Hillsborough disaster

Add your memories of Hillsborough? Were you at the ground that day? Were any of your relatives involved in the tragedy? Submit your memories.

Mark - Sunderland
I was a 15 year old Sunderland fan watching the televison reports that were harrowing, I remeber thinking it could have been any club at Hillsborough that day it was just a tragedy it was Liverpool. When Sunderland played at Hillsborough in the 1992 semi final we had the Kop end, and I can distictly remember looking over to the Leppings Lane end and the memories of 15th April 1989 came flooding back and bringing tears to my eyes. Even as a rival fan my heart and prayers are with the families of the 96, you'll never walk alone, God bless.

Steph, Wolverhampton
I was 8 and saw the disaster unfolding on the TV, it haunted me and i have never forgot those who died. As I got older and remembered the newsflash in Grandstand that interupted the snooker, I realised how important it was to never forget and remember each and every victim. We must teach the younger generation of what happened and never forget the 96 - maybe one day they will get their justice...

Mike Green
Goodmorning.I remember Hillsborough my son and I were there to support Nottingham forest. But what we experienced that afternoon has never left my memory. We like many there didnt now what horror had taken place until 16-30hrs.I believe Nottingham people also remebered the sadness yesterday. Mike Green

Paul
I am a 43 year old Liverpool fan, and I was at Hillsborough in 1989. Like most Liverpool fans, I arrived late that day. Although I had a ticket for the Leppings Lane terrace, I entered the ground through Gate C to avoid the crush outside the turnstiles. I’d been to Hillsborough previously, as an away supporter. I remembered that the Leppings Lane terrace was quite shallow, not very steep and had a fifteen foot fence at the front, which meant the view of the pitch wasn’t very good. Once I got on to the concourse, before you entered the tunnel onto the terrace, I decided to turn left and go up to the much steeper, higher corner terrace. I never entered the tunnel, I wasn’t crushed, I didn’t feel the terror, but I witnessed the horror. I came to watch a football game, instead I watched over 90 fellow Liverpool supporters die.“Here, by the Grace of God, I walk”.“Justice for the 96”. YNWA.

Amir-Reading
I remember wathcing the faces of the players particularly Bruce Grobelaar - My heart goes out to all the families of the 96 and the injured from HillsboroughI took my two young sons to the Stadium and Anfield tour last week and showed them the Memorial at Shankely Gates to let them know of what happended and how the 96 fans should never be forgotten. I watched the live broadcast on the LFC website today and it brought tears to my eyes of sadness and of the reassuring fact that Liverpool Football is unique in its support and the great people who make up the club

Jeff
That picture above is of Steve Kiddy, current Head Groundsman at Hillsborough who did sterling work as a 17 year old trying to save lives. He was a junior grundsman at the time.Well done kiddy.

Susan Sloan
I remember feeling a great sadness, as though I'd lost someone myself.My family are all L.F.C. supporters. It was my parents Ruby wedding celebration that day, and we didn't know if my brother nephew and cousin where OK until later on, they were very lucky.The 96 will never be forgotten. My thoughts are with their families. God Bless you All.Justice for the 96 R.I.P.

SANDRA O'HAGAN
We were sitting in the North Stand that day and commented on the fact that the wings were empty. When the tragedy started to unfold I could not accept what was happening. One of many things that have stayed with me over the last 20 years was a young teenager looking stunned climbing the steps and sitting in the row behind us, I said what I feel now was so stupid "I think thats someone seat but I am sure they wont mind you sitting there." That lad may have been one that survived the crush, I will never know, like probably thousands of others I could not comprehend what was happening.This is one of the images that will stay with me forever and I apologise to that young lad.

