My Friday evening TV viewing included watching a recording of the 27th Hillsborough Anniversary Service from Anfield, commemorating the day, 15th April 1989, when 96 Liverpool supporters went to a football match and never came home. The passage of time does not dull the pain and in many ways makes it worse.
The fact that the ceremony is largely religious does not for one second detract from this atheist the true meaning of the day. The words of the devout may not mean a great deal to me, but their thoughts and what they actually mean make a lot more sense.
I honestly do not know how the relatives and friends of those taken away have coped since then. Imagine the hurt and upset of 27 years with no closure? This is not only heartbreaking, it’s utterly, morally wrong. We must not pre-empt the outcome of the Hillsborough inquiry but we hope against hope that now the truth is out there that justice will finally prevail.
There was some criticism by a few about the number of times Liverpool fans sang ‘You’ll never walk alone” before and during the epic Europa League quarter final against Dortmund, but that was to miss the point. It should not have required an explanation that the day after the game would fall the final anniversary service at Anfield. This was far more about the 96 than simply supporting a football team. The words really meant something on Thursday night, more than ever. You’ll never walk alone.
The service preceded as usual, with various religious leaders and others making bible readings, but the most powerful contributions came from two very special people, Margaret Aspinall and Trevor Hicks, who have carried the burden of seeking truth and justice for all these years. Honestly, I was in floods during both contributions. They are both ordinary people and yet they are both extraordinary people and if anyone deserves justice, then they do. And if Lynton Crosby can be awarded a knighthood for political spin to the Tory Party, then what honours do they deserve? But they are the sort of people who do not demand or request honours. Seeking the truth is all they have ever tried to do, the most noble thing on earth.
The fight for the truth has been impossibly difficult, not least because of the obstacles placed in the way of those who demanded it. The political establishment, the police and certain sections of the media, like the Sun, did their level best to pretend no one was to blame, except, especially through the cold and heartless Rupert Murdoch’s eyes, the bereaved themselves. Just imagine being told for decades that your family members died and although no one had any idea why, it was obviously all their fault?
It was the dignity of the families that I found most moving and oddly mesmerising. The shock of all those years gone by was still writ large across their faces, like the lines of age. People thrust into a spotlight they never once wanted to be in, living out an unimaginable nightmare. Incredibly strong through the decades, they now looked vulnerable and you could just feel the warm embrace from everyone inside Anfield.
I do not compare one football disaster to another. Hillsborough, Heysel, Bradford, Ibrox – they were all tragic and, it later turned out, avoidable. An on each occasion, people went to a football match and never came home.
Future anniversaries will probably be more private affairs because that is what the families have voted for. In my small way, I send my endless condolences and as much love as I can find in my heart to those people who have suffered for so long.
Soon, it could well be that the families can, finally, move forward, not to forget what happened – that’s not possible – but to allow their loved ones to rest in peace. That, for the last 27 years, is all they ever wanted.
