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Hillsborough disaster, incident in which a crush of football (soccer) fans resulted in 96 deaths and hundreds of injuries during a match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England, on April 15, 1989. The tragedy was largely attributed to mistakes by the police.

An FA Cup semi-final match was scheduled between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest on April 15, 1989, at Hillsborough, a neutral venue. The sold-out game was expected to draw more than 53,000 fans. To prevent hooliganism, fans for the two teams were directed to enter from different sides of the stadium. Liverpool supporters with tickets for the standing terraces were to enter along Leppings Lane. There they were to pass though one of seven turnstiles, after which there were two tunnels that opened into "pens," areas enclosed by high fences with a narrow gate. Central pens 3 and 4 were accessed from the main tunnel, while the other side pens were entered through the less prominent corridor.

Due to the limited number of turnstiles, a bottleneck formed as approximately 10,100 fans attempted to enter the stadium on the Leppings Lane side. By about 2:30 pm, some 30 minutes before kickoff, more than half of those fans were still outside. Hoping to ease congestion, Yorkshire Police Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield, who had little experience policing soccer matches at Hillsborough, approved the opening of exit gate C at approximately 2:52 pm. Some 2,000 fans entered through that gate, and although the side pens were relatively empty, the majority headed to the main tunnel and the already crowded pens 3 and 4. As fans rushed into those pens, a deadly crush resulted, with people frantically trying to escape. A number of law officials initially believed the problem to be unruly fans, and it was not until five minutes after kickoff that the match was halted. However, police never "fully activated the major incident procedure." Poor communications and coordination further complicated rescue efforts, and in numerous cases fans provided assistance and medical attention. In total 96 people were killed, the last of whom died in 1993 when he was taken off life support. In addition, more than 760 were injured.

Immediately after the disaster, police blamed the incident on Liverpool fans, whom they alleged were drunk and disorderly. In addition, Duckenfield claimed that fans had forced open gate C. A 1989 interim report, however, faulted law officials, notably citing their failure to close the main tunnel after pens 3 and 4 reached capacity. The following year an inquest held that there was insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges. The coroner's report was released in 1991, and it stated that all those who died were beyond saving by 3:15 pm-when the first ambulance arrived-thus blocking an investigation into the rescue efforts. In addition, the deaths were ruled accidental.

Calls continued for further investigations, and in 2009 an independent panel was formed to review the tragedy. Three years later it announced that the police had engaged in a far-reaching cover-up, faulting fans and falsifying reports in an effort to hide their own mistakes. The panel found no evidence that alcohol-or unruly behaviour-had played a role in the disaster, and it believed that as many as 41 deaths could have been averted by better rescue efforts. In December 2012 the coroner's finding that the deaths were accidental was overturned.

Another inquest began in 2014, and the following year Duckenfield testified that he had lied about fans opening gate C, an allegation that been discredited years earlier but continued to be advanced. In addition, he admitted that his failure to close the main tunnel leading to the central pens directly caused the deaths. In 2016 the jury found that the 96 victims had been "unlawfully killed." The following year criminal charges were filed against six individuals connected to the disaster. Notably, Duckenfield faced 95 charges of manslaughter; because of legal issues, he could not be prosecuted for the victim who died in 1993.

Amy Tikkanen

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It has long been recognised that there is a north/south divide in the UK.

Although there have been attempts to attract investment into the north, many businesses are choosing to set up in the south. This creates a large wealth divide and those living in the north of the country experience significantly different social and economic conditions from those living in the south.

The Centre for Cities is a charity that measures economic growth and change in 64 UK cities. In 2015, it found that for every 12 jobs created since 2004 in southern cities, only one was created in cities elsewhere. Cities like London and Milton Keynes in the south have seen a growth in the number of jobs available, whilst Blackpool and Hull in the north have seen a decline.

A divided nation?

Strategies to resolve regional differences

Resolving regional differences is a difficult task. The government have agreed devolution measures, which gives additional power and money to councils in the north. An example is the NTCA (North of Tyne Combined Authority.) The NTCA was established in North East England in 2018. It allows the area to make some of their own decisions about how to spend money. The government have agreed a devolution deal, where an investment fund worth £600m has been promised to the NTCA over the next 30 years.

