Remembering Hillsborough

"On Monday, I found myself alone in the house reading a copy of The Independent and was confronted by stark, black and white images of young people pinned to those metal fences in pens 2 and 3 in Leppings Lane, gasping for breath, lifted off their feet, unable to stand, unable to move, unable to breathe.Innocent, young, passionate football fans, just like me, there to support their team. Dying in front of me. I stared again at the pictures. I read the stories about the mothers, the sons, the daughters and the fathers. Then, suddenly and spontaneously, I just broke down and cried like a baby."

I've been reading a lot of fans views and memories of Hillsborough in recent weeks and the piece above, although short in length, seems to say it all. I dont remember the days of terracing at all major football stadiums. Infact, i've only actually stood for 90 minutes at 3 games and one of those was only because everyone else was standing on the all-seater kop at Liverpool in 2006. I've seen dvd's, videos and short clips on the internet of games from years gone by where terracing was still in use and the atmosphere always seems to be electric. For that reason only, i'm envious of people that lived through that era.Then i sit and read through fans accounts of April 15th 1989 and then, standing on a concrete terrace, terrified to lose my footing through fear of being trampled to death, doesn't make me jealous, doesn't make me jealous at all...