HEYSEL 30 YEARS: THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY

GARETH Roberts told me he had access to accounts and documents around Heysel. He had spoken to a senior lecturer at Manchester University, Geoff Pearson, and Geoff had said we could come over and have a look at everything. We turned up and were surprised by the amount...

HEYSEL 30 YEARS: WE MEET AGAIN

THE tragic story of the Heysel Stadium disaster is a tale which pains any decent Liverpool fan. I flew to Brussels on a charter flight from Speke airport with my dad and his two friends on the morning of May 29th, 1985. I had to employ my keenest negotiating skills to...

HEYSEL 30 YEARS: THE ITALIAN VIEW

I REMEMBER those days like yesterday. That night, my schoolmates and I had to meet at Simone’s house. It had become a sort of custom, as the year before, coming back from a school trip, we had gathered there to watch the European Cup Winners’ cup final Juventus-Porto....

HEYSEL 30 YEARS: OH GOD, WHAT HAVE WE DONE

FOLLOWING the tragedy, there was a full inquiry in Belgium – a parliamentary inquiry that was very damning in its criticism of the Belgian authorities. A Belgian architect also carried out a survey of the stadium shortly after May 29 and his criticism of the condition...

HEYSEL 30 YEARS: WHY DID NO-ONE SEE IT COMING?

THE Heysel Stadium was inspected by Belgian architectural expert Joseph Ange. Called in to assess the state of the stadium which was over 50 years old, he found the terracing “still as it was at the time of its construction”. With the passing of years it was now “in...