Hillsborough At 25: A Town United

((HT: SkySports))

It is the 25th anniversary of one of the most tragic events in the history of sport- the Hillsborough disaster. There was

a memorial service (pictured right, thanks Huffington Post UK) at Anfield to mark the day and there was a sight to see... Everton and Liverpool, blue and red, inside the Liverpool ground remembering as one...

And for someone who has only been blue for a year, Everton manager Roberto Martinez was a passioned man...


Here's the set-up ahead of time...
((HT: BBC))


And from Sky Sports...


To remind us all about how things should have never gotten out of control, here's the BBC's "Panorama" on the cover-up


Never forget... and that just goes to the rest of us who just watch and relate- those who are intimately involved deserve justice on an infinite scale...

OSG Prem: Liverpool Wins Emotional Day At Anfield, Inches Closer To Title

((HT: BPL on NBC/BBC Sport))

It was one of those days...

With all the emotion of the Hillsborough anniversary coming Tuesday, Anfield was all behind the Reds- starting pre-game


And you thought, that if the script writers had their say, it would be a day that Liverpool fans would remember for a lot of reasons- a win that would get them that much closer to a Premier League title for the first time in almost a quarter-century... all that stuff that brings emotion with it...

It did... with an unlikely source for the back-and-forth, 3-2 win


And the emotion afterwards was all over the captain's face...


For those of you not aware, the captain lost his 10-year-old cousin at Hillsborough. Daniel Taylor of the Observer newspaper penned a piece in 2012 about how Gerrard carries the crush of the disaster deep inside and still hadn't read the independent panel's report from that year:

"The basic details are enough: that it was a cover-up, an orchestrated smear campaign that goes to the top of the country and constitutes a scandal of the worst form. He knows now – and this is the first point at which he lowers his eyes and his voice trails off – that South Yorkshire police tested Jon-Paul and all the other corpses for alcohol levels. But the rest? He is frightened what else he might find out. "That's the reason why I don't want to read it. It's too difficult, for my family and all the families. It's all over the papers, all over the TV. It brings it all back."

Tuesday will bring back a lot of memories, but hopefully, some hope along with it since the new inquiry may yield the answers the families are searching for...

The HQ can only hope...

Hillsborough 2014 Inquests Begin

((HT: BBC))

Lord Justice Goldring, in charge of the new Hillsborough inquests, has instructed his jury that no Liverpool fan of the 96 who died in 1989 are to be blamed for their deaths.

The jury heard police accounts of what happened that day were changed with critical comments about police leadership and fans changed. Police officers also had questions that were omitted when they were Xeroxed and sent for analysis later that year and into the 1990's.

South Yorkshire police officers had been asked to write their own accounts of what happened as part of the investigation. Senior officers and lawyers for the force altered some of the statements before they were passed to West Midlands Police, which was investigating the tragedy. Although, West Midlands did not pursue most of the omissions that they apparently new existed in the photocopies they received

Here's the story from outside...


The jury of 7 women and 4 men will have to decide if the amended statements they will be going over have any weight in allaying any initial malpractice or lack of a performance of police duties...

New Hillsborough Inquests Underway At Liverpool

((HT: Sky Sports))

For those of you unfamiliar, it was one of the darkest days in all of football...

96 fans lost their lives and another 766 people were injured after a crush in an enclosed and overcrowded terrace at Sheffield Wednesday's stadium on April 15, 1989. This happened during the FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest...

Here's how ITV News covered the disaster


In some of the most shameful cover-ups ever, it was discovered by the Hillsborough Independent Panel in September 2012 that no Liverpool fans were responsible for the deaths. Attempts had been made by local police authorities to conceal what happened- including the changing the content of 116 witness statements relating to the disaster.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, the Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police- David Crompton, Football Association Chairman- David Bernstein, and Kelvin MacKenzie, then-editor of The Sun newspaper, all apologized at the time.

Here's how BBC's "Panorama" program covered all the shenanigans...


In September 2012, the Panel concluded that up to 41 of the 96 fatalities might have been avoided had they received prompt medical treatment.

A new series of inquests were ordered in December 2012 when the High Court set aside the original death verdicts. The proceedings are expected to last up to 12 months as families hope they finally get the answers they have been chasing for a quarter-century.

The Ministry of Justice has built the biggest courtroom in England and Wales in an office building near the town of Warrington, to host them. A jury will hear the evidence and will be asked to decide on the verdict- an unusual step in inquests like these.

