Heysel Stadium disaster The Heysel Stadium disaster was an event that took place at the 1985 football European Cup final at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium. On May 29, 1985, Liverpool played Juventus in the European Cup final. In a widely criticized move, the Belgian authorities had allocated a section of the ground to neutral fans. This was an idea opposed by Liverpool and Juventus, as it would easily provide an arena for fans of both clubs to obtain tickets from Belgian ticket touts outside the ground and evade the segregation measures. A flimsy wire fence had been erected to segregate the Liverpool fans from the neutral area. A rain of missiles from the Italian fans inside the neutral area fell upon the spectators in the Liverpool section, who charged at and breached the fence. In an attempt to retreat from the advancing English fans, the Juventus fans ran to the far end of the Western End, where a concrete wall blocked their retreat. The huge load and pressure that resulted from the sheer numbers of people gathered proved too much for the wall and eventually it gave way, falling directly upon the trapped Italian fans. 39 people (1 Belgian and 38 Italian) lost their lives. The pitch was then invaded by Italian fans attempting to get at the English. It appeared that one of the Italian fans was firing a gun at the English fans, and it was later revealed to have been a starting pistol. It was felt that to abandon the game would incite further trouble, and the match eventually kicked off. Juventus won 1-0 with a penalty from Michel Platini. There has never been an inquiry into the causes of the disaster. It is widely suspected that the root cause of the disaster was the events of the 1984 final, when Liverpool had played AS Roma in Rome (the venue for the Final was picked months in advance, before it was known who would be playing). They had won the match, but their supporters were attacked afterwards by violent elements of Italian ultras: many others were locked out of hotels and abandoned by their coach drivers who were supposed to be taking them to the airport. The police were reportedly unwilling to help and the Liverpool fans had to seek refuge in the British embassy. This treatment had led to various hooligan firms setting aside their differences for the chance to collectively settle the score with another Italian club, and their presence could easily have combined with poor police tactics and the actions of some of the people in the 'neutral' section of the ground. As a direct result of this event, The Football Association banned English clubs from participating in UEFA competitions for six years. Some believe it was a move to avoid a heavier penalty from UEFA. Since then, Liverpool fans have usually displayed Juventus flags wherever their team plays in memory of the disaster. See also Hooliganism FAVORITE ARTICLES: History of the World    History of the United States    History of Europe    Ancient History    History    Military History    World War I    Bombing of Dresden    California    US Constitution    Frank Sinatra    Boston    Marbury v. Madison This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. You must provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html To view or edit this article at Wikipedia go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heysel_Stadium_disaster