Liverpool FC Forum

by **Leonmc0708** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 9:07 pm

I was just on the way home and licstening to Talksport, when their presenter Marcotti commented disgracefully about the Hysel stadium disaster.

Anyone else hear it?

I tried to phone up but they wont put me thru to the studio to ask the lad about his comments.

I am going to e-mail him directly and find out what his thoughts are.

by **115-1073096938** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 9:10 pm

No i didn't hear it. What did this person actually say?

by **Leonmc0708** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 9:17 pm

Here is what I e-mailed into the studio:

I would like to find out exactley the thoughts and opinions of talksport, their parent company and in particular presenter Gabriel Marcotti.

I was listening whilst driving home, and the debate was about Manchester United. A fan called in and talked about comparrison between Manchester United and Juventus/Barcelona.

Mr Marcotti responded by laughing about, and I try to quote as accuratley as I can remember "when a bunch of Liverpool fans went and killed 40 Italians".

This comment is disgracelful, how a person who is paid to comment about English football can be allowed to make such flipant remarks about the alleged actions of Liverpool supporters, and a tragic accident, when he was probably not there and knows very little about it is disguisting.

Is it the policy of Talksport to endorse this kind of comment?

I called a number of times to challenge Mr Marcotti on his comments, but was repeatedly told I would be called back, but I never was.

I demand a full and unreserved apology from Mr Marcotti, or a retraction of his statement on air.

Please if you did hear this, or you are as incensed as I am, please e-mail the station on the following link:

Talksport

by **115-1073096938** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 9:31 pm

To be honest, i'm not clued up on Hysel and don't know to much about Hillsborough either. As far as i'm concerned i know what i need to know and leave it in the past. Its not something i'd like to know about either and not something you'll hear me make many comments on.

To joke about something like that on air though, in that manner, is nothing short of a disgrace and i will be emailing them to let them know my thoughts.

by **L-type** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 9:34 pm

I don't know about the Hysel disaster either, though i kinow what i need to know about Hillsborough. Still any kind remarks about the loss of lives at a football match are totally unacceptbale.

by **Ciggy** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 10:03 pm

For those that dont know about heysel heres a shorter version of them terrible events.

Liverpool were to face Juventus in the final of the European Cup. A year earlier, Liverpool had won the competition on Italian soil, beating AS Roma in the Olympic Stadium to lift the trophy for the fourth time.

Crowd trouble after that game may have been a key factor in the build up of tensions that was to prove fatal for 39 innocent football fans.

The decrepid stadium in Brussels was unsuitable to hold such a major sporting event, and the authorities were heavily criticised for their lack of organisation and poor ticket allocation ahead of the game.

UEFA had allocated one end of the ground to Liverpool supporters, but provided a section of the end for 'neutrals', called section Z, separated only by flimsy 'chicken wire' fencing.

Many Italian fans had been able to buy tickets in the 'neutral' section from local Belgians and as the ground started to fill up tensions increased between the two sets of fans.

An hour before the game was due to kick off eye witnesses recalled missiles being thrown from the Italian fans before several fans in the Liverpool section began to run towards them.

Unable to escape, the crowd in the 'neutral' section fled towards the far wall, which collapsed under the mounting pressure.

Violence escalated, with some Italian fans attempting to invade the pitch. One was seen to be firing a gun, but it later emerged that it was a starting pistol.

Phil Neal made a public announcement for calm and the game was started, mainly to avoid further violence, and Juventus went on to lift the trophy after scoring a second-half penalty.

Thirty nine fans died, mostly Italians, and English clubs were susequently banned from European competition for five years, with Liverpool receiving an additional two-year ban

The stadium, built in 1930, was never to be used for a football match ever again and was rebuilt and renamed the Stade Roi Baudouin for Euro 2000.

No plaque commemorates the tragedy and no formal inquest has been held to ascertain the causes of the disaster.

Since Heysel both clubs have made attempts to heal the wounds caused by the tragedy and many Liverpool fans are determined to not let the horrors of 29th May 1985 ever be forgotten.

by **crazyhorse** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 10:14 pm

Hysel was dreadul.
I remember the Juventus players getting off the plane after they had won - not one of them had a smile on their face.

by **bigmick** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 10:15 pm

I remember watching it live on the telly. Incredible really that the game was played. The atmosphere was understandably subdued as it was played at 'practice match' intensity. I have absolutely no doubt that on a normal day that Liverpool team would have seen off the Italians without too much problem and we would have won five Eurpean Cups, not four.
That said, when people die it just brings the whole thing into sharp focus. It's a game of football only. This is probably just about the one area where Stu has a point. For me, if we're playing the Manks I desperately want to win 'cos I can't stand them but it's still a game of football to me. I could never join in a Munich joke or chant because I think it was a tragic event, (please don't inundate me with insults, I'm not accusing anyone I'm just saying what I wouldn't do). It wouldn't be any different if I was from Liverpool but I'm certain that he's right in that if you live there you hate Man U that little bit more, (obviously A.B. is the exception that shatters all theories on the subject however).

by **Ciggy** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 10:19 pm

Yer I remember watching it too dreadfull scenes, my exs brother was involved and he got jail, and he was an evertonian. So he shouldnt have been there in the first place.

by **JBG** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 11:24 pm

Read Nick Hornby's book "Fever Pitch" and you'll see how he rightly blames all of British football for Hysel.

He says the up to then harmless tactic of "terrace rushing" was endemic in English football and was seen on nearly every terrace of football clubs around the UK. He himself recounts how he and legions of Arsenal fans used to have a laugh by "rushing" opposition fans at Highbury (rushing was where fans in a half filed terrace would charge towards the away supporters shouting at them, before pulling up at the perimeter barrier).

I honestly don't know the full story of Hysel, but Hornby's view on it is interesting, to say the least.

by **JohnBull** » Tue Nov 09, 2004 12:37 pm

I was there and the whole farce was an inevitable result of the couldn't care less attitude of the Belgiums.
The security was a disgrace and as cisse says the local touts sold tickets to anyone under the noses of the local plod even though there were a crew of Juve Headcases who had been up for it all day.
The stadium was a shed and how it had passed the safety checks I'll never know ,the wall fell down rather than pushed down.
Segregation was practiced everywhere but there, building safety checks were carried out everywhere but there,security was tight everywhere but there.
There was not ONE death as a result of an intentional act by us but who got the blame ?

It really suited EUFA to lever us out at the time, I even felt sorry for the bluenoses as they had a fair side in Europe at the time, - Did ONE Belgium builder or saftey inspector get charged ? did he hell.

A sad day for more reasons than 1

by **thecatsmeow** » Tue Nov 09, 2004 2:05 pm

i dont think you can blame the stadium for the disaster thats like saying its the cars fault for not been strong enough if you drove it off a cliff..........im afraid we have to take heysel on the chin i was there and the behaviour of both sets of fans was disgraceful

by **stmichael** » Tue Nov 09, 2004 2:36 pm

the catsmeow is back

by **Roger Red Hat** » Tue Nov 09, 2004 2:59 pm

well Im in! emailing them now, bunch of wazzacks

by **stmichael** » Tue Nov 09, 2004 3:18 pm

i was listening to talksport last night but missed that comment. if that's what he said, it's a disgrace. i actually like marchotti as an analyst but everyone knows that he is a juventus fan and his heart is disgracefully over-ruling his head on this issue. :angry:

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