Heysel Stadium Disaster
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The Heysel Stadium disaster ( it, Strage dell'Heysel ; german: link=no, Katastrophe von Heysel ; french: Drame du Heysel ; nl, Heizeldrama ) was a crowd disaster that occurred on 29 May 1985 when mostly Juventus fans escaping from a breach by
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
fans were pressed against a collapsing wall in the
Heysel Stadium The King Baudouin Stadium (french: Stade Roi Baudouin , nl, Koning Boudewijnstadion ) is a sports ground in north-west Brussels, Belgium. Located in the Heysel district of the City of Brussels, it was built to embellish the Heysel Plateau in ...
in Brussels, Belgium, before the start of the 1985 European Cup Final between the Italian and English clubs. Thirty-nine people—mostly Italians and Juventus fans—were killed and 600 were injured in the confrontation. Approximately an hour before the Juventus–Liverpool final was due to kick off, Liverpool supporters charged at Juventus supporters and breached a fence that was separating them from a "neutral area". The cause of the rampage has been attributed by eyewitnesses to Liverpool fans who had been drinking heavily. Juventus fans ran back on the terraces and away from the threat into a
concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...
wall. Fans already standing near the wall were crushed; eventually the wall collapsed, allowing others to escape. Many people climbed over to safety, but many others died or were badly injured. The game was played despite the pre-match incidents by authorities and organizers' joint decision for
public policy doctrine In private international law, the public policy doctrine or (French: "public order") concerns the body of principles that underpin the operation of legal systems in each state. This addresses the social, moral and economic values that tie a s ...
reasons after a
state of siege A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...
was declared in the city, with Juventus winning 1–0. The tragedy resulted in all English
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
clubs being placed under an indefinite ban by
Union of European Football Associations Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
(UEFA) from all European competitions (lifted in 1990–91), with Liverpool being excluded for an additional two years, later reduced to one, and 14 Liverpool fans were found guilty of
manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...
and sentenced to six years' imprisonment. The disaster was later described as "the darkest hour in the history of the UEFA competitions".


Background

In May 1985,
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
were the defending European Champions' Cup winners, having won the competition after defeating
Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
in the
penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
in the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
of the previous season. Again, they would face Italian opposition, Juventus, which had won unbeaten the 1983–84 Cup Winners' Cup. Juventus had a team of many of
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
's 1982 World Cup winning team, which played for Juventus for many years, and its playmaker,
Michel Platini Michel François Platini (born 21 June 1955) is a French football administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'Or three times in a row, in 1983, 1984 and 1985, a ...
, was considered the best footballer in Europe and was named Footballer of The Year by the magazine ''
France Football ''France Football'' is a French weekly magazine containing football news from all over the world. It is considered to be one of the most reputable sports publications in Europe, mostly because of its photographic reports, in-depth and exclusi ...
'' for the second year in a row in December 1984. Both teams were placed in the two first positions in the UEFA club ranking at the end of the previous season and were regarded by the specialist press as the two best teams on the continent. Both teams had contested the
1984 European Super Cup The 1984 European Super Cup was an association football match between Italian team Juventus and English team Liverpool, which took place on 16 January 1985 at the Stadio Comunale. The match was the annual European Super Cup contested between t ...
four months earlier, with a 2–0 victory for the Italian team. Despite its status as Belgium's
national stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...
, Heysel Stadium was in a poor state of repair by the 1985 European Final. The 55-year-old stadium had not been sufficiently maintained for several years, and large parts of the facility were literally crumbling. For example, the outer wall had been made of cinder block, and fans who did not have tickets were seen kicking holes in the wall to get in. In some areas of the stadium, there was only one
turnstile A turnstile (also called a turnpike, gateline, baffle gate, automated gate, turn gate in some regions) is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. A turnstile can be configured to enforce one-way human traffic. In addition, a ...
, and some fans attending the game claimed that they were never searched or asked for their tickets. Liverpool players and fans later said that they were shocked at Heysel's abject condition, despite reports from Arsenal fans that the ground was a "dump" when Arsenal had played there a few years earlier. They were also surprised that Heysel was chosen despite its poor condition, especially since
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
's Camp Nou and
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
's Santiago Bernabéu were both available. Juventus President Giampiero Boniperti and Liverpool CEO Peter Robinson urged the
Union of European Football Associations Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
(UEFA) to choose another venue and claimed that Heysel was not in any condition to host a European Final, especially one involving two of the largest and most powerful clubs in Europe. However, UEFA refused to consider a move. It was later discovered that UEFA's inspection of the stadium had lasted just thirty minutes. The stadium was crammed with 58,000 to 60,000 supporters, with more than 25,000 for each team. The two ends behind the goals comprised all-standing terraces, each end split into three zones. The Juventus end was O, N, and M, and the Liverpool end was X, Y, and Z, as deemed by the Belgian court after the disaster. However, the tickets for the Z section were reserved for neutral Belgian fans in addition to the rest of the stadium. The idea of the large neutral area was opposed by both Liverpool and Juventus, as it would provide an opportunity for fans of both clubs to obtain tickets from agencies or from ticket touts outside the ground and so create a dangerous mix of fans. At the time, Belgium already had a large Italian community, and many
expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...
Juventus fans from Brussels,
Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...
and
Charleroi Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593.
bought Section Z tickets. Also, many tickets were bought up and sold by travel agents, mainly to Juventus fans. That meant the Juventus fans had more sections than the Liverpool fans with the Z section, which was nominally reserved for neutrals. Reportedly, Liverpool fans were still smarting from being attacked by Roma
ultras Ultras are a type of association football fans who are renowned for their fanatical support. The term originated in Italy, but is used worldwide to describe predominantly organised fans of association football teams. The behavioural tende ...
at the 1984 European Final and placed next to what amounted to another Juventus section heightened tensions before the match. A small percentage of the tickets ended up in the hands of Liverpool fans.


