as a club to beat Liverpool with, it's not just tasteless (every bit as tasteless as Fiorentina and others using the disaster to taunt Juve).  It's dangerously stupid.  Any attempt to lay all the blame on one party or on one factor closes off the possibility of learning from what went wrong and thereby making further disasters less likely.

[BRAP]

I was at the disaster, I was 21 and been to Rome the year before which was like Beirut on a good day , the day started great, we got to the town centre on a sunny and hot day the atmosphere was typical good natured lots of singing and everyone have a great time, by mid-afternoon the mood changed.

We made our way to the stadium early evening a good two hours before kick-off; it was a total riot outside, best described as a war zone, bottles getting thrown, and the floor littered with stubby bottles of Stella, Italians waving Samurai swords and guns at us, it was a nightmare and like a scene out of a war zone, control was lost by authorities , when one of the lads asked a copper what was going on he got the coppers shield over his head, we had to tend to him in an ambulance until he came around , we made our way around to our end  and were water cannoned and briked by Italians , hooded ultra shit houses some had hand guns.

We entered the ground through a hole in the wall, still have my ticket, the sewers went underneath us and we were walking in shit and piss, it was like holding an event a condemned building site, everything was crumbling around us including order.

The riot happened over an hour so police had enough time to form a segregating line , I watched on in disbelief ,what I do remember was how young and inexperienced the police  were and I was only 21 myself.

The rest is kind of fuzzy, I remember seeing all the dead piled up and Phil Neal on the tanoy asking for calm, I remember the game but not much of it, I remember Platini doing a lap of honour celebrating, weird, we were lucky they won, because believe me there would have been more casualties after the game, the celebrations gave us a window of opportunity to get the fuck out of there.

We managed to get to Brussels central metro ,and then on to dover I will swear on anything and say the train was full of cockneys buzzing, that’s a fact I was there ask others, Liverpool fans who took part in the Riot have the deaths of the 39 on their hands , there is no getting away from that, but again all of this could have been avoided if a different venue was chosen fit for purpose, what surprises me is  no one has ever asked for testimonies, RIP the 39  

[xerxes]

Does anyone think that the club could have done more to apologise or accept part of the blame?

Yes.

 

But the Club was in a tricky position. Our fans record of violence abroad was a long way down the pecking order. Clearly a number of things went wrong with the choice of stadium, policing, licensing etc, but LFC ( strange as it may seem now) were part of the UEFA aristocracy and I don't think that the Club wanted to inflame the situation with UEFA by attacking them.

 

The blanket club ban was ridiculous when England was then allowed to continue its away games with violence routinely far worse than was experienced at Heysel, albeit with lesser consequences.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

As mentioned above, I've had a few Mancs and Evertonians asking why we are so committed for JFT96 yet conveniently ignore Heysel.

When they chant "Justice for the 39" I'm often tempted to ask what they mean.  If they really do want to campaign to get to truth of what happened at Heysel, to ensure those culpable are properly tried and to ensure that lessons are learned, then sign me up.

 

If, however, they just want to dance on other people's graves to make score some snide points in football rivalry, then they can fuck off.

[Nelly-Szoboszlai]

If anybody hasn't seen it, the BBC documentary Requiem For Heysel is well worth a watch.

 

It's available on YouTube.

[Beno]

There are many reasons why Heysel happened but it does look like your making excuses and shifting responsibility if you try and argue them with people who are just using it as a stick to beat you with. Which is probably what they want you to do anyway so just fuck them off.

With reference to BRAP post above - not sure where he was in the ground but I was in the end where the trouble happened and was genuinely unaware anyone had died until after the match and I got back on our coach parked outside. The coachdriver was the one who broke the news to us.

[Paco]

it hasnt been totally ignored by the club. theres a plaque at the back of the centenary stand which I often stand and read as I would also do at the Hillsborough memorial. its marked on the home page of the website beside the Hillsborough banner.

 

might have been summed up well in beating berlusconi as 'our shame' with hillsborough 'our pain'

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

A lot of factors contributed, and a lot of outside influences. The year before my 45 year old uncle got his head split open like a Melon by a bottle thrown from Roma fans. Never went the game again. I actually took over his season ticket. I was 16.

It cannot be denied that Liverpool fans were culpable, as were other people and the authorities. God bless those 39 because we know only too well you should never not come home from a game of football.

[Tony Moanero]

it hasnt been totally ignored by the club. theres a plaque at the back of the centenary stand which I often stand and read as I would also do at the Hillsborough memorial. its marked on the home page of the website beside the Hillsborough banner.

 

might have been summed up well in beating berlusconi as 'our shame' with hillsborough 'our pain'

Just a pity it took the club 25 years to erect the plaque.

[ratcatcher]

Just a pity it took the club 25 years to erect the plaque.

 

I might be wrong but I think the plaque was on the Main Stand for a couple of years but they moved it inside due to fears it would get defaced (who by I dont know). It then appeared outside the Centenary when the club was getting a lot of stick for having no Heysel Memorial 'on view'.

 

I always understood Liverpool and Juventus had done a lot of bridge building over the years starting with Rush's transfer.

[Harry Squatter]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3ix7TkB9gok

 

Here's the link to the documentary. Just finished watching it. Not pleasant viewing but it's well balanced and gives the views of all sides involved.

[Nelly-Szoboszlai]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3ix7TkB9gok

 

Here's the link to the documentary. Just finished watching it. Not pleasant viewing but it's well balanced and gives the views of all sides involved.

That's the one I meant, I called it Requiem for Heysel.

 

There's an interview with some brother's of one of the Juventus fans who died, and they paint a picture of a good, friendly atmosphere between the fans before the game, with fans congregating together, drinking, swapping scarves etc.

 

So, it makes you wonder if there was some sort of catalyst to the trouble, like the often mooted young Liverpool fan getting beat up, or rocks getting thrown from section to section.

 

I'm not trying to absolve blame. The idiots who were involved in it dragged the name of our club and city through the mud and, more importantly, killed 39 poor souls and ruined many more lives, such as their friends and families.

 

But, given the apparent jovial atmosphere before the game, there definitely appears to be something that kicked it all off.

[Harry Squatter]

Apparently all the bars in the city centre were open on the day which hadn't happened whenever most English sides played in Europe. The Transport police official interviewed said all the ferries had banned ale being served. Imagine the state of people drinking Duvel or Stella all day.

 

English clubs and the national team had been causing shit wherever they had gone for quite a while and when this happened it gave Uefa a good excuse to ban the clubs. Thatcher hated footy so was more than happy to oblige.

 

I also think the behaviour of some of our fans that night made it easier for the police to blame us over Hillsborough four years later.