At that time, many of the football grounds had fences to keep supporters off the pitch. On that fateful occasion, too many people were allowed into one section of the ground. Thousands surged forward to get a better view, and those at the front were pushed up against the fence. The most horrendous thing of all was that there were members of the press, covering the game, on the other side of the fence. They turned around and began to take photographs as fans, young and old, lost their lives. I remember a sequence of pictures on the front cover of one of the tabloids, the following day, showing the gradual death of several young supporters. No one had the presence of mind to call for bolt cutters. Those on the outside could reach through the mesh and touch those who were dying, but could do nothing to prevent the tragedy. After that, the fences came down. It's better to have a game distrupted than to have lives lost.
On the same day, I'd been listening to a game on the radio. Blackburn Rovers (world's greatest football team, but I'm biased) beat Manchester City by four goals to nil. If I remember correctly, Simon Garner, a great character, hit a hat-trick. To go from the euphoria of victory to the horror of senseless loss in the space of a few minutes is something I won't forget. I suppose the moral is that if you treat people like cattle they will probably behave like cattle.
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