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The Title Run-In

Miller

By Miller
in Essex Senior League Forum

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Jenko Newbie

Jenko

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UM you ever read Fever Pitch? When Nick Hornby discusses Hillsborough and the fact Arsenal FC refused to put up fencing and because of this lost out on the opportunity to host semi finals and other big games I must say that is one thing the club got right.

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Eastside Urchin Newbie

Eastside Urchin

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yeah,read it mate,and seen the film

As i said earlier in the thread,the north bank used to have some crazy surges where people would regularly get caught up in it and faint,seen a couple of people die from heart attacks in there,but had this happened at highbury you would of been able to escape at the front.Couldn't do that at hillsborough.

I beleive the police made massive mistakes that day but i also beleive they didn't have a clue of the magnitude of what was happening till way after 3pm

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Jenko Newbie

Jenko

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Yeah I got caught in a few at Highbury myself mate.

 

There were several reasons for Hillsborough and I see them in this order:

 

1. A terribly outdated, crumbling and dangerous stadium. That fault lies at the doors of the FA. Football fans were treated like s**t and it was an accident waiting to happen. Although I hate sitting at games now, at least I know my son will be alot safer if he goes to football.

 

2. The police for being led by people who didn't have clue, panicked and took the easy option of just letting people in. But the way they control crowds now is much better an example being of the transport situation around Arsenal.

 

3. Liverpool fans to some extent, those without tickets trying to get in although the number has since been found to be alot smaller than the original police reports. There is the mob mentality where everyone just wants to get in and doesn't give a s**t about anyone else. However Liverpool fans were involved in Heysal and at the Champions League Final against AC Milan (the one they won on penalities) a friend of mine who went said they were like animals climbing over fences, walls to get in, rushing turnstiles, robbing people of tickets etc.

 

Problem is the people to blame are to far up the chain of command and they are never going to be brought to justice.

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Eastside Urchin Newbie

Eastside Urchin

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would agree with all 3 points.

Point number 3 however could be thrown at many club not just liverpool

I remember going lens away in the uefa cup semi without a ticket and about 100 of us just running through the entrance to get in,some got caught but most got through.There were no turnstyles just ticket officials checking tickets.Sometimes you will do anything to get in to a big game,although nowadays i don't have that problem watching hornchurch!!!

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Lightweight Newbie

Lightweight

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I remember being at Highbury once for a lockout against Liverpool. Obviously people were anxious to get in. The police got on loud hailers and told us that the game was starting later and there was no need to push. The situation was defused. This was pre Hillsborough.

 

I remember Nick Hornby talking about being in crushes which I have been in on a few occasions and thinking I must be safe, the authorities are standing next to me, little knowing they didn't have a clue. I think quite a lot of us have been in that situation at one time or the other.

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Groyney Newbie

Groyney

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On a much smaller scale, when Sunderland were in the old Third Division, there was a game at York City. The visitors were allocated 5,000 standing tickets. What the club hadn't been informed, though, was that the standing area could only safely contain 3,500 people.

 

The exact same thing as happened at Hillsborough happened at Bootham Crescent that afternoon. A mixture of people arriving late, some ticketless, massive queues bulding up, and a police decision to open centrally located doors to let people in, ended up with people at the front squashed and squeezed.

 

By the grace of God, there was no fencing behind that goal, so supporters jumped over onto the cinder track behind the goal. At first the police thought it was a pitch invasion, ran across, but then saw the gravity of the situation - they could see that people were literally jumping onto the pitch to save their lives. They then treated it as a safety exercise and escorted hundreds of fans to empty seated areas.

 

Those of us there that day knew, sadly, that Hillsborough was not an 'if' but a 'when', it was simply a matter of time, thanks to police complacency, FA ineptitude and a government intent of demonizing football.

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Bitch Newbie

Bitch

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Many moons ago, not long after Hillsborough i went to see Coventry v Leeds. At the end of the game the Police decided not to unlock the gates to let the fans out. Obviously everyone was making thier way to the gates and the surge from behind caused a crush. I was starting to panic. I dread to think what could have happened if i'd not been lifted above the crowd. I thought, what a horrible way to die...

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Jenko Newbie

Jenko

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Originally Posted By: Bitch
Many moons ago, not long after Hillsborough i went to see Coventry v Leeds. At the end of the game the Police decided not to unlock the gates to let the fans out. Obviously everyone was making thier way to the gates and the surge from behind caused a crush. I was starting to panic. I dread to think what could have happened if i'd not been lifted above the crowd. I thought, what a horrible way to die...


As if!
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coupwotcoup Newbie

coupwotcoup

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Just over two years before Hillsborough, I was at Telford for an FA Cup tie with Altrincham.. for some reason the game was not made all-ticket and was well over subscribed. At the end of the game, the home stewards/officials could not open the gates and the ensuing crush was seriously scary.... and to top it all the stewards were lining the pitch and trying to prevent people getting on there..

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