Jo - Sheffield
This was the worst day of my life! It changed everything for me. I was working on the Leppings Lane entrance snack bar that day (I was only 18). We had to all be there early (10.30am due to it being a semi's match). I can remember so well, a Dad and his son knocked on the door of the Snack Bar to ask for some help as his son had been knocked over in the crowd and was bleeding ... I said then to the rest of the kids (and yes we where kids) that there was going to be trouble. Never would I image what was to happen that day. I then had to go upstairs for more supplies about an hour later and got carried up the stairs by the amount of people that where trying to climb the stairs. And then of course it all happened ... it was and is still a blank ... all I remember is the gate being opened in front of us and tons of people coming floading in. And then not long after a Policeman saying that we needed to close up and said that someone had died and that they could do with help on the pitch ... I couldn't believe my ears. This is a football match and people shouldn't being dieing at a football match! I then went on the pitch to see if I could help ... the things I saw, no 18 year old should have to see. My heart goes out to everybody who was there that day. And all the people that lost their lives should have never have lost their lives, they should be here still today and we should never have to do things like this. But the problem is we do and all we can do is remember. It changed my life and everbodies life that was there that day. We can never forget what happened, I know I never will

Stuart, Manchester
I was at Old Trafford when the news of Hillsborough started to filter through on radios around the ground. United were playing a league match that afternoon, however they had been knocked out of the F.A.Cup by Nottingham Forest in the Quarter Final. The realisation that I would of been at Hillsborough had United got through hit home. Who knows which end United fans would of been allocated. What was clear is that regardless of which teams were involved, this was a football tragedy. Upon getting home after the match and switching on the TV, the full horror of Hillsborough was clear for all to see. Uncontrolable tears ran down my face. In the weeks that followed, I remember Liverpool fans visiting football grounds around the country, collecting for the bereaved families. The tremendous reception they received as they walked around the pitch at Old Trafford proved that despite the fierce rivalry, this was fans united in grief and sorrow for the dead, but complete support for those families who suffered their loss on that fateful day.

Richard Perth Australia
We were at the semi final the year before at hillsborough and stood right behind the goal. The next year we were standing at the lepping lane end about 2.45. My mate Stuey said - its a bit busy, lets stand up at the side. Which we did and was totally out of character for us. I have been thinking a lot about his throwaway comment that saved us from serious injury or death. When I think about Hillsborough it is like wathing a movie with the sound turned down. I remember the blue sky and clouds, the people spilling onto the pitch, the advertising hoardings being used as stretchers. There was a newsagent outside the ground that let us use there phone to call home. I spoke to my mum today and she said she was sick with worry not knowing what had happened till my dad called her to tell her I was ok. Life is fragile. I spoke to my girlfriend today and told her about the day and how I felt sad at 3.06. I emailed my parents and family in UK to tell them I love them. I consider myself very lucky, very lucky. Live in Australia now and have a good life. Like the first poster Simon Weedy - that day is now part of who I am. I cried the day after hillsborough, then again about 19 years later when I watched the footage on youtube. I am coming back to uk in july for a visit and will go the memorial at anfield. I have moved on now emotionally from hillsborough, but can understand why those who lost people that day are still demanding justice. My heart goes out to the families of the 96.

Jill
I was not at Hillsborough, but vividly remember watching this horrific tragedy unfold on TV. I can't imagine the pain and grief everybody touched by this disaster is encountering today. My thoughts are with everybody that this disaster has touched - Justice for the 96 - Gone but never ever forgotten.

Anne
I had come home to Liverpool after living in South Africa for a few years.Life over there was brill and coming back to Liverpool honestly sucked. April 15th 1989 was just another day in Liverpool I went over to my Sisters she lived in Netherly. We did some shopping. In one of the shops the radio was blasting out News of something that was happening at the match at Hillsborough, 3 people had died?... You what? We went over to my Sisters house and turned on the telly,it was horrifying. I had to take my kids home .I got on the bus and the driver asked what was going on? Was it another Hysel? I said no its a sad day for liverpool, people have been killed. I got home and watched the tv that night I didnt sleep We had a friend that was at Hillborough, she was in the balcony and saw it all unfold.We went to the Catherdral that Sunday night. It was packed.We sang you'll never walk alone with out throats closing up and tears streaming down our faces.at that moment I knew that I was were I was suppose to be. IN MY LIVERPOOL HOME

