Kevin Cowley is a 50-year-old driving examiner, a former Metropolitan police officer and a survivor of the Hillsborough disaster. He was in pen three on 15 April 1989, where many of the 97 Liverpool fans were unlawfully killed at the FA Cup semi-final. On Saturday he attended the Champions League final between Jürgen Klopp’s team and Real Madrid at Stade de France. His experience of Uefa’s showpiece event reopened a 33-year-old trauma.
“I am in pieces again,” said Cowley. His voice, breaking with emotion, testifies to that. “It took me years to get over Hillsborough and I feel like I’ve just relived Hillsborough again. Saturday was horrendous. I want to vocalise this because I spent so many years bottling up Hillsborough and that did so much to me that I have to do something this time. I want to talk.”
