Random footie

[budgetmeansbudget]

We wont win it by 5050.

Probably won't be any room left on the planet to have green spaces like football pitches. Probably be a virtual world cup with holographic images on super screens and played by people's minds.

More likely the human race will have died out or destroyed itself in any case.

[Aidan11]

The jury in the Hillsborough Disaster enquiry have ruled that the fans were unlawfully killed.

[Gingerfinch]

The jury in the Hillsborough Disaster enquiry have ruled that the fans were unlawfully killed.

What now?

[Aidan11]

The jury in the Hillsborough Disaster enquiry have ruled that the fans were unlawfully killed.

What now?

Probably a major police cover up again so that the guilty parties are never brought to justice.


Wonder what Kelvin McKenzie is thinking now.

[sussexpob]

Its actually a significant moment for those families and friends who lost loved ones. For the first time ever a court finally concluded that it wasnt the fans to blame, and that the police contributed to the disaster occurring with major errors. After decades of being blamed for poor behaviour, this is a breakthrough for those fans who have been blamed for a long time for contributing and creating the disaster.

I think its time to leave it there though. I celebrate the need for a court to decide it was a piss poor job by the police, but to prosecute a policeman on the 2016 standard of crowd control for actions in 1989 is not ethical or equitable.

Mistakes were made, but it was Hillsbrough that changed the book on crowd control. I dont think any policeman with adequate care or training would ever have opened those gates to the surging crowd. They werent trained to do so, to see the impact.

Hillsbrough's legacy is never lost. It never happened again in the UK and probably never will due to the same causes. That for me is the best epitaph you could ever give to those that died, no longer would fans at sporting events be treated like animals and put in cages.

More than any policeman, it was Thatchers "war" against football that contributed to this disaster, but if people want blood then the poor sod in charge on the day will get the blame despite having no realisation of how to deal with the situation.

[budgetmeansbudget]

I would imagine that David Duckenfield will have to face charges at some point. I expect the man is pretty broken, and as you say had bugger all experience of managing football crowds and probably had Heysel in the back of his mind when he was making critical decisions.

[sussexpob]

Well the cover up is a different kettle of fish. For that, someone can pay

[budgetmeansbudget]

I was referring to him being found guilty of gross negligence, but there is the matter of the lies and cover ups to consider as well.

Gawd knows how they deal with all of that as there must have been alot of people involved, and supposedly it was something that happened alot back in the day.

I grew up in a time when football violence was the norm, and my initial views on the Hillsborough tragedy were guided by my experiences face to face as well as from the media reports.

[sussexpob]

I think that was why it was a convincing cover up for nearly 30 years, Budget. People die at a football ground in the late 80s, and obviously the assumption was it was a problem with violence or rowdy behaviour. Wouldnt have taken much to convince most people. They didnt need to do much to sell the lie, its just in this case they ran into a huge footballing and social community that refused to be blamed for it and fought for 27 years for justice.

I was referring to him being found guilty of gross negligence, but there is the matter of the lies and cover ups to consider as well.

I wasnt aware he has been found guilty of anything, I just knew that he spoke out about the truth and cover up for the first time a couple of years ago, as he says he was tortured by the memory of it.

[budgetmeansbudget]

Guilty is probably the wrong word, I was referring to the inquest jury deciding that his actions amounted to gross negligence due to a breach of his duty of care to fans.

I expect he will have to answer that charge in another courtroom, although as you suggest there were mitigating circumstances in that he was way out of his depth at the time.

[sussexpob]

Can he be tried again? They tried a long time ago by way of private prosecution being brought against him, and the jury could never decide on a verdict. It would take years to get him in the doc, if ever

[budgetmeansbudget]

I understand the CPS, in the wake of this inquest judgement, are looking into criminal proceedings again. I guess there will be plenty of pressure put on them to do so.

As you say they have to get past a previous decision which said he couldn't be tried for this matter again. He may well die before they ever get him back in the dock.

I believe he used to live down here in Ferndown, not sure if he still does.

[Aidan11]

I see every paper bar two but one had the Hillsborough verdict on its front page.


The Times was one of them but no surprises for guessing the other one.

[Gingerfinch]

I see every paper bar two but one had the Hillsborough verdict on its front page.


The Times was one of them but no surprises for guessing the other one.

Keeping their head down.

[budgetmeansbudget]

I see every paper bar two but one had the Hillsborough verdict on its front page.


The Times was one of them but no surprises for guessing the other one.

I think it made sense for the sun and the times to keep it to inside pages, wouldn't have been appropriate to come out with a front page headline after everything that went on before.

Don't think the mail had it front page either.