Michelle Helsby (nee Quigley), Gateacre
I was 17 and gutted that I had to work on the day of the semi-final. I worked at the old Chelsea Girl store on Church Street whilst my brother, Anthony who was 21 at the time headed off to the match.Without access to a radio I asked one of the shoppers at about 3.15 if they knew the score and was told that there had been an accident and some fans had been killed. I immediately ran to the stockroom where there was a radio and listened to the events unfolding. I can’t remember if I asked to leave but I knew I just needed to get home so I ran out of the store straight on to the 79 bus home. The journey was a blur but I know I was in floods of tears by the time I got off the bus and started to run down Barnham Drive. The next thing I knew was that a very kind lady stopped me in her car and asked me to get in and as well as calming me down with some reassuring words she drove me straight to my house where I jumped out and paced and waited by the phone with the horrfic events on television on for what seemed like forever.I eventually got a call from my brothers girlfriend at the time that Anthony was o.k. at which point I was hysterical through sheer relief.Anthony had been in Leppings Lane and I only know what I overheard when he was interviewed by police as he has never spoken to us about it.His view was that there was a sense of complacency as compared to the year before. He was a tall lad and managed to get back to help lift his fellow fans up into the stand whilst trying to hold on to those around him. His friend told him he saved his life but I know he is haunted by those he says where there next to him one minute and then gone the next.We are blessed by Anthony's survival, he now has 2 children. But our hearts go out to all those families and fans who have been affected and my thanks goes to that kind lady who helped me in my moment of need.Sending my very best wishes to all. We will never forget.Michelle Helsby (Quigley)Gateacre

dan Isaac, derby
i will say a prayer for the 96 that lost their lives in the most horrific tragedy english football has ever witnessed its a shame somthing like that had to happen for football to change for ever.

Shaun
As a forest supporter I was at the opposite end of the ground that day, not really knowing what was going on to start with, an 18 year old kid knowing nothing, still feel guilty for ever thinking that it was some sort of pitch invasion.Only now as a parent myself can i begin to comprehend how the parents and families felt that day and still feel now. I see life, football differently now, shaped largely by what happened that day.No words can ever bring people back, we are the lucky ones still here and it is right the 96 are remembered and never forgotten. Myself and the lads I went with to the game will always remember the 96 and that day. My thoughts are with all the families on this day and I will be stood in Notttingham city centre at 3.06 observing the 2 minutes silence, god bless all the families and the 96 who were sadly lost.

simon weedy
Difficult day today, 1989 feels like yesterday, i can remember every detail so vividly. There was absolutely no reason why my mate and I, Kop season ticket holders, decided to turn left when we went through the tunnel. But that's what we did and it saved us. We were lucky. Every game we were regulars behind the goal, right in the middle of the songs, the crack, the banter. So why didn't we stay with habit on that day? I'll never know. My mate and I got to Hillsborough early and went through the turnstiles into leppings lane straight away. Emerging from that tunnel into the sunlight, we were some of the first people in the ground. Then, stood in that central pen, we decided to stand somewhere different. Just for a change. So we went and stood in the far left corner. The atmosphere built up as it does but I couldn't understand why, about 2.30, that our section was still half empty and the middle was absolutely packed. Even when people started spilling on the pitch we didn't grasp what was going on and stood around for what felt like ages, watching it all unfold. The kick off, beardsley hitting the bar, the players going off, the police cordon. When the gates were eventually opened to everyone, we wandered onto the pitch and started walking around aimlessly, wondering if our mates were ok. They were but it was only later that one of them told me he'd started to go down the tunnel (after arriving later than us) but turned around because it was already too packed. He was lucky. What will stay with me most was wandering around the pitch, seeing people, young and old laid out, with blue faces and telling my mate, who wouldn't believe it, that these people were dead. I'd never seen a dead body before but I knew death when I saw it. It was surreal. And then the walk back to the station to go home to lancaster, looking for a phone box to call home but queues 20 deep for each phone. Finally getting through, the relief, the tears, the disbelief. To this day, I don't know why we stood somewhere different. I often ask myself that question. I was 18 then, now I'm an average Joe, married 38 year-old journalist with two children who are too young to know about what happened, but they will one day. Hillsborough was horrific but it's part of who I am. I was lucky, I got to go home. We can never, ever forget.

