Hillsborough disaster: Victims' names etched on silver football stud

An artist who specialises in creating tiny works has etched the names of the 97 victims of the Hillsborough disaster on to a silver football boot stud.

Graham Short said he wanted to create a work "in remembrance" of those who died as a result of the April 1989 tragedy.

The Birmingham-based artist said he began work after the Hillsborough anniversary and took eight weeks to do.

He etched a total of 1,272 letters, each 100 microns in height, which is the equivalent of the width of a hair.

Ninety-seven Liverpool fans died as a result of a crush at an FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough in Sheffield on 15 April 1989.

It remains the UK's worst sporting disaster and the aftermath saw their families lead a 30-year campaign to discover how and why they died.

Short, who has previously engraved tiny portraits of author Jane Austen and footballer Harry Kane on £5 notes, said he had "always wanted to do something in remembrance of the Hillsborough 97".

However, the Birmingham City fan said he had also wanted to reveal his creation away from the anniversary of the tragedy, because he believed it was "important to remember, at any time, those who lost their lives [and] not only on an anniversary".

"I'm really pleased with how it's turned out," he said, adding he hoped a museum or gallery could display it.

The 76-year-old said creating his work saw him "go to extremes".

"I work from midnight to 05:00 to avoid vibrations from passing traffic [and] take tablets to lower my heartrate to 20 beats a minute, then engrave between heartbeats," he said.

"I also have Botox injections into my eyelids to ensure there's no distraction from eye nerves when working."

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