Memories of sad times in stadia

I do not wish to offend, but in recent days there has been much in the news about the anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster where 96 Liverpool fans died. It was a disaster and with hindsight there are many lesson that were learnt and need continually to be learnt by each generation. 

At the time football was plagued by violence on and off the terraces. I remember the "no go" areas in my home town on match-days. The contribution that violence made to the way football crowds were policed and perceived by many, cannot and should not be underestimated.

It's great to see the fences down and families in the crowds again. I'm not a great fan of football, but those fences from the late 70's and early 80's were never a pretty sight and a terrible indictment of how far a small proportion of society had fallen.

And lest we forget, Hillsborough is not the only tragedy involving supporters at a ground. In 1985, 56 people died and 256 were injured when fire broke out at Bradford City. That same year 39 died and 600 were injured at Heysel and in 1971, 65 people lost their lives when a barrier collapsed at Ibrox.