jay cadman,skelmersdale
i was at the game,in the leppings lane end as a 15 year old-my strongest memory of that day was the line of press photographers stood directly in front of the terrace snapping away at the dead and dying whilst fans and st johns ambulance staff struggled past them to free people-i hope it's the last memory those photographers have when they pass away themselves.

Michael Caddick, Old Swan
I was only 2 at the time but my dad attended the match in the Leppings Lane end, in a way I’m glad I have no recollection of the day I cant start to think of what was going through the minds of everyone at the game an waiting at home for that phone call. 96 brothers gone but NEVER forgotten. YNWA."Imagine the uproar and weight of the law if 96 coppers lay dead on the floor. The law could not stand this, this terrible day. The people who dun this would be locked away. Yet as strange as it seems for this terrible day, the justice we sought just eroded away..."

Jenny
I was 11 at the time. I remember coming home from town on the bus with my mum and two brothers. People were talking about something happening at the Notts Forest match and I remember seeing people stood outside TV shops watching throught the glass. It was only when we got home that we realised something bad was happening because we were told to play in the backroom. I knew our uncle and cousin were there. I remember the phone ringing every half hour and my dad would answer it straight away. It was 4 long hours before we heard that they were both ok. It is only as I get older that I truly understand the horror of that day. We must never forget.

Andy
I was there that day and to this day I don't really know how I got out of that crush - it was terrible. I remember trying to help the man behind me who was crushed against a barrier, I tried to push back but it was no use, he pleaded with me to help, I tried his voice haunts me still. 20 years on I take my own boys to Anfield but never a day goes by without me thinking about that bloody day.

Paul Snowdon, Maghull, Liverpool
I was in the Leppings Lane End that terrible day but through fate by the time I arrived at the ground - I guess around 2.15pm - and got into the concourse area behind the West Stand I could already see through the infamous connecting tunnel that the middle section of terracing right behind the goal was already very full. I had been in that section 12 months before for the 1988 semi-final against Forest and recalled how packed it was that day with plenty of the usual squashing you got on the terraces in those days. I was only 21 at the time but for whatever reason, I just didn't fancy a repeat, even though right behind the goal was always the best place for atmosphere. So, by luck, I happened to spot a couple of stewards chatting in the area and asked how did you get to the side pens. I was told to go around the back of the stand and within a minute or two I was in the virtually empty side pen on the South Stand side of Hillsborough. I am convinced to this day that that decision I took saved my life. I was just one of the thousands of lucky ones who came home that day.R.I.P. The 96.

Kimberley Wike
On April 15th 1989 I wasn't even two years old but to this day I can still remember watching my dad on the television. He was an ambulance man at the time and we lived in Barnsley. When he saw the disaster unfolding on tv and heard the call for medical assistance he went straight to hillsborough. He was there to witness the horrific aftermath and recalled seeing children's shoes laying on the pitch which was upsetting to say the least. He also talked about how the gym was used as a morgue and that it was the worst thing he'd ever seen. My dad ended up working a 20 hour shift on that day. It was a terrible tragedy that many people will remember for the rest of their lives. RIP the 96 people who lost their lives.

Dianne Hughes.
I was and still am a member if the nursing staff at the Northern General Hospital. I remember that terrible night going to the Medico Legal Centre with parents to identify their precious children. It will never leave me, the poor things.I will never forget you all.