Confrontation

At approximately 7 p.m. local time, an hour before kickoff, the initial disturbance started. The Liverpool and Juventus supporters in Sections X and Z stood merely yards apart. The boundary between the two was marked by temporary
chain link fencing A chain-link fence (also referred to as wire netting, wire-mesh fence, chain-wire fence, cyclone fence, hurricane fence, or diamond-mesh fence) is a type of woven fence usually made from galvanized or linear low-density polyethylene-coated st ...
and a central thinly-policed no man's land.
Hooligans Hooliganism is disruptive or unlawful behavior such as rioting, bullying and vandalism, usually in connection with crowds at sporting events. Etymology There are several theories regarding the origin of the word ''hooliganism,'' which is a ...
began to throw flares, bottles and stones across the divide and picked up stones from the crumbling terraces beneath them. As kickoff approached, the throwing became more intense. Eventually the Liverpool fans charged towards the Juventus fans, the boundary between Section X and Z broke down, and the few police persons stationed at the divide were overpowered. As the Juventus fans started fleeing, they ran towards the
concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...
wall at the perimeter of Section Z. Fans standing near the wall were
crushed Crushed may refer to: * "Crushed" (''Ms. Marvel''), a 2022 episode of the American television series ''Ms. Marvel'' * "Crushed" (Roland Lee Gift song) a 2009 single by Roland Lee Gift * "Crushed" (''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody'' episode), an ...
, and as the pressure mounted the entire lower portion of the wall collapsed, burying fans underneath it as it fell. Some fans managed to climb over to safety, but many others died or were badly injured. In retaliation for the events in Section Z, many Juventus fans rioted at their end of the stadium. They advanced down the stadium running track to help other Juventus supporters, but police intervention stopped the advance. A large group of Juventus fans fought the police with rocks, bottles and stones for two hours. One Juventus fan was also seen firing a starting gun at Belgian police.


