The darkest hour in the history of the UEFA competitions

Heysel Stadium Disaster

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Heysel Stadium Disaster (often simplified to Heysel or the Heysel Disaster) refers to the deaths of 39 (and injury of some 600 more) people, mostly fans of Juventus F.C., before the 1985 European Cup Final held in the Heysel Stadium, Brussels. The disaster is one of the most high profile and one of the worst cases of football hooliganism in European and world football. It was the first of two stadium related disasters of which Liverpool was a part; the other was the Hillsborough Disaster.

Approximately an hour before the scheduled kick-off time a group of supporters of English Liverpool F.C. breached a fence separating them from rival supporters of Juventus F.C. and charged at and attacked the Italian supporters. The Juventus fans retreated, putting pressure on a dilapidated retaining wall, which collapsed away from them. The crush of fans against the wall and its collapse led to many deaths and hundreds of injuries. The game was played despite the disaster in order to prevent further violence.