Iain Dods
I was in the back of the North Stand that day. I suffered the crush at the gates as we all had to come through that bottle-neck.I still feel utterly empty when I think about it. I saw some injured people on the pitch but never thought they had died. I left not knowing what had happened.It was a sunny day. All the coaches had radios on with the doors open as I walked up to wear I'd parked my car. The commentary was Everton v Norwich with updates from the situation from Hillsborough.As I passed a coach, I heard 6 people had died. Another few hundred yards, 10 minutes or so, - it was 14. After reaching my car, 30 minutes away - it had risen to 74 I think. I still feel cold at the thought.There were no available phone boxes to call my parents to let them know I was safe. Each had a vast queue. It took me another 1 hour to find one. A few other Liverpool fans were there, in tears, as I was. It's a bond we all share. We're all haunted and think of the fans who died and their families. We were the lucky ones. We can demand justice for those who cannot speak. We will not forget.

Derek Pickup
Say a pray this wednesday for the the first scouser to die at a football match Nigel Pickup aged 8 yrs from Prescot at the Ibrox Disaster 1971. My cousin. I also was at heysel, hillsborough and john paul gillhooly lived 10 doors down from were I lived in huyton. Devastating to reflect and think that you can lose your life for a game we all love. The build up to the match was fantastic, I took 16 lads in a van. getting into the lepping lane was horrendous as everyone knows. I heard someone on the radio recently suggest something I said for years, when Peter Beardsley hit the crossbar after 3 mins the surge down the tunnel would have been more catastrophic if he would have scored. A youngster on my left was being crushed, me being 6 ft 3 he asked for assistance in getting up onto a barrier and he just swandived onto people in the front,panic stricten only god knows if he got out. My mate and I both pussed to the back of the terrace got onto the wall at the side of the tunnel and just put our hands up and we got into the top tier. 13 of us returned in that van 3 others were found wondering around sheffield in a daze. I remember we stopped at a pub on the way back to use the phone but the manager locked the doors and refused access. We all just cryed listing to the eternal flame song on the radio in the van on the drive homeThe memorial at the ground was unbelievable yet i still felt angry with liverpool because after a few weeks they were closing the ground to play a youth team game when there were still thousands outside every day waiting to pay their respects.But i later realised there had to be a cut of point.After heysel my mother said we've lost one child in this family you'll never go to another match, low and behold 4 years later the same scenario. It breaks my heart to reflect but you put into prospective what is important in life.god rest their soles

mike nelson
i left home early on the fifteenth with a group of friends and my young nephew,same journey and hopefully the same result as the season before.We arrived in sheffield around noon,had a full english in a local cafe,then made our way to the ground.We were in different parts of the ground,my nephew and i were in the leppings lane end,after a bit of crush getting in i said if we get split up make your way to the same place we stood at the previous year.As we both walked down the tunnel towards the terraces due to massive crowd we did get split up,i made my way to the same spec i stood at last year and waited for my young nephew,by this time it was about 2-45.I stood behind a barrier and waited for my nephew, and the team to come out.my nephew never arrived but the team came out and the game started.I dont remember too much at this stage,as what happens on the kop when you move foreward you always go back like a spring,but not this time the pressure from behind just became greater and greater.I remember thinking to myself i am going to die ,why arent we springing back this doesnt happen on the kop.I could feel the strength draining from my body,i couldnt hold off the crowd behind me anymore my time was up.I gave up i was about to die.Two young lads in front of me were slapping me on my face telling me to stay awake i tried but it was like a greater force was about to take me,the next i remember was waking up in the northern general hospital in the early hours of sunday morning.My injuries were broken ribs bruised lungs ,upper and lower body bruising,nerve damage in my left leg which prevented me carrying out my building work,i needed to change job. The game eventually was played at old trafford a couple of weeks later and by chance the two young lads that helped me were there they both approached me while i was walking on crutches and said ,the last time we saw you we thought you were dead.I count myself as very lucky someone was watching over me that day i could easily have been one of the fatalities.My nephew fortunately was not injured.As long as i live i will never forget that day and will support the campaign for justice for the 96 who lost their lives.

