Liverpool mayor: Heysel disaster leaves 'indelible stain' on city

The mayor of the Liverpool City Region has spoken of the importance of remembering the causes of the Heysel stadium disaster 40 years on. Steve Rotheram was at the match on 29 May 1985 when 39 people died before the European Cup Final in Brussels. A group of Liverpool fans at Heysel Stadium had charged towards a section housing mostly Juventus supporters, resulting in the collapse of a wall.Mr Rotheram, who was in another part of the stadium at the time, said "for our city it's an indelible stain."
All English clubs were banned from European competitions for five years after the disaster, which alongside those who died saw 600 people injured when the wall collapsed on them.The blame for Heysel was initially laid entirely on Liverpool fans, and 14 were later found guilty of manslaughter and jailed.An investigation did find some culpability lay with the Belgian authorities, and the crumbling state of Heysel Stadium.
Liverpool FC have sent a delegation to Turin for a memorial service, which the mayor welcomed. Mr Rotheram said: "I think it's really important for the club and the people of our city to be represented at the memorial service."And for everyone to remember how the event that caused the loss of life was allowed to develop by really poor policing, and a terrible stadium, and lots of problems with organisation. "But also the part that Liverpool fans played in that, and the fact that some of those people were later jailed for the part they played in that."A new memorial plaque was unveiled by Liverpool FC in recent days, the location of which has not yet been announced. It will replace the existing memorial plaque in the Sir Kenny Dalglish Stand.
Jonathan Bamber, Liverpool's chief legal and external affairs officer, said the club "wanted to take the opportunity to provide something more meaningful"."It's always a difficult topic for us as a football club but it's also something that we don't want to shy away from," he said."Hopefully it's a fitting and lasting tribute to those who lost their lives."
'Darkest nights'
Mark Platt, museum curator and club historian, was initially planning to travel to the game with his father but he ended up watching it on the television instead."It was a nightmare. I was only 12 years of age at the time," he said."You couldn't really believe what was happening. You couldn't comprehend what you were seeing."He added the tragedy was "one of the darkest nights in the club's history" but said "40 years on, we've never forgotten Heysel".Mr Platt said the new memorial, which will feature two scarves knotted together, would be "more visible".Keith Watson, who designed the memorial, said it was a "simple design" based on their research."On the terraces, we saw two scarves – one from Juventus and one from Liverpool," he said."That gave us the idea to pull the design together as 'forever bound' to signify the unity, the collaboration, the reconciliation that has taken place between the two clubs."
Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Metro

2 hours ago

• Metro

Jurgen Klopp sends message to Florian Wirtz after record Liverpool move

Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool have signed an 'exceptional talent' in club record signing Florian Writz. Wirtz, 22, was officially unveiled as a Liverpool player on Friday night having completed his £116million move from Bayer Leverkusen. Including add-ons, that fee will make him the most expensive signing in Premier League history, dwarfing Liverpool's previous record fee of £85m, spent on Darwin Nunez two years ago. Despite the considerable outlay, Wirtz is regarded as one of the best young talents in European football, coveted by Manchester City and Real Madrid before deciding on a move to Merseyside. Klopp, who stepped down as Liverpool boss at the end of the 2023-24 season having since taken up a new role at Red Bull GmbH, is convinced his old side have landed a winner. Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro's Football Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link we'll send you so we can get football news tailored to you. 'It will be really, really great, I'm sure of it,' Klopp told RTL/ntv. Having won the Premier League title at a canter, Liverpool have avoided the mistake of standing still in the transfer market. While they lost Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid, the Reds moved quickly to bring in a replacement in Jeremie Frimpong. Milos Kerkez meanwhile is expected to arrive from Bournemouth as Andy Robertson's replacement at left-back. 'It's very difficult to strengthen them when you're champions,' Klopp continued. 'But Liverpool have managed that. They've signed an exceptional talent in Florian Wirtz . 'I'm looking forward to seeing it. It's going to be good.' More Trending Writz was admired by City who at one point viewed him as a long-term successor for Kevin de Bruyne while Xabi Alonso was interested in bringing him along from Leverkusen to Real Madrid. 'I just thought that it was the right point in my career to make the next step and of course I wanted to get to a club that is from the top three in the world, and in my opinion Liverpool was one of them,' Wirtz said, explaining his decision to head to Anfield. 'Yeah, I just saw myself in the best hands in Liverpool. 'I was really convinced by the people here, by the idea, and everything what the club offers me was really good. And in the end [it was] also easy to be excited for me to come to Liverpool.' MORE: Marcus Rashford speaks out on Barcelona transfer ahead of potential Manchester United return MORE: Andre Onana responds after Monaco approach Manchester United goalkeeper MORE: Jadon Sancho decides transfer 'priority' as Manchester United receive new approach

The Sun

3 hours ago

• The Sun

Transfer news LIVE: Rashford WANTS Barcelona, Nuno Espirito Santo signs new deal at Forest, Liverpool eye Guehi

THE thrills and spills of the summer transfer window are well underway with some huge deals in the pipeline. Man Utd outcast Marucs Rashford has revealed his desire to join Barcelona this summer. Liverpool are looking to build on their £116million signing of Florian Wirtz by adding Crystal Palace's Marc Guehi to their backline. In other news, Nuno Espirito Santo has signed a new deal at Nottingham Forest. Elsewhere, Tottenham are reportedly interested in a move for Antoine Semenyo.

Daily Mirror

3 hours ago

• Daily Mirror

Marc Guehi 'decides between Arsenal and Liverpool transfer' with bid imminent

Arsenal and Liverpool are both admirers of Marc Guehi but it is the newly minted Premier League champions who are favourites to land the sought-after Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi is said to be prepared to turn down a move to Arsenal if they come calling this summer due to concerns over game time, potentially paving the way for Liverpool to land the sought-after Crystal Palace star. Guehi, 24, is hot property this summer as he prepares to enter the final 12 months of his contract at Selhurst Park. And the England star has no shortage of admirers among the Premier League's elite who are ready to pounce if Palace are willing to do business. ‌ Arsenal and Newcastle have been heavily linked with Guehi this summer, the latter of whom tried to prise the centre half away from Palace last year. ‌ But it is Liverpool who have now emerged as the favourites to land Guehi as they prepare to sanction the £35million sale of Jarell Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen. The Sun have claimed that Guehi wants assurances that he would play regularly with one eye on next year's World Cup. And that's something Arsenal may struggle to give him given Gabriel and William Saliba have struck up a formidable partnership in defence. Gabriel has just signed a new contract until 2029 and Arsenal are keen to lock down Saliba to fresh terms, too, given how highly they rate both stars. And that would theoretically open the door for Liverpool to beat off competition to land Guehi in the coming weeks. The champions are on the lookout for another central defender with Quansah on the verge of moving to Germany and, although he would have to compete with Ibrahima Konate for a starting spot alongside Virgil van Dijk, the report indicates Guehi would seemingly favour a move to Anfield over other suitors. ‌ Mirror Football outlined on Friday that Palace are expecting Liverpool to submit a formal offer for Guehi imminently as talks over Quansah's exit advance. Palace have already identified Ousmane Diomande of Sporting Lisbon as Guehi's replacement and talks over a deal for the highly-rated centre-back are already underway. The Ivory Coast international, 21, is understood to have a £68million release in his contract. But while the Eagles are prepared to smash their transfer record to land Diomande, they will not pay a sum that high with further talks expected in the coming days.