Match

Despite the scale of the disaster and the
state of siege A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...
in the
City of Brussels The City of Brussels (french: Ville de Bruxelles or alternatively ''Bruxelles-Ville'' ; nl, Stad Brussel or ''Brussel-Stad'') is the largest municipality and historical City centre, centre of the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, as well a ...
consequently declared by the
Belgian government The Federal Government of Belgium ( nl, Federale regering, french: Gouvernement fédéral, german: Föderalregierung) exercises executive power in the Kingdom of Belgium. It consists of ministers and secretary of state ("junior", or deputy-mini ...
, UEFA officials, the
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
,
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
and
Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...
national associations—the latter being responsible for organising the event—as well as the country's
Ministry of Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...
led by local Premier
Wilfried Martens Wilfried Achiel Emma Martens (; 19 April 1936 – 9 October 2013) was a Belgian politician who served as prime minister of Belgium from 1979 to 1981 and from 1981 to 1992. A member of the Flemish Christian People's Party, during his premiership ...
, Brussels Mayor
Hervé Brouhon Hervé Brouhon (18 June 1924 – 10 April 1993) was a Belgian politician for the Belgian Socialist Party. Brouhon was born in Etterbeek. He became a teacher, he was first elected as a municipal councillor in Brussels in 1950 and became its ...
, and the city's
police force The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...
decided jointly that the match eventually would start for
public policy doctrine In private international law, the public policy doctrine or (French: "public order") concerns the body of principles that underpin the operation of legal systems in each state. This addresses the social, moral and economic values that tie a s ...
reasons because abandoning the match would have risked inciting further disturbances, notwithstanding Juventus' explicit request that the match not be played. After the captains of both sides spoke to the crowd and appealed for calm, the players took the field knowing that people had died. Years later, Liverpool captain
Phil Neal Philip George Neal (born 20 February 1951) is an English retired footballer who played for Northampton Town, Liverpool and Bolton Wanderers as a full back. He is one of the most successful English players of all time, having won seven First D ...
said that in hindsight, it would have been "a better decision" to call off the game. Juventus won the match 1–0 thanks to a penalty scored by Platini, which was awarded by the Swiss referee, Daina, for a foul against
Zbigniew Boniek Zbigniew Boniek (; born 3 March 1956) is a Polish former footballer and manager as well as current UEFA vice-president. A former midfielder, who was also capable of playing mostly as a right winger and second striker, he is considered one of t ...
. At the end of the game, the trophy was given in front of the stadium's Honor Stand by UEFA President
Jacques Georges Jacques Georges (30 May 1916 – 25 February 2004) was the president of the French Football Federation (FFF) from 1968 until 1972 and the 4th president of UEFA (1983–1990). Biography In April 1989, he caused controversy by describing a minor ...
to Juventus Captain
Gaetano Scirea Gaetano Scirea (; 25 May 1953 – 3 September 1989) was an Italian professional footballer who is considered one of the greatest defenders of his generation and one of the greatest defenders of all time. He spent most of his career with Juventus ...
. Collective hysteria generated by the massive invasion of the pitch by journalists and fans at the end of the match and the chants of fans of both teams in the stands all made some Italian club players celebrate the title in the middle of the pitch among them and in front of their fans in the M section, and some Liverpool players applauded their fans between the X and Z sections, the stadium's section affected. Liverpool players only realised the extent of the tragedy when they boarded their bus at a Brussels hotel to go to the airport, when a crowd of Juventus supporters surrounded the bus. Police had to escort the bus out of the lot. The police allowed Liverpool's bus to drive directly onto the tarmac at
Brussels Airport Brussels Airport, nl, Luchthaven Brussel, vls, Vliegpling Brussel, german: Flughafen Brüssel is an international airport northeast of Brussels, the capital of Belgium. In 2019, more than 26 million passengers arrived or departed at Bruss ...
in hopes of avoiding a confrontation at the terminal.


Victims

Of the 39 people killed, 32 were Italian (including two minors), four Belgian, two French, and one from
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
.


