Stumbled across this on a Celtic forum and thought it was great so I posted it. Apologise if it's been covered before.
Justice for the 96
….say a prayer for those football fans who went to support their team and never came home. April 15th is the 19th anniversary of the Hillsborough Disaster when 96 Liverpool fans, young and old, died so tragically. Anyone who attended football matches throughout this era will know that it could have been any of us at nearly any ground.
One of the greatest pleasures of being a Celtic supporter is the people you meet and the friends you make along the way. Some of whom become lifetime soul mates whilst others may be casual acquaintances you share a pint with as you dissect every minute of the season so far. The guys from the Hillsborough Justice Campaign are the former and one of the highlights of last season for the Jungle Bhoys was meeting up with this sound group of Liverpool fans who have campaigned long and hard to get Justice for the 96, the Liverpool fans who died so tragically supporting their team in 1989.
The Jungle Bhoys first became involved after the Liverpool fans set up a card display to highlight the cause for justice with the famous Kop holding up cards which spelled out “THE TRUTH”. They also kept up a constant chant of “Justice for the 96” for the first 6 minutes of the match. A thread on
www.kerrydalestreet.com highlighted the campaign and put forward the suggestion that a banner should be made to show our solidarity with the campaign.
The JBs agreed this was a just cause and immediately went about setting up a Paypal account to take donations and designing a fitting tribute. The money soon came in from like-minded fans across not only the Celtic support, but the Liverpool support too, including a magnificent gesture by the Irregulars LFC supporters bus who organised a whip round on their bus coming home from an already expensive away day at Watford and raised over £200 for the cause.
A 26 foot digitally printed banner was made and was unveiled at the Old Firm game at Celtic Park on October 2006. The objective was to raise awareness of the campaign in Scotland and further afield as well as to show our solidarity for the campaign by presenting the banner to the Liverpool support at a convenient date.
The plan was to take a minibus down to a game before the end of the season and hand over the banner to the Hillsborough Justice Campaign who we had been in constant touch with every step of the way and had built up a special relationship with. Ste had lost his brother who he had travelled with to the tragedy and along with Murph had been instrumental in ensuring these guys would never be forgotten. Both Ste and Murph are also mad Celtic fans.
Imagine our surprise when we heard from the HJC that Liverpool FC had invited six Celtic supporters down to their match against PSV in the Champions League and that the banner could be presented at half time to the Kop with the Celtic supporters carrying the banner the full length of the pitch, before handing it over to the Kop. There was little time to get organised so we decided the best way to split the six tickets was to ensure two representatives from the Jungle Bhoys, two from Kerrydale Street, who had initiated the idea and two from Celtic Minded who had fully supported the initiative and got right behind it from the start.
Juggling work and family commitments, a car load left Glasgow straight from work on the day of the match, returning straight after the game, with another flying in from Dublin for this special occasion. Badgeman from the JBs and Carcus from Celtic Minded kept everyone entertained on the way down, with their general sh*te talking (oh the power of the pen!) and the Badger’s downloading of Sat Nav on to his mobile phone proved a masterstroke as we made it to Liverpool just in time for the game. It was certainly a less eventful trip than the one just a few days later when yours truly managed to make about 200 attempts before finding the right exit at the big junction just before Aintree.
On arrival at Anfield we made a beeline for the HJC shop just behind the Kop to meet with the guys for the first time, then we all headed to the memorial at the opposite end of the ground to pay our respects and to add our Celtic scarves to the tribute. The first thing that hit us was the raw emotion that was still so evident 18 years on. Lots of people were crowded around the memorial in the narrow streets around Anfield and many were holding each other tightly as they looked at the names and wept openly and uncontrollably. It was a truly emotional sight and one which as a Celtic supporter I found it impossible to comprehend ever happening to our support. We as a support have suffered tragedy throughout our history which has united us in grief, in particular the tragic death of John Thomson and more recently when Jinky passed away but how would we react to 96 of our own dying inside a ground as we support our beloved team?
Even the thought is enough to send a shiver down the spine and underline the old adage “There but for the grace of God go I”. That is the very reason everyone, especially all football supporters, should get behind this campaign. This could have happened to any one of us as we looked at the names on the memorial, some from the same family.
As we stood with eyes transfixed Ste said something that will live with me forever “When you see names on the monument I see bodies”. Ste, of course, had to identify his brother’s body amongst the body bags laid out in the gym floor as the full extent of the tragedy unfurled.
To the match itself, and their was a very strange feeling, sitting in the best seats in the house, which Liverpool had so generously provided, wearing our Celtic gear in amongst the Liverpool support, who must have wondered what was going on with this mini invasion. Liverpool were already a goal up from the home leg so the atmosphere would be subdued we were told but we were surprised and very impressed by the singing and chanting from the Kop in particular and their range of songs which got right behind their team, as well as making a mockery of Chelsea’s so called “history”.
Incredibly the guys from RTK “Reclaim the Kop” had went out their way to pay homage to the Celtic support after our gesture and they displayed a fantastic banner which spread out all the way along the front of the Kop stating “Thank You Celtic Fans We’ve Never Walked alone” in red and green. This was an outstanding gesture and one that was well appreciated by the guys. We know well the amount of time, effort and expense it takes to make a large, painted banner and so to do this for a one off event summed up the respect both set of fans showed for each other that night.
With the massive banner, the big telescopic flags and the huge surfers in the Kop it provided a marvellous spectacle as the teams took to the pitch. The 35 minute mark soon came and we were beckoned to make our way to the back of the stand where we were lead to the corner opposite the Kop and we unfurled the banner in preparation for the walk on to the pitch itself. All of a sudden six ghuys, some of whom knew each other and some who had just met that day, stood sombre looking at the banner and taking in the sentiment expressed as the butterflies took over our stomachs and we imagined how the players must feel standing in the tunnel before a big match.
CELTIC FANS IN SOLIDARITY WITH JUSTICE FOR THE 96. YOU’LL NEVER WALK ALONE we held up as we entered the pitch. Ste from the HJC led us out and the first thoughts at being on the pitch itself was to try and make sure we didn’t freeze. The banner was given a fantastic reception and it felt as if the whole stadium swallowed us up as we walked the full length of the pitch. The grass felt thick and lush and as we got to the centre circle we passed the outstretched banner to Ste in a symbolic gesture of solidarity. Ste then lead us straight to his beloved Kop where the banner was surfed into the crowd and held up throughout half-time.
The cheers and applause from the Kop were deafening and as we approached they had grew louder and louder, creating a fantastic wall of noise. It was incredible to imagine actually playing on that pitch and shooting into that goal with the crowd almost sucking the ball into the net. The second half, looking back, was a blur as my head was full of the experience we had at half time which is a memory that will live long in our minds. After the match we went back to the HJC shop to meet more of the guys then it was into the Albert for a few pints before the long trip back up the road for a 6 o’clock start in the morning.
The whole experience was incredible but to see the pain and grief still etched on the faces of the Liverpool support after all these years and the genuine gratitude on their faces for the efforts of the Celtic support made it all worthwhile. The small part we played certainly paled into insignificance.
