Review of famous football events丨Story of the Heisel tragedy

This week is the final week of major European cup matches. Tottenham Hotspur beat Manchester United to win the championship last week. This week, Chelsea and Real Betis compete for the UEFA Champions League. Finally, the most prestigious event, the Champions League, will usher in a peak showdown in Munich, and Paris Saint-Germain will play against Inter Milan. All of these finals were celebrations of football, but in Brussels in 1985, one of them ended in a huge disaster: the Heisel tragedy. On that Wednesday night, May 29, 1985, the football world was filled with tension and great expectations. Fans are eagerly looking forward to the battle for the coveted "Big Ear Cup" (a trophy awarded to the European Champions League - now the Champions League - champion). Liverpool is eager to defend their last year's victory to win their fifth European Champions League; while Juventus hopes to make up for the regret of losing 0-1 to Hamburg in the final two years ago.

Millions of fans turned on the TV to watch the football feast, but what they saw was not the scene where the stars were preparing to play the most important game of the season, but the scene of rescuers and blood-filled fans running around the court.

They also saw several motionless human bodies lying in the stands. About an hour before the scheduled start time, disaster struck the old Heisel Stadium in Brussels.

Chaos, crowd squeezes and collapsed walls

Given the tense and intense final between Liverpool and Roma the previous year, the organizers were particularly cautious about the 1985 final.

The fan groups of both sides (the conflict is considered to be very likely to occur) are separated: one stand behind the goal is exclusive to fans wearing red Liverpool jerseys, and the other belongs to Juventus fans wearing black and white striped shirts. The main longitudinal stands are occupied by a more peaceful audience.

However, dozens of Juventus fans managed to enter a neutral area near the Liverpool fan zone. They are tickets purchased from the black market. Most of them are "ordinary" fans, diehard fans on the other side of the stadium, but Liverpool's extreme fans (Ultras) don't care about that.

English football hooligan broke through the isolation barrier between the stands and began to attack Italian fans. Juventus supporters wanted to escape violence and flocked to the exit—and this huge area had only one exit. The offensive Reds (Liverpool) fans pushed the retreating crowd, and the walls that separated the stands and the stadium could not withstand the huge pressure from the crowd and collapsed with a bang.

Many lives disappeared in the ruins, and others were trampled by panicked crowds. More than thirty Italians were among the victims, as well as several Belgians. The incident killed 39 people and injured about 600 people. The Juventus fans in the stands opposite the

immediately wanted to retaliate, but fortunately, the police stopped another conflict.

Kick or not

At the same time, deep in the court, a fierce discussion is underway: What should I do with the game?

Realistically speaking, the game should of course be cancelled, but there is a huge risk - fans of both sides may have another large-scale bloody conflict on the streets of Brussels.

Players on both sides initially refused to participate, but were eventually convinced by UEFA officials. The match was played in an extremely gloomy and sad atmosphere. The stadium was half empty as some fans were looking for their friends in various hospitals in Brussels. The only goal in the game was a penalty kick scored by Michel Platini in the 56th minute.

Juventus symbolically dedicated their first victory in the most prestigious club event to the victims of the Brussels tragedy. The consequences of the tragedy

The impact of this tragedy also extends beyond the court.

UEFA determined that Liverpool fans were the main responsible party for the incident. Several of them were brought to court, 14 were convicted, and all English football clubs were banned from European competitions. The ban lasted for five years, while Liverpool's ban was six years (first for ten years, but was shortened later). Therefore, the Heisel tragedy had a profound impact on English football as a whole.

This incident has also promoted major reforms to stadiums and safety measures across Europe, with focus on separating fans, strengthening ticketing control, installing surveillance cameras, banning alcohol consumption, and replacing station seats with seats (full seat courts).