Some people believe that professional jobs need to be created in the north. The popularity of universities such as Manchester and Leeds has encouraged professionals to settle in the north. The relocation of some businesses and organisations can also help. For example, the BBC built MediaCityUK in Manchester and moved many of its offices there in 2011. A recent report has suggested that MediaCityUK has helped Salford to become a "creative and digital cluster". It also found that employment in Salford grew by 142% between 2010 and 2019. Since 2011, the multiplier effect has led to other companies locating close by, eg the Holiday Inn.

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The north-south divide in the UK - How the UK economy is changing in the 21st century - OCR - GCSE Geography Revision - OCR - BBC Bitesize

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Changes to Stadiums because of Hillsborough

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Talk to a football supporter under 30 about the squalor and danger that greeted match-going fans in the 1980s and chances are their jaw will hit the floor before the scales fall from their eyes.

The decrepit, crumbling stands ringed by spike-topped fences, and the ever-present hooligan menace are almost unimaginable to the generations raised watching football in today's all-seater temples to the game's success.

The transformation of football in the last 27 years is remarkable, but it might not have happened so swiftly, if at all, had it not been for the deadly events of 15 April, 1989, at Hillsborough.
:: Hillsborough Victims Unlawfully Killed
It was, first and foremost, a tragedy that claimed 96 lives, but it was also a turning point for the English game, with the reaction to it dragging football from its darkest hour into the modern age.

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Hillsborough was the final act of a deadly trilogy in the 1980s that left football in apparently irreversible decline.

In the space of a month in 1985, 56 people died when the main stand at Bradford City caught fire, and 39 Juventus supporters were killed when Liverpool fans rioted at the European Cup final at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels.

The causes of the two incidents were complex and particular, but they had in common poorly maintained stadia and policing focused on preventing violence rather than safety.

"The whole agenda was dominated by the hooliganism problem, that informed people's reactions, it informed the authorities' reactions to everything and that means that other basic things like safety precautions and treating people properly at football were overlooked," Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporters' Federation, told Sky News.

Hillsborough was the final straw and the response to it, largely in the form of Lord Justice Taylor's report, shaped the modern game, laying the ground for the Premier League and the boom that continues to this day.

His recommendation that standing terraces be replaced with all-seater stadia prompted a physical and cultural transformation.

The organised chaos of the Kops was consigned to history, and with it some of the terrace culture that defined the English game.

Public grants helped, but the founding chief executive of the Premier League Rick Parry told Sky News the need to build new stands also focused the minds of club executives already pondering a breakaway competition.

"I think uppermost in many of the club's minds was how are we going to generate the revenue?" he said.

"It wasn't a question of 'this is a massive opportunity to change the way we market the game', it was more a question of 'how are we going to pay for this?'"

The answer was broadcast revenue from nascent satellite broadcaster BSkyB, which together with the BBC stumped up £44m to show 60 games-a-season in the re-branded Premier League, a 400% increase on the previous TV deal.

The curve has been upwards ever since. From next season, the clubs will share around £2.7bn and matches will be watched in around 20 countries worldwide.

If the clubs have not looked back, debate continues as to whether all the change has been positive.

Money has inevitably made players and increasingly foreign-owned clubs more remote from their communities and, despite the TV income, the cost of tickets has soared, pricing out many fans.

The intensity of the atmosphere has diminished too, but few would argue that is not a price worth paying for safety.

"But after Hillsborough all stadiums had to be all-seater," said John Aldridge, a member of the Liverpool team at Hillsborough.

"One life is too many, never mind 96, when someone's going to watch a game of football, and they don't come back.

"It has taken the atmosphere away from grounds but that doesn't matter if they are safe."

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Standing terraces replaced by all-seating stadiums and a new focus on safety were among the responses to the Hillsborough tragedy.

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Hillsborough
Crushing
Over-crowding
Fatalities
FA Cup
Liverpool
Nottingham Forest
Sheffield

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South Yorkshire Police
Chief superintendent David Duckenfield
Match commander
Leppings Lane
barriers

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Newspaper
Media coverage
negative stereotypes
Diverting responsibility

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all-seater

terraces

fences

ticketing

turnstiles

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Hillsborough Disaster: How it Happened in 1989

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Hillsborough Survivors remember - Liverpool fans 30 years after the disaster in Sheffield