BIG CHANGES
The 70’s and the 80’s saw an upsurge in hooliganism and eventually this led to some of the biggest changes in English Football.
In 1971 at the Glasgow Rangers’ stadium, Ibrox Park, the Rangers were playing old rivals Glasgow Celtic. A crush of supporters led to 66 people dying, with over 200 injured. At that time all stadiums in England, Wales and Scotland were designed for primarily standing room only with very few seats available. The Ibrox disaster should have been a warning, but it took at least two more incidents to bring about change.
Liverpool was playing Italian team Juventus in a European Cup Final in May 1985. Fights between rival fans were the norm by this time and a large group of Liverpool hooligans attacked mostly Italian fans who were separated by a flimsy barrier that the English easily crossed. The Italians had been pressed up against a crumbling block wall which collapsed killing 39 of them and injuring over 600.
An inquest determined that the stadium was in very bad shape (Arsenal had played there two years earlier and called the place a dump). Also, insufficient attention had been paid to keep the opposing fans separated. Twenty-six Liverpool fans were charged with manslaughter and fourteen were convicted and given 6 years in prison.
In the aftermath of the inquiry all English teams were banned from European competitions indefinitely. After 5 years the ban was lifted but Liverpool had to serve an extra year of exclusion.
April 1989. Liverpool again. Playing on a neutral ground (Sheffield Wednesdays Hillsborough Stadium) Liverpool was set to play Nottingham Forest in a FA Cup semi-final match. The standing only pens were overcrowded and in the ensuing crush, 97 people died and almost 800 injured (mostly Liverpool supporters this time). It took many years to lay blame largely at the feet of the police who grossly mismanaged the situation.
In the The Taylor Report investigation, the findings pointed out that a large contributing factor in all these deaths and injuries was the overcrowding and inability of fans to escape the pressure of people pushing from behind. The recommendation of the report concluded that by eliminating the standing room terraces these kinds of disasters could be avoided in the future. By the 94-95 season all major stadiums had to do away with terraces and replaced with seats. Not only did this make stadiums safer but almost eliminated hooliganism.
Elsewhere in Europe and around the world most clubs still have standing terraces, but the installation of all seating grounds has created another problem. There is a marked lack of atmosphere at a lot of English matches with the crowds being much quieter than in previous years. There is a movement to bring back standing room but I’m not sure how successful that will be.
