OT: Results of the Hillsborough Soccer Tragedy Inquest Reached

On April 15, 1989, the deadliest sporting event in British history occurred. A soccer match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest took place on the neutral site at Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield, England. 96 men, women, and children were trampled to death, and more than 766 were injured, several seriously, during the game.

At the time, British soccer was characterized by loud, drunk fans known for their hooliganism and attempts to start fights with rival teams' fans. To combat this, and prevent fans from mixing during the games, sections of the stadiums were divided by steel fences, and the areas became known as "pens", with only one way in and one way out.

Anticipation for the semi-final match was high, and fans traveled from afar to attend the event. As crowds gradually grew outside the old, decrepit stadium, police, who were understaffed and unprepared, became concerned for the safety of the fans. 

Police Superintendent David Duckenfield, assigned in charge for his first match, made the fateful decision to open up only one of 23 gates to the stadium, Gate C, an exit gate, in order to ease the crowding. Fans in the back of the line could only see signs in a dark tunnel ahead which were marked above with the sign "standing" to the stadium, not knowing that those in front of them were being trampled, until it was too late.

Besides the poor decisionmaking, most police literally took very little action after the crush happened, and can be seen standing idly on the pitch, preventing fans and eventually emergency services from attending to the injured. There were no emergency plans that were place. If they had taken immediate action, it was determined that nearly half of the eventual deceased could have been saved.

British officials deflected all responsibility to the victims, covering up the incident, and blaming the event on drunk hooliganism. Blood samples were drawn on all the dead, including the 10 year old. The spouses, significant others, and parents not only had to suffer the loss of their loved ones, but also deal with blame that the victims were responsible for their own demise.

Today, an official inquest reached a verdict, that the incident involved "unlawful killings", which opens to the door to manslaughter charges being filed against Duckenfield.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/26/football/hillsborough-disaster-liverpool-trevor-hicks-jenni-hicks/index.html

As a father of two young daughters, I can not imagine the horrific pain Trevor and Jenni Hicks, who also attended the game, must still feel, watching their two daughters being crushed and knowing they could do nothing about it.

I highly recommend watching the 30 for 30 Soccer Stories on Hillsborough co-produced by ESPN and the BBC.

On a side note, on this day, I was knee deep in finals my senior year at Michigan when the event happened, and have no recollection at all of the event.