Safety in numbers
February 23rd 2010 17:44
After catching the Leeds score while stuck in the Atacama Desert I was bursting to have butcher’s at Exeweb and get the full story behind the monumental victory.
I was more than a little taken aback to see the top three threads on The Word on Well Street talking about a crush in the away end. It seems a group of stubborn fans refused to leave their perch behind the goal.
The video on YouTube of fans being helped over the advertising hoardings brought to mind some of the worse scenes ever to be witnessed in the English game.
Bradford, Heysel and Hillsborough put safety squarely as the number one concern at football grounds in England. The trio of catastrophes will always be mentioned when there is even the slightest threat to the wellbeing of a football crowd in England.
The Taylor Report reshaped the experience of watching football in England. Despite being a firm fan of standing I can see how the rules and regulations make watching football a far more inclusive and safe pursuit.
In 1968 Argentina suffered its own disaster to rank with any of the tragedies the English game had suffered. On a day in late June the country’s two biggest clubs met to contest El Superclasico. A scoreless draw between River Plate and Boca Juniors threatened to render the game as instantly forgettable. A crush at the final whistle however meant the game would live on in the memory of those present for a lifetime.
71 football fans lost their lives that day, the average age of the supporters was just 20.
With the country being under a military dictatorship at the time no public investigation was carried out. The only change that was made to the stadium was purely cosmetic. The tragedy occurred at La Puerta 12 (Gate 12) and after the deaths the name was changed to La Puerta L.
“In Argentina, we live in a society with little memory. They changed the numbers into letters so that people don’t think about La Puerta 12 or remember that 71 people that died there.” Pablo Tesoriere, an Argentine film-maker who produced the documentary La Puerta 12, says.
The testimonies of the survivors, witnesses and officials have so far failed to nailed the definite cause of the events. Theories range from someone forgetting to open the gate, turnstiles blocking the exit, police pushing people back into the stadium and also the official line of too many fans rushing to leave at the same time.
Pablo Tesoriere highlights what he sees as the main difference between the events at River Plate’s El Monumental stadium and those which took place at Hillsborough.
“After the similar tragedy in England, there was a full investigation. They changed the policies for entering and exiting the stadiums and the system of police control at matches. Measures were taken so that this would never happen again.” Tesoriere explains.
If you go along to River Plate’s El Monumental this season you will find things have changed very little in the years following the deaths of 71 football fans.
“If you go to watch a game at River today, you will live the same scenario when you leave the stadium. The crush, exiting in darkness, the problems with the police. It’s practically the same and it’s pure luck that we haven’t had another tragedy.” Tesoriere adds.
In was only for the 40th anniversary of the tragedy that a memorial plaque was eventually placed on the site.
Up the City!
Tim
Really Long Link
I was more than a little taken aback to see the top three threads on The Word on Well Street talking about a crush in the away end. It seems a group of stubborn fans refused to leave their perch behind the goal.
The video on YouTube of fans being helped over the advertising hoardings brought to mind some of the worse scenes ever to be witnessed in the English game.
Bradford, Heysel and Hillsborough put safety squarely as the number one concern at football grounds in England. The trio of catastrophes will always be mentioned when there is even the slightest threat to the wellbeing of a football crowd in England.
The Taylor Report reshaped the experience of watching football in England. Despite being a firm fan of standing I can see how the rules and regulations make watching football a far more inclusive and safe pursuit.
In 1968 Argentina suffered its own disaster to rank with any of the tragedies the English game had suffered. On a day in late June the country’s two biggest clubs met to contest El Superclasico. A scoreless draw between River Plate and Boca Juniors threatened to render the game as instantly forgettable. A crush at the final whistle however meant the game would live on in the memory of those present for a lifetime.
71 football fans lost their lives that day, the average age of the supporters was just 20.
With the country being under a military dictatorship at the time no public investigation was carried out. The only change that was made to the stadium was purely cosmetic. The tragedy occurred at La Puerta 12 (Gate 12) and after the deaths the name was changed to La Puerta L.
“In Argentina, we live in a society with little memory. They changed the numbers into letters so that people don’t think about La Puerta 12 or remember that 71 people that died there.” Pablo Tesoriere, an Argentine film-maker who produced the documentary La Puerta 12, says.
The testimonies of the survivors, witnesses and officials have so far failed to nailed the definite cause of the events. Theories range from someone forgetting to open the gate, turnstiles blocking the exit, police pushing people back into the stadium and also the official line of too many fans rushing to leave at the same time.
Pablo Tesoriere highlights what he sees as the main difference between the events at River Plate’s El Monumental stadium and those which took place at Hillsborough.
“After the similar tragedy in England, there was a full investigation. They changed the policies for entering and exiting the stadiums and the system of police control at matches. Measures were taken so that this would never happen again.” Tesoriere explains.
If you go along to River Plate’s El Monumental this season you will find things have changed very little in the years following the deaths of 71 football fans.
“If you go to watch a game at River today, you will live the same scenario when you leave the stadium. The crush, exiting in darkness, the problems with the police. It’s practically the same and it’s pure luck that we haven’t had another tragedy.” Tesoriere adds.
In was only for the 40th anniversary of the tragedy that a memorial plaque was eventually placed on the site.
Up the City!
Tim
Really Long Link
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