Yes I do acknowledge that

I have said before i think it was just a hugely catastrophic coming together of circumstances and a catalogue of mistakes by lots of people/organisations. I'm generally a bit uneasy with the blame culture we have these days in the country/world as a whole and the need for individual people to be hauled over the coals although i can of course understand the grieving relatives wanting to see that happen and also wanting to expose the subsequent cover up.

It probably would not have happened if there were no fences. It probably would not have happened were it not for the choice of ground/ends. The stewards on the day under pressure made mistakes. The police clearly made errors, some of which were critical. I'm just not so sure how you apportion blame to any one individual or organisation (although those found to be responsible for the deliberate cover up should be held to account).

What i also struggle to accept is that large numbers of fans turning up close to kick off and clamouring to get in played no part whatsoever in what happened or that some people did not try to get in without tickets. It seems to me that even the slightest suggestion that this was a contributory factor is shouted down but from my own experience of attending football for many years I think its wrong to even acknowledge that this was a factor in the mix that ended up in tragedy. What i will also say though is that had I been attending that match and been stuck outside the turnstyles with 5 minutes to kick off i probably would have been pushing to get in as well. Its what fans did (of some clubs (not just Liverpool) more than others) and often will still do (hence my point it cannot be dismissed as a factor completely) and clearly the authorities should have known this and had the ground/systems/knowhow to cope with it.

Posted By: Jim, Apr 22, 11:53:29