Investigation

The blame for the incident was laid on the fans of Liverpool. On 30 May, official UEFA observer Gunter Schneider said, "Only the English fans were responsible. Of that there is no doubt." UEFA, the organiser of the event, the owners of Heysel Stadium and the Belgian police were investigated for culpability. After an eighteen-month investigation, the dossier of leading Belgian judge Marina Coppieters was finally published. It concluded that blame should rest solely with the Liverpool fans. Gerry Clarkson, Deputy Chief of the London Fire Brigade (LFB), was sent by the
British Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...
to report on the condition of the stadium. He concluded that the deaths were "Attributable very, very largely to the appalling state of hestadium." Clarkson discovered that the crush barriers were unable to contain the weight of the crowd and had the reinforcement in the concrete exposed; the wall's piers had been built the wrong way around and that there was a small building at the top of the terrace that contained long plastic tubing underneath. His report was never used in any inquiry for the disaster.


Impact on stadiums

After Heysel, English clubs began to impose stricter rules intended to make it easier to prevent troublemakers from attending domestic games, with legal provision to exclude troublemakers for three months introduced in 1986, and the
Football (Disorder) Act 2000 The Football (Disorder) Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom enacted during the premiership of Tony Blair. It served as an amendment to the Football Spectators Act 1989, and strengthened football banning orders (FBOs), a civ ...
introduced in 1991. Serious progress on legal banning orders preventing foreign travel to matches was arguably not made until the violence involving England fans (allegedly mainly involving neo-Nazi groups, such as
Combat 18 Combat 18 (C18 or 318) is a neo-Nazi terrorist organisation that was founded in 1992. It originated in the United Kingdom, with ties to movements in Canada and the United States. Since then it has spread to other countries, including Germany ...
) at a match against
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
on 15 February 1995 and violent scenes at the
1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...
. Rioting at
UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...
saw the introduction of new legislation and wider use of police powers—by 2004, 2,000 banning orders were in place, compared to fewer than 100 before Euro 2000. The main reforms to English stadiums came after the
Taylor Report The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report is the report of an inquiry which was overseen by Lord Justice Taylor, into the causes of the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989, as a result of which, ...
into the
Hillsborough disaster The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal human crush during a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the ...
in which 97 people died in 1989. All-seater stadiums became a requirement for clubs in the top two divisions while pitch-side fencing was removed and closed-circuit cameras have been installed. Fans who misbehave can have their tickets revoked and be legally barred from attending games at any English stadium. The Heysel Stadium itself continued to be used for some matches of the Belgian national team until 1990, when UEFA banned Belgium from hosting a European final until at least 2000. In 1994, the stadium was almost completely rebuilt as the King Baudouin Stadium. On 28 August 1995 the new stadium welcomed the return of football to Heysel in the form of a friendly match between Belgium and Germany. It then hosted a major European final on 8 May 1996 when
Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...
defeated Defeated may refer to: * "Defeated" (Breaking Benjamin song) * "Defeated" (Anastacia song) *"Defeated", a song by Snoop Dogg from the album ''Bible of Love'' *Defeated, Tennessee, an unincorporated community *''The Defeated ''The Defeated'', al ...
Rapid Vienna Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade'' ...
1–0 to win the
Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...
.


Litigation

British police undertook a thorough investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice. Some seventeen minutes of film and many still photographs were examined. '' TV Eye'' produced an hour-long programme featuring the footage while British newspapers published the photographs. A total of 34 people were arrested and questioned with 26 Liverpool fans being charged with
manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...
—the only extraditable offence applicable to events at Heysel. An extradition hearing in London in February–March 1987 ruled all 26 were to be extradited to stand trial in Belgium for the death of Juventus fan Mario Ronchi. In September 1987 they were extradited and formally charged with manslaughter applying to all 39 deaths and further charges of assault. Initially, all were held at a Belgian prison, but, over the subsequent months, judges permitted their release as the start of the trial was further delayed. The trial eventually began in October 1988, with three Belgians also standing trial for their role in the disaster: Albert Roosens, the head of the Belgian Football Association, for allowing tickets for the Liverpool section of the stadium to be sold to Juventus fans; and two police chiefs—Michel Kensier and Johan Mahieu—who were in charge of policing at the stadium that night. Two of the 26 Liverpool fans were in custody in Britain at the time and stood trial later. In April 1989, fourteen fans were convicted and given three-year sentences, half of which were suspended for five years, allowing them to return to the UK. One man who was acquitted was
Ronnie Jepson Ronald Francis Jepson (born 12 May 1963) is an English former football player and manager who is now Neil Warnock's assistant manager at club Huddersfield Town. A striker, he scored 86 goals in 354 league games in an eleven-year profession ...
, who would go on to make 414 appearances over a thirteen-year career in the
English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...
.


