This is a very emotive subject that needs treating with care and respect. But I feel the total facts will probably never emerge, as this latest report is based on evidence they've managed to obtain. I wonder how much has been shredded or "lost" by the powers that be over the years?
I'm neither a red or a blue, but I am from Sheffield. However, I'm a Blade, not an Owl. The thing which concerns me is how this latest report has been interpreted of clearing fans of all blame.
That puts me in an awkward position, because I have friends and relatives in Sheffield with no affiliation to either teams playing that day, and they reported behaviour problems outside the ground on the day. Reports from far afield as Barnsley with concerned coach drivers struggling to get the fans to drink up so they could continue to make their way to the ground.
So are they now liars? Is the report saying "Sorry Sheffielders, you were mistaken"? And if so, is this yet another cover up and will we see yet another report in ten years time saying that this report was biased in order to draw a line under it to allow Liverpudlians to move on?
That evening the local radio stations halted their regular programming. Instead, Sheffielders could ring the station and offer their homes, a hot meal and refreshment, and beds for Liverpudlians who wanted to stay in the city. And that still brings a tear to my eye.
Don't get me wrong, I think Scousers are the salt of the Earth and I enjoy nothing more than drinking with them, and living in their part of the country. I've lived in various places across the North and Wirral is by far and away the best of them all, and if you want me to take sides I'll take the families of the 96 any day of the week. I've no particular love for the police, I've been search and held without good reasons in the past, those of you who know me from my "hobby" will know what I'm talking about!
But there's more than a grain of truth with the accusations of them being the underdog and playing the sympathy card. I think Liverpool must have more candlelit vigils than any other city!
And that reminds me of this very strange story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/4372230.stmI remember when Tom Adeyemi was racially abused during a match at Anfield. If you looked on the Red's forum there were all sorts of wild excuses - one poster even claimed it was a Man United fan who'd sneaked in to cause trouble.
Its unfortunate that Liverpool is marred with Heysel, the behaviour of its fans, and more recently its players and its manager, and that's the kind of mud that sticks for decades and will always be brought up whenever there's an incident.
We'll probably never truly know what happened that day, but lets take comfort in the fact that those who were killed or injured were done so in a terrible tragedy, that's been made all the worse by police lies and corruption. And those in power at the time will pay. And if there are any guilty fans, then the best we can hope for is a lifetime of sleepless nights on their conscience, and judgement waiting for them in the next life.