flecky76 0 Posted September 15, 2012 As we''ve seen and heard the truth this week of what happened back in 1989, one of the very many shocking revelations that has been revealed was that the FA chose Hillsborough as a semi final venue despite nt having a safety certificate. As we all know, only 2 semifinals have been played there since that fatal day, with ourselves being the first just 3 years after the disaster. We occupied that very Leppings Lane end that day. My question therefore is, having known what had happened just 3 years prior and all with no safety certificate, did the FA ensure a safety certificate was indeed in place before our semi final? The long and short of it is that I sincerely hope that our safety was not compromised on that day. Had this vital lesson been learnt.Now I do know that a fair amount of work was carried out on the Leppings Lane stand in the 3 years between. Seats were installed on the end terrace between each touch line and the turnstile area was upgraded. But it''s worth pointing out that, apart from a few other minor alterations, this was about it. The stand still exists to this day not entirely different to 23 years ago. Also importantly, the north west corner terracing still existed in 1992 as a standing terrace, fully occupied by NCFC on the day.So there may be a very simple answer to put my mind at rest, but having read what has come to light this week, I would like to be sure that our safety was not compromised by the FA on that day 20 years ago, having known about the lack of a safety certificate 3 years prior. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Norfolk Mustard 106 Posted September 15, 2012 The whole subject seems such a mess; yet when it comes to future matters of life and death it shouldn''t be. I remember going to the Sunderland vs Norwich game (we simply didn''t turn up that day) and drove home really disappointed. I do wonder whether that non-performance was due to some kind of psychological hangover? The whole thing was so lack-lustre. I was also at Villa Park 3 years’ earlier watching Norwich vs Everton on the day of the Hillsborough disaster. With 2 semi-final tickets burning a hole in pocket I remember discharging myself from the N&N hospital early that morning missing a doctors ward visit to ensure I was able to drive to the midlands and make that kick-off. The night before I had been injected with purple dye in a lumbar puncture procedure to identify a prolapsed disc ahead of a back operation following a fall from a ladder. I should have gone home to rest that day - certainly not drive a lengthy round trip to a footie game miles away! The things we do to support the team eh? Looking back, I can’t remember thinking a great deal about crowd safety at all the day at Sheffield in ’92. Seems a bit uncaring on my part given what happened. Through my training and development work I’ve since interviewed and worked with a few South Yorkshire police staff who were traumatised by the events that day. I certainly have rather different views nowadays! I’ve been back to Hillsborough a couple of times since ’92 – the old ground seems a bit haunted to me now – a bit of a spooky graveyard. Thank goodness the last thing I saw there was Hucks & Dion playing their final games for our club. Never seen an entire ground home & away stand up and applaud one player like they did for Dion that day – a much happier memory of the place… PS: Last night I scanned the Hillsborough thread on this forum and took the time to read Karl Pilkington’s post which shows this link from an Ipswich fan who attended the game with some student mates in the Liverpool end – it’s a real ‘I was there’ account...http://bluelagosontour.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/23-years-ago.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kdncfc 28 Posted September 15, 2012 [quote user="Norfolk Mustard"]The whole subject seems such a mess; yet when it comes to future matters of life and death it shouldn''t be. I remember going to the Sunderland vs Norwich game (we simply didn''t turn up that day) and drove home really disappointed. I do wonder whether that non-performance was due to some kind of psychological hangover? The whole thing was so lack-lustre. I was also at Villa Park 3 years’ earlier watching Norwich vs Everton on the day of the Hillsborough disaster. With 2 semi-final tickets burning a hole in pocket I remember discharging myself from the N&N hospital early that morning missing a doctors ward visit to ensure I was able to drive to the midlands and make that kick-off. The night before I had been injected with purple dye in a lumbar puncture procedure to identify a prolapsed disc ahead of a back operation following a fall from a ladder. I should have gone home to rest that day - certainly not drive a lengthy round trip to a footie game miles away! The things we do to support the team eh? Looking back, I can’t remember thinking a great deal about crowd safety at all the day at Sheffield in ’92. Seems a bit uncaring on my part given what happened. Through my training and development work I’ve since interviewed and worked with a few South Yorkshire police staff who were traumatised by the events that day. I certainly have rather different views nowadays! I’ve been back to Hillsborough a couple of times since ’92 – the old ground seems a bit haunted to me now – a bit of a spooky graveyard. Thank goodness the last thing I saw there was Hucks & Dion playing their final games for our club. Never seen an entire ground home & away stand up and applaud one player like they did for Dion that day – a much happier memory of the place… PS: Last night I scanned the Hillsborough thread on this forum and took the time to read Karl Pilkington’s post which shows this link from an Ipswich fan who attended the game with some student mates in the Liverpool end – it’s a real ‘I was there’ account...http://bluelagosontour.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/23-years-ago.html[/quote]You deserve a medal for going there with a slipped disc Mustard - had one myself about 6 years ago and it was an absolute nightmare. I remember going to see us play PNE at the start of the 2006 -7 season and it took me about half an hour to walk from Thorpe Road to the ground and I was in agony all the way.Thankfully didn''t go to the Sunderland semi final as I couldn''t afford it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tetteys Jig 851 Posted September 15, 2012 Very good post, I have known little about the disaster given that I was just 1 at the time, i''m glad i am in an age now where i can go and watch the football and not worry about this sort of thing happening again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