Aftermath


English club ban

Pressure mounted to ban English clubs from European competition. On 31 May 1985, British Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
asked
The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...
(the FA) to withdraw English clubs from European competition before they were banned, but two days later, UEFA banned English clubs for "an indeterminate period of time." On 6 June, the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) extended this ban to all worldwide matches, but this was modified a week later to allow friendly matches outside of Europe to take place. In December 1985, FIFA announced that English clubs were also free to play friendly games in Europe, though the Belgian government banned any English clubs playing in their country. Though the English national team was not subjected to any bans, English club sides were banned indefinitely from European club competitions, with Liverpool being provisionally subject to a further three years suspension as well. In April 1990, following years of campaigning from the English football authorities, UEFA confirmed the reintroduction of English clubs (with the exception of Liverpool) into its competitions from the 1990–91 season onward; in April 1991 UEFA's executive committee voted to allow Liverpool back into European competition from the 1991–92 season onward, a year later than their compatriots, but two years earlier than initially foreseen. In the end, all English clubs served a five-year-ban, while Liverpool were excluded for six years. According to former Liverpool striker
Ian Rush Ian James Rush (born 20 October 1961) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a forward. At club level Rush played for Liverpool from 1980–1987 and 1988–1996. He is the club's all-time leading goalscorer, having scored a t ...
, who signed with Juventus a year later, he saw pronounced improvement in the institutional relationships between both the clubs and their fans during his career in Italy.


England's UEFA coefficient

Prior to the introduction of the ban, England were ranked first in the
UEFA coefficient In European football, the UEFA coefficients are statistics based in weighted arithmetic means used for ranking and seeding teams in club and international competitions. Introduced in 1979 for men's football tournaments, and after applied in wome ...
ranking due to the performance of English clubs in European competition in the previous five seasons. Throughout the ban, England's points were kept in the ranking until they would have naturally been replaced. The places vacated by English clubs in the UEFA Cup were reallocated to the best countries who would usually only have two spots in the competition—countries ranked between ninth and twenty-first. For the 1985–86 UEFA Cup, the Soviet Union, France,
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
, and the Netherlands were granted an additional spot each, while in 1986–87,
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
, Czechoslovakia, France, and
East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
were the recipients. The 1987–88 season saw Portugal, Austria, and Sweden gain an additional place, with Sweden and Yugoslavia gaining the places for the 1988–89 competition. The final year of the English ban, 1989–90 saw Austria receive a spot, while a play-off round was played between a French and a Yugoslav side for the final space—due to the two countries having the same number of points in the ranking. England was removed from the rankings in 1990 due to having no points. England did not return to the top of the coefficient rankings until 2008.


Banned clubs

The following clubs were denied entry to European competitions during this period: The number of places available to English clubs in the UEFA Cup would however have been reduced had English teams been eliminated early in the competition. By the time of the re-admittance of all English clubs except Liverpool in 1990–91, England was only granted one UEFA Cup entrant (awarded to the league runners-up); prior to the ban, they had four entry slots, a number not awarded to England again under regular means. Welsh clubs playing in the English league system, who could qualify for the
European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...
via the
Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the mos ...
, were unaffected by the ban.
Bangor City Bangor City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Bangor) are an inactive Welsh football club from the City of Bangor, Gwynedd. They started the 2021–22 season in the Cymru North the second level of the Welsh football league system, but ...
( 1985–86),
Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
( 1986–87),
Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...
( 1987–88), Cardiff City ( 1988–89), and Swansea City ( 1989–90) all competed in the Cup Winners' Cup during the ban on English clubs, despite playing in the English league system. In the meantime, many other clubs missed out on a place in the UEFA Cup due to the return of English clubs to European competitions only being gradual—in 1990, the league had no UEFA coefficient points used to calculate the number of teams, and even though Manchester United won the Cup Winners' Cup in the first season of returning in 1990–91, it took several more years for England to build up the points to the previous level, due to the coefficient being calculated over a five-year period and there being a one-year delay between the publication of the rankings and their impact on club allocation. Liverpool's additional year of exclusion from Europe meant that there was no English representation in the 1990–91 European Cup, as they were 1989–90 Football League First Division champions.


