GBC wrote:
Here's one from a fan Trevor.
Sums it up nicely I think.
Removes your personal emotion and prejudiced views of authority:
Personally I think you are wrong if you put the "blame" solely down to Duckenfield, SYP and Sheffield City Council.
Taylor's report, like many others who have commented are afraid to apportion any sort of blame to certain groups, IMO. That is not the done thing to do.
I base my views on a few things. At that time I was a keen follower of Villa and yes Hillsborough was a death trap waiting to happen. But likewise so were many grounds of the time. I remember Highbury when we won the league was a crush to get in, being at Highfield Road when there was no escape from Villa fans pushing and trying to force their ways into the fans "pens" that we had to be led into like animals then. A lot of people make comments now that are not based on experiences of that time, but mostly of the sanitised and a lot safer grounds that we now have. The general feeling of Gvmt at that time were that all fans were animals that needed to be caged in with little regard to safety, comfort or any sort of concern. I moved to work in Sheffield the weekend of the disaster and in the weeks that followed stayed in hotels that were also used by Police force etc from many areas that were helping out afterwards. Some of the comments were very clear that they felt problems were caused by, bad policing, lack of organization from council, police but also from the FA and as importantly the attitude of some fans. The pubs around the ground were full of fans as you would expect and the previous times there had been trouble which resulted in some people gaining admission to the ground without tickets. It was seen as a bit of laugh, no one really thought anything as awful would occur. I have friends who were working in a couple of pubs used by some of the fans and they said it was like something out of the OK Coral at times.
Since the disaster there has been a concerted effort by some people to absolve themselves of any sort of blame. You may say that is the police, but I would also include the Gvmt of the time, the FA and also (and the one that certain groups never want to hear) the fans. When all start to realize this things will move forward once and for all.
It was a terrible disaster, not the fault of one man, one group or one instance. It was an awful cocktail of events that resulted in tragedy.
I wonder if he would have written that... knowing what we know today