Tony Cottier
I was 18 at Hillsborough ,and have felt nothing but guilt since, for having been able to come home that night.When the crush came the bar i was leaning on gave way and my mate managed to pull me upright just in time to stop me falling ,we laughed at such a close shave?The people under our feet werent laughing.The man who was unconcious but upright (not being able to fall because of the pressure)who eventually fell when we were pulled out of the back of the crush back into the tunnel,did he die ?Was he already dead? When we were back in the tunnel it felt like it does when you put your head out the window of a moving car. Someone took us around the side of the leppings lane and out onto the pitch I sat on the touchline watching .My friend was walking to and fro shouting about the dead.I had lost my programme and had spotted a man lying on the ground with a jacket over his head ,but with a programme sticking out of his back pocket and I resented him for that! I have been told since that i was in shock and that a lack of oxygen prevented me from processing properly , but I still feel bad.Weeks maybe months go by now without thinking about Hillsborough ,I now have a blessed life .But, when I think about those people under my feet ,over my shoulder or dead on the grass ,I dont feel grateful for coming home I feel guilty.

Karen Loughran
Reflecting on 15th April 1989I went to a football match on the 15th April 1989. No it wasn’t Hillsborough, but it purely because of a twist of fate that I wasn’t there! I am a Red..... Always have been and always will be.....15th April 1989, I went to Villa Park to watch the other FA cup semi final between Everton and Norwich! Why? My boyfriend (now husband of 15 years) and his mates had been let down with their lift! My Dad went beserk.... What you going to watch that lot for when Liverpool are playing in Sheffield?Well.... we set off for Villa Park.... It was a beautifully sunny day and we all had hope in our hearts that the results of the day would lead to a repeat of the 1986 FA cup Final and another League and FA Cup double for The Reds! I was on a promise of a Cup Final ticket if that happened, because Davie Bleas already said that he couldn’t bear to watch Everton get stuffed by the Reds again!We got to Villa Park. We had tickets for The Holt End. We had travelled with Sammy and John. John was with Arthur and I, and Sammy had a seat in the stands – as it turned out very close to a well known ITV sports presenter!Being vertically challenged like I am, once in our places as I was nearest to the floor, I bent down and found a fiver on the floor. 20 years ago, a fiver was a fiver, and most probably covered our petrol money there and back ha ha!From our place we could see the score board at the opposite end of the ground advising that the start of the other game had been delayed for some or other reason...... To be honest, I can’t remember the score that day, only that Everton won. What had happened at Hillsborough started filtering through as we walked back to the car although rumours of fatalities had started spreading during the Everton game from people who had little radios with them. We met Sammy back at the car..... he told us that the well known ITV pundit had been muttering something about “trouble causing Scousers Again!” and “A Pitch Invasion!” The journey home was subdued as we thought about our mates from the pub who had gone to Hillsborough to see the game. It was much later on TV that we saw some of our mates carrying advertising hoardings across the Hillsborough Pitch carrying the injured and the dead.Thinking back and reading articles at the time..... It was purely by chance that Everton’s game wasn’t played at that neutral venue or I may have gone to watch The Reds there myself! Being less than 5’ tall... I wouldn’t have stood a chance!There but for the Grace of God go I...... I will never forget that day, apart from the Everton score, I remember it as if it was yesterday! Thinking about the day makes me come out in goose bumps and the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. I think about the victims often not only on 15th April – although I knew none of them personally, I feel like I did! They will live forever in my mind!