Repercussions on UEFA Cup qualification

Due to the weak coefficient,
Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...
winners
Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
also missed out on UEFA Cup places in 1990–91, along with
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
and Arsenal. The teams who missed out on the 1991–92 UEFA Cup, for the same reason were
Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
,
Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
and
Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
. Arsenal and Manchester City were unable to take part for the 1992–93 competition. For 1993–94,
Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...
and
Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...
would have qualified. Leeds United missed out in 1994–95 and initially 1995–96, though they qualified for the latter via the new
UEFA Fair Play ranking The UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking was used by UEFA from 1995 to the 2015–16 season to grant three berths for the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League. Since that time it has granted a monetary prize to winning associations. Qualific ...
, which at the time gave their three top-ranking associations' highest-placed team who've not already qualified for Europe a UEFA Cup spot. Remaining outside the top three of the coefficient rankings, England retained its three UEFA Cup berths instead of four. Sixth-placed Everton were denied a Fair Play berth for 1996–97 by UEFA, as punishment for the FA due to Tottenham Hotspur and
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
fielding weakened teams in the 1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup. By this point England's coefficient was no longer directly affected by the ban due to it being outside of the five-year window, their coefficient continued to be affected by years of under-representation in the competition. As a result, Aston Villa missed out via their league position for 1997–98 and 1998–99 but qualified for both through Fair Play. Restructuring of UEFA competitions for 1999–2000 gave the top six associations of the coefficient ranking three UEFA Cup berths (the top three gained four Champions League berths, whilst 4–6 got three), which England now reached, whilst associations ranked seventh and eighth were given four berths for the competition.


