Survivors of the Hillsborough disaster and their friends and family members have spoken of the horrors they experienced at the Champions League Final in Paris - and their anger at the lies spread about what happened.
UEFA has now announced it will hold a full investigation into the scenes at the Stade de France, where thousands of Liverpool fans were held in dangerous situations outside the ground before being targeted with pepper spray and tear gas by French police and attacked and robbed by local gangs.
There has been widespread outrage at the chaotic organisation of the event as well as the attempts to blame Liverpool fans for what went on. Both UEFA and the French government have put out widely discredited statements about fans being late or the alleged scale of fake tickets, both of which have been strongly disputed by supporters and journalists who were there.
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The dangerous scenes in Paris will have been understandably triggering and difficult for Reds fans who were present at the Hillsborough disaster of 1989 and their friends and family. A number of people have shared their stories and feelings with the ECHO via the Hillsborough Survivors Support Alliance, who are offering support to anyone struggling after the event.
Matthew Trafford was at the game in Paris with his father, who is a Hillsborough survivor. He said: "Neither myself nor my dad are fragile or inexperienced football supporters. He has been a follower of Liverpool since the 70s, travelling all over Europe to watch Liverpool. He is a Hillsborough survivor, who knows very well what danger in football matches looks like. I too have travelled all over Europe to watch Liverpool. Neither of us have ever experienced anything as hellish as this."
Matthew said he and his dad initially visited the fan park and were forced by armed police to walk for miles into an initial bottleneck. But seeing how busy and poorly-organised this was, they chose to go to a nearby bar.
He explained: "Before the game, we were somewhat lucky. We happened to have a table reserved outside the ground at a bar for 6pm. This was beyond the first security check meaning we luckily avoided the initial bottleneck. However, I noticed that crowds were increasing and entrance to the ground was delaying. We soon entered the ground. Upon arrival we heard the announcement that kick off was delayed due to 'the late arrival of fans'. The connotations of this statement should be obvious. I hope it is also obvious how distressing this was for my Dad."
Matthew and his dad stood on the concourse looking at the "mayhem" outside. He said: "We saw locals and some Madrid supporters climb over the gate and charge one turnstile. We then also saw more armed police with riot shields initiating a crush. From our view, we could see several gates closed with supporters stuck in the other side. We could also see police pepper spraying and tear gassing crowds.
"After all of this, the football seemed unimportant which was a mutual feeling amongst supporters given the flat atmosphere. In the closing minutes, armed police lined up at the front of the Liverpool end, but did not do so in front of the Madrid end. This was clearly an attempt to provoke the already-hurt supporters. "
Matthew and his father also experienced problems leaving the stadium after the game. He said: "We were guided to yet another bottleneck in which we were going through a small gap at the side of police vans blocking the road. Once passing this point, there were dozens of groups of men waiting with knives, other weapons and many wearing motorcycle helmets.
"The police were very close to this but did not intervene as people were being mugged, attacked and stabbed. At one stage, a person was left on the floor after being attacked and opposite him were five police officers stood chatting. They did not intervene during any of the attacks. The police’s presence only added to the intimidation as at no point did they intervene or aim to protect supporters. I will also add, this was not gang-on-gang violence. These were gangs attacking individuals or families. At one stage we were stranded at the train station because every possible turn we could make had people with weapons attacking Liverpool supporters."
Matthew added: "To then see the French government repeat the lies that UEFA initially spread has been unimaginably traumatic. I feel physically sick. We nearly died, and they are blaming us for the trauma we had to endure."
Another member of the group, who was not named, said: "I came to Paris with my 17-year-old to watch a football match, had a great time up until arriving at Stade de France at 5.45pm. As soon as we got to the underpass it started, we were being ‘kettled’ before getting near the stadium - kids were crying, women were crying, dads were getting agitated, we were held for an hour at that point.
"There were arguments between us and French youths who kept trying to push through. Eventually we got to the perimeter of the stadium at around 6:45pm, as we walked past gates X, Y and Z, there were thousands, tens of thousands, outside the ground.
"We queued at entrance A and nothing really happened. They were drip feeding people in but more were joining the queue than going in."
They added: "The treatment was awful, the match wasn’t important to me by then as I knew we would have to go back the same way and face the same issues - and we did. The air was thick afterwards with pepper spray and tear gas, we were ‘kettled’ again on the ramp down and the underpass, and the arrogant riot police were just that. I’m still fuming, upset and shaking."
Irish fan Joby Kelly, who had friends at Hillsborough, was another who got caught in the initial bottleneck created by French police, he said: "It quickly became very over crowded and congested as we started to filter through, it felt so claustrophobic. The French police had parked all there vans in this particular area also, which meant we were practically stuck to one another on the approach to the first check. It was hot, I witnessed one fan get very weak , everyone called for medical help (but) it wasn’t forthcoming and was nowhere to be seen."
After finally getting onto the stadium concourse, he said fans were initially being let through the turnstiles until they were suddenly closed. He said: "For the next hour and fifteen minutes absolute chaos broke out. Thousands of fans with genuine tickets had been locked out the ground. No one was on hand to explain what was happening. The French riot police were the only ones left outside on the concourse.
"People were becoming very frustrated and the situation was getting very dangerous with kids and elderly people being pushed and shoved , tear gas been fired at everyone including kids. Kids been pulled out of very congested areas, when I saw this all that was on my mind was previous images I would have seen from Hillsborough in the past. Overall it was a dreadful experience that I will remember for a long time. You would have to really see it to believe how bad it was."
The Hillsborough Survivors Support Alliance has asked anyone struggling after the events in Paris to get in touch with them for help and support. You can contact the group via their website, or on twitter at @HillsboroughSu1
