Heysel disaster, 29 years ago a tragic day for football

By Can Erozden and Satuk Bugra Kutlugun 

ANKARA

It was the European Cup final, one of football's premier events. Liverpool was the defending champion. Once again the opponent would be the Italian team Juventus. Fans filled the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, perhaps 60,000 of them -- more than 25,000 supporters of each team. 

The air was thick with anticipation. And tension.

Then, an hour before kick-off, Liverpool supporters broke through a fence separating them from fans of their opponents. Many of the Juventus fans fled and wound up pressed against a concrete wall. The stadium was in poor repair, the wall collapsed and 39 people, mostly Juventus fans, were killed. About 600 people were injured.

Twenty-nine years ago Thursday, on May 29, 1985, football experienced one of its worst disasters, one whose effects still reverberate today. In 2004,19 years later, UEFA Chief Executive Lars-Christer Olsson called it  "The darkest hour in the history of the UEFA competitions."

Thirty-two Italian fans of Juventus, along with four Belgians, two French people, one man from Northern Ireland died when wall collapsed.

Despite the incident, the game went on and Juventus won its first European Cup, defeating Liverpool 1-0 thanks to the goal scored on a penalty kick by the French football legend Michel Platini.

After the disaster, all English clubs and England National Football Team were excluded from European challenges for five years. Liverpool was banned from European competition for eight years.

Built in 1930, the stadium was never for a football match again. Instead, it was rebuilt and renamed the "Stade Roi Baudouin" -- King Baudouin Stadium -- for the Euro 2000 competition.

Years later, in 2012 Juventus' star forward Alessandro Del Piero -- now playing for an Australian team Sydney FC -- said he turned down the offer of a transfer to Liverpool out of respect for the 1985 Heysel tragedy. 

On Thursday, Juventus and Liverpool both remembered football's day of shame and shared their thoughts on their official websites.

"The memory of those victims, taken from their loved ones on that tragic night, has remained with us constantly for 29 years," said a statement on Juventus' official website.

"As a mark of respect to those who died, club flags will be flown at half-mast all day, while a floral tribute was placed at the foot of the Heysel Memorial Plaque in the Centenary Stand at Anfield this morning," said Liverpool's statement.

The European ban on English clubs prevented Liverpool from qualifying for the European Cup in 1986, the UEFA Cup in 1987, the European Cup in 1988, the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1989 and the European Cup in 1990.

It is commonly believed that the team that suffered most from UEFA's ban on English football clubs was Liverpool's city rival, Everton. 

Everton won the 1985 European Cup Winners' Cup that season, which was a tournament for national cup winners of European clubs. The "Toffees" claimed a double that season after winning the First Division -- now called Premier League -- as well. 

Because of the ban, Everton was not allowed to play in European challenges for five years, starting from 1986. They were winners of the First Division in 1987, and runners-up in 1985-1986 and 1989-1990 seasons.

During the club's successful years, many players and the coach chose to play in European challenges and left with the team.

Gary Lineker, Everton's renowned striker who won the World Cup Golden Boot prize in the 1986 Mexico finals, was signed by Barcelona in 1986.

Meanwhile, manager Howard Kendall decided to move to Athletic Bilbao after the 1987 First Division triumph.

aa.com.tr/en