Commemorations

In 1985, a memorial was presented to the victims at the Juventus headquarters in Piazza Crimea,
Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
. The monument includes an
epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...
written by Torinese journalist Giovanni Arpino. Since 2001 to 2017 it has been situated in front of the club's headquarters in Corso Galileo Ferraris and since then in Juventus Headquarter.In 1991, another memorial monument for the 39 victims of the disaster, was inaugurated in
Reggio Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia ( egl, Rèz; la, Regium Lepidi), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has abou ...
, the hometown of the victim Claudio Zavaroni, in front of
Stadio Mirabello Stadio Mirabello is a 1912- multi-use stadium in Reggio Emilia, Italy. It was used mostly for football matches and hosted the home matches of A.C. Reggiana. until they moved to the Stadio Giglio Stadio (literally, ''Stadium'') is an Italian p ...
: every year the committee "Per non dimenticare Heysel" (In order not to forget Heysel) holds a ceremony on 29 May with relatives of the victims, representatives of Juventus, survivors and various supporters clubs from various football clubs, including Inter Milan, Milan AC, Reggiana and Torino. During
Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...
, members of the Italian team left flowers on the site in honour of the victims. On 29 May 2005, a £140,000 sculpture was unveiled at the new Heysel stadium, to commemorate the disaster. The monument is a
sundial A sundial is a horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a flat ...
designed by French artist Patrick Rimoux and includes Italian and Belgian stone and the poem "
Funeral Blues "Funeral Blues", or "Stop all the clocks", is a poem by W. H. Auden which first appeared in the 1936 play ''The Ascent of F6''. Auden substantially rewrote the poem several years later as a cabaret song for the singer Hedli Anderson. Both versi ...
" by Englishman W. H. Auden to symbolise the sorrow of the three countries. Thirty-nine lights shine, one for each who died that night. On Wednesday 26 May 2010, a permanent plaque was unveiled on the Centenary Stand at Anfield to honour the Juventus fans who died 25 years earlier. This plaque is one of two permanent memorials to be found at Anfield, along with one for the 97 fans killed in the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. In May 2012, a Heysel Memorial was unveiled in the
J-Museum The Juventus Museum, called the J-Museum, is a sports museum dedicated to the most decorated football club in Italy, Juventus F.C. The museum is part of a complex surrounding Juventus Stadium; it is entirely bilingual in Italian and English, and ...
at
Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
. There is also a tribute to the disaster's victims in the club's ''Walk of Fame'' in front of the
Juventus Stadium Juventus Stadium, known for sponsorship reasons as the Allianz Stadium since July 2017, sometimes simply known in Italy as the Stadium ( it, Lo Stadium), is an all-seater football stadium in the Vallette borough of Turin, Italy, and the home o ...
. Two years later Juventus' officials announced a memorial in the Continassa headquarter. In February 2014, an exhibition in Turin was dedicated both to the Heysel tragedy and
Superga air disaster The Superga air disaster occurred on 4 May 1949, when a Fiat G.212 of Avio Linee Italiane (Italian Airlines), carrying the entire Torino football team (popularly known as the ''Grande Torino''), crashed into the retaining wall at the back of th ...
. The name of the exhibition was "''Settanta angeli in un unico cielo – Superga e Heysel tragedie sorelle''" (70 angels in the one same heaven – Superga and Heysel sister tragedies) and gathered material from 4 May 1949 and 29 May 1985. On 12 November 2015 Italian Football Federation (FIGC), Juventus' representatives led by Mariella Scirea and J-Museum president Paolo Garimberti and members of the Italian victims association held a ceremony in front of the Heysel monument in King Baudouin Stadium for the 30th anniversary of the event. The following day, FIGC president
Carlo Tavecchio Carlo Tavecchio (born 13 July 1943) is an Italian politician, sports executive, and administrator. Career For four legislatures, he held the office of Mayor of Ponte Lambro. For 15 years, he was president of an amateur company. From 1987 to 1992 ...
announced the retirement of ''Squadra Azzurras number 39 shirt prior to the friendly match between
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
and
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
.


At games

A memorial service for those killed in the disaster was held before Liverpool's match with Arsenal at Anfield on 18 August 1985, their first fixture after the disaster. However, according to ''
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
'', it was "drowned out" by chanting.Juventus and Liverpool were drawn together in the quarter-finals of the 2005 Champions League, their first meeting since Heysel. Before the first leg at
Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...
, Liverpool fans held up placards to form a banner saying "''amicizia''" ("friendship" in Italian). Many of the Juventus fans applauded the gesture, although a significant number chose to turn their backs on it. In the return leg in Turin, Juventus fans displayed banners reading ''Easy to speak, difficult to pardon: Murders'' and ''15-4-89. Sheffield. God exists'', the latter a reference to the
Hillsborough disaster The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal human crush during a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the ...
, in which 97 Liverpool fans were killed in a crush. A number of Liverpool fans were attacked in the city by Juventus ultras. In May 2015, during a
Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...
match between Juventus and Napoli at Turin, Juventus fans held up placards to form a banner saying "''+39 Rispetto''" ("respect +39" in Italian) including the names of the victims of the disaster. In an interview with Liverpool footballer
Mark Lawrenson Mark Thomas Lawrenson (born 2 June 1957) is a former professional footballer who played as a defender for Liverpool, among others, during the 1970s and 1980s. After a short career as a manager, he then became a radio, television and internet pu ...
he spoke at length about his experience in the immediate aftermath of the Heysel Stadium Disaster and how it is never, ever discussed, starkly compared with the
Hillsborough Disaster The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal human crush during a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the ...
. He thought this may be down to a sense of shame.