Keith
We got the train to Sheffield really early that day and arrived at the ground probably three hours before kick off. We just milled around,we were only young,most of us just 15 or 16,it was my 17th birthday the following day,we decided to get in the ground about an hour before kick off and headed for the central pen,right behind the goal.I'd gone the year before in the car with my Uncle,my cousin was living in Sheffield at the time so me and me Uncle went to the game while me Auntie went to visit me cousin. We got there late,stuck in traffic,no problem,walked straight in through the turnstile,no queues,headed for the middle tunnel,two police officers were manning the entrance to the tunnel,the middle pen was full they said and directed us to the side pens. When I hear all the arguments about 1989 about what should and shouldn't have been done I can't help thinking that something as simple as having two police officers or stewards on that tunnel would have gone a long way to preventing what happened.About half an hour before kick off I was getting a bit bored so I managed to get out of the pen and went for a wander around to the turnstiles to see if I could see any familiar faces.Although I'd gone to the game with a load of mates,they weren't the lads I normally went to the footy with so I was looking out for some of the lads I stood on the Kop with.I couldn't see anyone so decided to head back into the ground as kick off was only twenty minutes away. What happened next to me is mostly based on assumption,I couldn't say for definite that this is what happened but as I headed back down that tunnel I recall feeling a surge behind me,I reckon that could've been the moment they opened the gates and I could've been right at the front of that fatal surge that was to prove so catastrophic. I'd been in big crowds before,I was only nine stone so I'd just pick me feet up off the ground and and just end up wherever the crowd took me,but this felt different,somehow I ended up on the floor,someone grabbed me and pulled me up,luckily I'd ended up right by the fence which separated the middle pen from the one to the left as you looked at the pitch. I shinned up it and jumped over.I still didn't realise the seriousness of the situation,even as people were trying to rip the fences down I still couldn't comprehend what was happening.Then I noticed a fella,about 30,wandering around the pitch,dazed,with blood coming out of his ears,that was probably the moment I realised that something really bad was happening right in front of me.I climbed over the fence,I'd left my mates in that central pen just half an hour ago and couldn't see any of them. Luckily,they'd all somehow managed to get out ok,one lad who'd come with us did end up in hospital but he was ok. On the news that night they were showing film of people clambering over the fence,desperately trying to escape the crush and there was a lad I knocked around with,Mick. We were never the best of mates but I'll never forget that look of relief on his face as he sat on top of that fence for a few seconds before jumping down onto pitchside.There was an Echo special printed on the Sunday,one of the pictures showed a reunited couple,maybe brother and sister,maybe just friends in tears,hugging eachother on the pitch,I was just behind them placing an advertising hoarding down to carry the injured,thing is I never did anything,didn't help carry any of the injured,didn't know what to do,I was just a kid. I remember a mate of mine saying I should go up to the gym at the other end of the ground as it was full of dead bodies. As a fairly sensible kid I realised that wasn't really a vision or memory I wanted to be carrying with me for the rest of my life so I stayed where we were.That day was my Dad's 37th birthday and this year the 16th April will be my 37th birthday,this year is even more poignant than others because of the 20th anniversary,but it's strange one for me thinking about me Dad at the same age as I'll be on Wednesday watching events unfold on TV desperately waiting for a phone

Helen Green
I watched it unfold on a tv screen, it was no less horrific than had I been there. These were people like me, supporting the club I love and I will never forget that that day and everything that folwed. I have made sure my son knows all about why our badge looks like it does and ask him to pray for everyone who died that day and always remember this date and what it means to all of us

Paul Quinn
I was 8 at the time, and in hospital in Northern Ireland. RTE were carrying the game live on TV, and i will never forget the policeman running on to pitch to ask the ref to stop the game. The TV pictures were cut soon after, and even at a young age I realised something was terribly wrong. RIP the 96, justice will come one day.

Blueboy227
The blackest day that I can remember. Was at Villa Park with Everton, and as news started to trickle through, our thoughts of a day out at Wembley turned to thoughts of friends and relatives who may be caught in the chaos of the Hillsborough trgedy. Justice for the 96.