OSG Prem: Liverpool's Suarez Fined For Biting (UPDATED: 10-Match Ban)

Liverpool's Luis Suarez now is the Premier League leader in biting with two...

He had done it once before when he was a player at Ajax...
Suarez was given a seven match ban for his teething...

Over the weekend, he pulled the same stunt against Chelsea's Ivanovic...
((HT: SkySports))


"For my unacceptable behavior yesterday, the club has fined me today," Suarez wrote on his Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Suarez said he wants the undisclosed sum to be donated to families affected by the 1989 Hillsborough Stadium disaster, which killed 96 Liverpool fans. This past weekend was the anniversary of the tragedy, so Suarez's timing wasn't the best...

Ever...

He still could face a long ban from the Football Association for his munching, but surprisingly, the team isn't budging on their thoughts on his future.

"It affects his future in the sense that we have to work with him on his discipline, but Luis is a very important player to the club," Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre said. "He's a very popular player with his teammates. As we keep saying, he signed a new four-year contract last summer, and we'd all love to see him here throughout that contract.

"He's a fantastic player, top scorer and everything we'd want in a striker, so there's no change there. This is more about getting him back on the right track."

The Professional Footballers' Association (the player's union) has offered the services of counselors. Adidas, Suarez's sponsor, released a statement:

"Adidas takes this type of incident very seriously and does not condone Luis Suarez's behaviour. We will be reminding him of the standards we expect from our players. Luis has admitted his actions were unacceptable and we support the way Liverpool are planning to handle the situation."

WEDNESDAY UPDATE: The FA has given Suarez a 10-match ban...

The ban begins immediately, so Suarez is done for the rest of the regular season. He has until midday on Friday to appeal the additional seven-match suspension.

Liverpool's managing director, Ian Ayre, told Sky Sports: "Both the club and player are shocked and disappointed at the severity of today's Independent Regulatory Commission decision.

"We await the written reasons tomorrow (Thursday) before making any further comment."

OSG Prem: Everton Denied Win By Lack Of Goal Line Technology

((HT: FoxSports))

On a day where the Merseyside united as one, a lack of goal line technology screwed Everton out of an easy win against Newcastle.

The Magpies, surprisingly, sat Demba Ba from their starting 11, but he would come back to pay for that decision over and over again.

But more on that later...

The night started with a fitting tribute for the 96 Liverpool supporters who lost their lives at Hillsborough. This past week, it was determined by an independent inquiry that the South Yorkshire Police were at fault on multiple levels for the overcrowding and lack of personal care for victims whose lives could have been saved.

Everton made a point to have a tribute involving a ball boy and girl and a video presentation involving the song "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother."

That was the only part of the evening where everyone agreed with sentiment. Goals by Fellaini and Anichebe were disallowed- one on a questionable offsides call and one because the side official failed to see the other the cross the goal line- which it clearly did.

Here's the highlights...


Toffees boss David Moyes was blunt: "I think it's a difficult call for them but if you're the linesman you're on the line and you'd hope you'd see if the ball went over the line.

"That's their job. He's looking right along so you'd hope he would see it."

So, where's that goal line technology again...???

British PM Issues Apology For 1989 Hillsborough Incident

The Prime Minister of Great Britain, David Cameron, has issued an apology after the findings of a new inquiry has been released detailing the April 15th, 1989 incident at Hillsborough, England. 96 Liverpool fans died in the crush of spectators in the 6th minute of play as the one end that housed Liverpool fans became overcrowded.

The inquiry revealed that: "It is evident from analysis of the various investigations that from the outset South Yorkshire Police sought to deflect responsibility for the disaster on to Liverpool fans."

The report also found that 116 of the 164 police statements identified for "substantive amendment" were "amended to remove or alter comments unfavourable to SYP (South Yorkshire Police)"

Here's the PM in House with some of the information of the cover-up...
((HT: BBC))


Here was coverage of the incident as it happened...


It was disclosed that 41 of the 96 who died could have been saved had attention been given to them in a timely manner.

One of the more interesting allegations brought forth in the report, as published by Sky Sports in the FA Cup semi-final with Liverpool and Nottingham Forest:

The panel said the Police Federation, "supported informally by the SYP Chief Constable" sought to develop and publicise a version of events derived in police officers' allegations of drunkenness, ticketless fans and violence.

"The vast majority of fans on the pitch assisted in rescuing and evaluating the injured and the dead," the panel said.

The next stage is to figure out whether or not the 96 and their families will have the opportunity for any kind of legal action once they get the chance to look at the thousands of documents released from the new inquiry...