Depiction in media

In 1985, Belgian studio project Shady Vision recorded "Just A Game" (Indisc DID 127754) which addressed the tragic event. In Germany, this recording was distributed by
SPV GmbH SPV GmbH (short for ''Schallplatten Produktion und Vertrieb GmbH'', "Vinyl Production and Distribution Company") is a German independent record label. Founded on 1 January 1984, it has slowly grown to be one of the largest independent distributor ...
as a charity single under the title "39 (Just A Game)". In 1986, the band
Revolting Cocks Revolting Cocks, also known as RevCo, are an American-Belgian industrial rock band, and sometimes supergroup, that began as a musical side project for Richard23 of Front 242, Luc van Acker, and Al Jourgensen of Ministry. History 1984: Or ...
, founded in part by
Al Jourgensen Alain David Jourgensen (born Alejandro Ramírez Casas; October 9, 1958) is a Cuban-American singer, musician and music producer. Closely related with the independent record label Wax Trax! Records, his musical career spans four decades. He is be ...
of
Ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...
, released a song by the name of "38" on the album '' Big Sexy Land'', in commemoration of the deaths. British composer
Michael Nyman Michael Laurence Nyman, Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 23 March 1944) is an English composer, pianist, libretto, librettist, musicologist, and filmmaker. He is known for numerous film soundtrack, scores (many written during his length ...
wrote a piece called "Memorial" which was originally part of a larger work of the same name written in 1985 in memory of the Juventus fans who died at Heysel Stadium.


See also

*
Crowd control Crowd control is a public security practice in which large crowds are managed in order to prevent the outbreak of crowd crushes, affray, fights involving drunk and disorderly people or riots. Crowd crushes in particular can cause many hundre ...
*
Crowd control barrier Crowd control barriers (also referred to as crowd control barricades, with some versions called a French barrier or bike rack in the USA, and mills barriers in Hong Kong) are commonly used at many public events. They are frequently visible at sp ...
*
Crowd manipulation Crowd manipulation is the intentional or unwitting use of techniques based on the principles of crowd psychology to engage, control, or influence the desires of a crowd in order to direct its behavior toward a specific action. This practice is co ...
*
Hillsborough disaster The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal human crush during a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the ...
*
English football clubs in international competitions With 45 continental trophies won, English football clubs are the third-most successful in European football, behind Italy (49) and Spain (64). In the top-tier UEFA Champions League, a record five English clubs have won a total of 14 titles and ...
*
Football hooliganism in the United Kingdom Beginning in at least the 1960s, the United Kingdom gained a reputation worldwide for football hooliganism; the phenomenon was often dubbed the ''British'' or ''English Disease''. However, since the 1980s and well into the 1990s the UK governmen ...
*
Juventus F.C. in international football Juventus Football Club first participated in a Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) competition in 1958. The first international cup in which the club took part since the advent of professionalism in Italy was the Central European Cup, ...
*
Liverpool F.C. in international football Liverpool Football Club is a professional association football club in Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) competitions. Since 1964, they have won fourteen European and Worldwide trophies, more than any other British club. These cons ...
* 2017 Turin stampede *
Kanjuruhan Stadium disaster On 1 October 2022, a fatal human crush occurred following an association football match at Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang Regency, East Java, Indonesia. Following a loss by home side Arema to rivals Persebaya Surabaya, around 3,000 Arema support ...


Notes


References


Works cited

* *


Further reading

* Evans, R., & Rowe, M. (2002). For Club and Country: Taking Football Disorder Abroad. Soccer & Society, 3(1), 37
DOI: 10.1080/714004870
* * * * * * * * *


External links


Heysel Disaster
Original reports from ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'', at
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Heysel Tragedy article on LFC Online

BBC Sports columnist Alan Hansen – Reds tie evokes Heysel memories

Football Violence in Europe
Paper by the
Social Issues Research Centre The Social Issues Research Centre (SIRC) is a non-profit think tank working on social and lifestyle issues. It is based in Oxford, but is not part of, and has no relationship to, Oxford University. Organisation and focus SIRC has a ‘social intel ...

Partial article by Paul Tompkins
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