After a fine MFW debut, @TheBoySadler, aka Chris Sadler, is back with an emotive take on 24 heartbreaking days in the spring of 1989…
Let me take you back to a cold night in 1989. 22nd March to be more specific. A Wednesday. About 9:16pm.
Norwich City were playing West Ham United in an FA Cup quarter-final replay (following their 8-0 demolition of Sutton Utd in the 3rd round, and a close 3-2 victory over a spirited Third Division Sheffield Utd in the 4th).
It was a top-flight clash of real pedigree and excitement. It was the days of inflatable canaries, ‘David Stringer’s Green’YArmy’ and Mike Phelan, Ian Crook, Jerry Goss, Andy Townsend, Trevor Putney, Malcolm Allen, Robert Rosario et al.
City were 2-1 up.
I was watching from the old Barclay Stand; a venerable but large single-tier stand in those days with no seats. Standing room only.
Standing close to the pitch and clutching the metal yellow barrier in front of me I watched the game unfold. The crowd was large, loud and boisterous; the game was end-to-end; the result was in the balance; and the tension was tangible, visibly intertwined with heavy wafts of cigarette smoke and beer.
It was an open game and the prospect of a place in the 5th round was stirring the sinews both on and off the pitch. As the game progressed and the tension grew so did the crowd surges when Norwich attacked, which pushed me against the barrier.
The stand was full, and we were crammed in like sardines so there was nowhere to go. My ribs couldn’t take much more of being bashed against the barrier. I became breathless. I became afraid. This was no fun, no fun at all. I looked for an escape, but there was none, nowhere to go. I was trapped.
Heretically, I started to hope for more West Ham possession to calm the increasingly severe crowd surges. At one slight ebb in the crush, I managed to turn around, tearing my jacket as I did so, to face the crowd so I could at least see when the surges were coming to enable me to brace and protect myself as best I could.
The game became a battle of endurance until finally, the final whistle blew. The relief I felt at the close had precious little to do with the winning 3-1 scoreline.
Over the next few days the fear and anxiety the match had engendered stayed with me, and from then on, I was a little more circumspect about where and when I stood for matches. That fear gradually diminished but lasted until the anodyne but more predictable all-seating was introduced.
I did wonder at the time whether I should say anything about the possible safety issues but as a youngster you feel like a small person in a big world and it was comforting to adopt the sometimes delusion that those in charge somehow have your best interests at heart. So I said nothing. (NB. I’m not suggesting that the club or management were in any way remiss on that night and am sure all relevant legal safety regulations and procedures were followed. I hold no grudge and assign no blame. That was just how it was in those days.)
But that spike of anxiety stayed with me for some time. And, tragically, just 24 days later it hit a second spike with the news of the unspeakably horrific event in South Yorkshire; where too many people were squeezed into too small a space with no opportunity for escape.
Anxiety, compassion and guilt. I felt all of them. What if I could have done something? What if…what if…? It hurt.
It must never happen again, it must not be allowed to happen again, and we must all take responsibility to make sure it will never happen again.
Safe standing means SAFE standing.
Love, respect and compassion to those who were lost and those who continue to suffer that loss. #RememberThe96
An very good read.
I like many other have had the same emotions, and a lot of the problems was being fenced in.
Previously there was always the escape route on to the field of play, but due to the violent times around grounds and the pitch invasions the FA aloud fences to be erected with no real thought to the safety of the spectator that were caged in.
The Hillsborough disaster was an accident waiting to happen for a long time and an enquiry should have been held a lot sooner than it was, remembering those that lost their lives on that sad day is one thing but when will it end, surely it is time to forgive yes mistakes were made by many people, it has now been so long that most Police, Stewards and Hillsborough staff are old men and women they have to live with it as does the families, it is time now to move on for all of them hopefully and forgive.
Onwards and Upwards
OTBC
Thanks for comments, Alex.
I was at the semi-final that year at Villa Park, along with my mate our two teenage daughters. The crowd surges were horrific, and I spent most of the game with my arms rigidly braced against a crush barrier to hold the crowd off my daughter’s back, but as you mention, it’s a frightening experience. I don’t remember much of the game at all, apart from the single goal. When we came out of the ground, much relieved at being out of the crush and safe, we got in the car, turned the radio on, and heard the terrible news from the other semi-final.
I am in favour of safe standing (though I have got used to my seat in the River End) but it does need to be safe, and to eliminate those terrifying crowd surges.
I too was at Villa Park, Jim and agree 100%. The Holte End that afternoon was frightening, such was the intensity of the crush. I’ve told this tale before, so apologies for being repetitive, but a lad directly to my right fainted in the crush and intense heat (not sure if alcohol was involved), vomited, but was inadvertently held upright by the packed crowd. Only when he came round were we able to help make a narrow path for him to make his way out.
And then, as you say, the disappointment of losing the game was nothing when news from Hillsborough came through. Truly awful day.
Hi Jim.
I can only agree with Gary and yourself.
I was at Villa Park too and knew nothing about what was tragically unfolding at Hillsborough until after half time when the rumours started.
On the long road back to Blofield we tuned in to radio 2 or whatever it was called then and couldn’t believe what we were hearing.
Strangely I was also driving through London (on my own) when the news of the Heysel disaster came through.
I grew up in the standing era – the risks were always there but we probably just couldn’t see them – at that time.
A very emotive and well-written article Chris.
Despite the subject matter I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
Thanks Jim, Gary and Martin.
Minor point, but wasn’t the West Ham game the Quarter Final. Didn’t we play Exeter in the 3rd round, and Sutton in the 4th, then the Blades before the Hammers?
Good points Dan, I may have let my memory have too much say over the facts and that affected my depth of research. Apologies, all corrections gratefully received.
I remember at the first game against West Ham at Upton Park the crushes on the terraces were terrible, but at least there was no fence at the front. The worst part of the crush was in the concourse under the stand where people were getting completely crushed against the walls and around the entrances to the turnstiles. There was just not enough room to get 8,000 people though into the entrances with the basic segregation they had in place to keep us apart from the nice friendly home fans. I think that was the most worried I have ever bee in nearly 50 years of following Norwich
Troubling times, Tim. Hopefully lessons learned Thanks for the shared memory.
Without doubt West Ham away was the worst crowd situation I have ever been in, from sheer overcrowding not surges. It was horrific and there was nowhere to go. It was impossible to move, at times my feet left the ground. Don’t remember the semi as being bad at all but it was rather overshadowed by the stunned silence as we got back to the car park and the dreadful news filtered in. My two worst ever football experiences. Good luck to those who want to stand safely, I’m too old now!
Thanks Chris. Like everyone else who has emailed I was at Villa Park. But in the Everton end as I was living in Liverpool then and that’s the only place I could get a ticket from. I knew Liverpool fans who were at Hillsborough and I grieved along with the city and all football fans afterwards. I agree that the disaster was waiting to happen so to speak. But it was also not unique, badly designed and maintained grounds had led to deaths at Ibrox and Bradford amongst other places. But the game’s authorities did not take their responsibility towards football fans seriously. The police, the FA and SWFC were all culpable for what happened at Hillsborough but spent literally years denying it. Those that govern ‘our’ sport should never be allowed to abrogate their responsibilities in such a shameful way again. Any discussion about ground safety needs to be aware of that history.
If CAM isn’t already a staple internet acronym, then permit me to use it and claim to have invented it. In real words, Couldn’t Agree More. Good points all.