Saturday, June 25, 2011

Hillsborough Families Reject Return To Terraces

Families of Hillsborough victims rejected any return to standing at football matches.

They spoke out as a public debate about the reintroduction of "safe" standing at football grounds in England went ahead in Liverpool last night.

The meeting was organized by the Football Supporters' Federation (FSF) at The Sandon pub, in Anfield.

The FSF said its proposal would not be a shift back to terracing, with each fan instead given an exact spot to stand behind a galvanized metal bar.

But Margaret Aspinall, chairman of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, who lost her son James, 18, at Hillsborough, said the group would never change its opinion on standing.

She told the ECHO: "I will firmly say our group will not change its opinion. We definitely do not want any form of standing whatsoever at football grounds.

"It is an insult to the memories of the 96 people who lost their lives at Hillsborough. It is like moving 10 steps backwards rather than going forward."

She added: "Are they going to give them a guarantee people will be safe in a standing area?

"With all-seater stadiums, we are 99% certain there will not be another disaster in this country and there has not been one since Hillsborough. Why go backwards with standing?

"The legacy of the Hillsborough disaster is that people are safe in all-seater stadiums. We do not want to go back to the 1980s."

Mrs. Aspinall did not attend the meeting but the HFSG will meet the FSF to discuss its stance in the next few weeks.

FSF chairman Malcolm Clarke said: "This is not an insult to the 96. We are fully committed to the campaign for justice and we hope next year the [government-appointed] panel will reveal the truth of what happened at Hillsborough.

"We can understand the sensitivities in Liverpool. We are not proposing Liverpool, Everton or Tranmere Rovers should do this.

"We are asking for the law to be changed. It would lead to a stand passed by the authorities."

Top-flight grounds saw the conversion of terraces to all seater stadiums following the Lord Justice Taylor report.

The document was produced in light of the 1989 disaster, when 96 Liverpool fans died.

An example of the safe standing area - which is in use at Stuttgart FC's stadium in Germany - was on show in the pub's car park.

The gathering of around 70 people at The Sandon heard the model could not be retro-fitted on to current stadiums.

It was also said that the model would not be suitable for children because of height issues.

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