Editing Hillsborough disaster (section)

==Before the disaster==
[[File:The Leppings Lane Stand at Hillsborough in 1991 - geograph.org.uk - 2807209 (cropped).jpg|thumb|The West Stand of Sheffield Wednesday's [[Hillsborough Stadium]], where the disaster unfolded, seen two years later in 1991]]

===Venue===
[[Hillsborough Stadium]] had been constructed in 1899 to house [[Sheffield Wednesday F.C.|Sheffield Wednesday]]. It was selected by [[the Football Association]] (FA) as a neutral venue to host the FA Cup semi-final between [[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]] and [[Nottingham Forest F.C.|Nottingham Forest Football Club]]s. Kick-off was scheduled for 3:00&nbsp;pm on 15 April 1989, and fans were advised to take up positions 15 minutes beforehand.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-35473732|title=Five Hillsborough Myths Dispelled by Inquests Jury |work=BBC News |date=28 April 2016 |access-date=8 March 2017}}</ref>

At the time of the disaster most English football stadiums had high steel fencing between the spectators and the playing field in response to [[pitch invasion]]s. [[Football hooliganism|Hooliganism]] had affected the sport for some years and was particularly virulent in England.<ref name="Before Hillsborough">{{cite news |title=Before Hillsborough fans were seen as terrace fodder. Now they are customers to be wooed and cosseted|first=David |last=Lacey |date=15 April 1999 |work=The Guardian |location=UK |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/1999/apr/15/newsstory.sport1|access-date=1 August 2007}}</ref> From 1974, when these security standards were put in place, crushes occurred in several English stadiums.<ref name="Major Accidents">{{cite web |title=Deaths and Injuries at Major Accidents at British Football Stadiums |url=http://www.flaweb.org.uk/docs/specsafe/majaccbr.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418004904/http://www.flaweb.org.uk/docs/specsafe/majaccbr.php |archive-date=18 April 2009 |publisher=Football Licensing Authority |access-date=11 July 2007}}</ref>

A report by Eastwood & Partners for a safety certificate for the stadium in 1978 concluded that although it failed to meet the recommendations of the ''[[Green Guide]]'', a guide to safety at sports grounds, the consequences were minor. It emphasised the general situation at Hillsborough was satisfactory compared with most grounds.{{sfn|HIP report|2012|p=67}} Sheffield Wednesday were later criticised for neglecting safety in the stadium, especially after an incident in the semi-final of the 1981 FA Cup. The Leppings Lane end of the ground did not hold a valid safety certificate at the time of the disaster; it had not been updated since 1979.<ref name = "families">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2012/sep/19/hillsborough-families-sheffield-wednesday-manslaughter-charge |first=David |last=Conn |title=Hillsborough families call for Sheffield Wednesday manslaughter inquiry |work=The Guardian |publisher=Guardian News and Media |date=19 September 2012 |access-date=19 September 2012}}</ref>

Risks associated with confining fans in pens were highlighted by the ''Committee of Inquiry into Crowd Safety at Sports Grounds'' (the [[Oliver Popplewell|Popplewell]] inquiry) after the [[Bradford City stadium fire]] in May 1985. It made recommendations on the safety of crowds penned within fences,<ref>{{cite news|last=Taylor|first=Daniel|title=How Bradford fire neglect left Hillsborough doomed to disaster|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2012/sep/15/hillsborough-bradford-daniel-taylor|work=The Guardian Sports Blog |access-date=15 September 2012|date=15 September 2012}}</ref> including that "all exit gates should be manned at all times ... and capable of being opened immediately from the inside by anyone in an emergency".<ref>{{cite book|title=Cmd 9710: Committee of Inquiry into Crowd Safety at Sports Grounds Final Report|year=1986|publisher=The Stationery Office, London|page=62|url=http://hillsborough.independent.gov.uk/repository/HWP000000170001.html|access-date=15 September 2012|archive-date=1 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121101214652/http://hillsborough.independent.gov.uk/repository/HWP000000170001.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

====Previous incidents====
Hillsborough hosted five FA Cup semi-finals in the 1980s. During the 1981 semi-final between [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]] and [[Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.|Wolverhampton Wanderers]], a crush occurred at the Leppings Lane end of the ground after hundreds more spectators were permitted to enter the terrace than could safely be accommodated, resulting in 38 injuries, including broken arms, legs and ribs.{{sfn|Taylor|1989|p=21}} Police believed there would have been a real chance of fatalities had swift action not been taken, and recommended that the club reduce its capacity. In a post-match briefing to discuss the incident, Sheffield Wednesday chairman [[Bert McGee]] remarked: "Bollocks – no one would have been killed".<ref>{{cite web|type=Witness statement |url=http://hillsborough.independent.gov.uk/repository/docs/SWF000001370001.pdf |title=Assistant Chief Constable Robert James Goslin |website=hillsborough.independent.gov.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121101214708/http://hillsborough.independent.gov.uk/repository/docs/SWF000001370001.pdf |archive-date=1 November 2012 |url-status=dead |date=14 August 1990}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Conn|first= David|url= https://www.theguardian.com/football/2012/sep/19/hillsborough-families-sheffield-wednesday-manslaughter-charge |title=Safety failings that contributed to death of 96 Liverpool fans were foreseeable |work=The Guardian|date= 19 September 2012|access-date=22 September 2012}}</ref> The incident nonetheless prompted Sheffield Wednesday to alter the layout at the Leppings Lane end, dividing the terrace into three separate pens to restrict sideways movement.{{sfn|HIP report|2012|p=|loc=Part 2: Chapter 1. 1981–1989: unheeded warnings, the seeds of disaster}}<!--add page?--> This particular change, and other later alterations to the stadium, invalidated the stadium's safety certificate which was not renewed, and the stated capacity of the stadium was never changed.{{sfn|HIP report|2012|p=|loc=Part 2: Chapter 1. 1981–1989: unheeded warnings, the seeds of disaster}}<!--add page?--><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/local/sheffield-licensing-officer-from-time-of-hillsborough-disaster-still-works-for-council-1-4929787|title=Sheffield licensing officer from time of Hillsborough disaster still works for council|work=Sheffield Star|access-date=22 September 2012}}</ref> The terrace was divided into five pens when the club was promoted to the First Division in 1984, and a [[crush barrier]] near the access tunnel was removed in 1986 to improve the flow of fans entering and exiting the central enclosure.

After the crush in 1981, Hillsborough was not selected to host an FA Cup semi-final again until 1987.{{sfn|HIP report|2012|p=|loc=Part 2: Chapter 1. 1981–1989: unheeded warnings, the seeds of disaster}}<!--add page?--> Significant overcrowding was observed at the ground during that year's quarter-final between Sheffield Wednesday and [[Coventry City F.C.|Coventry City]],<ref name="cov_obs1">{{cite news|last=Carpente|first= Steve|url=http://www.coventryobserver.co.uk/2012/09/20/news-Sky-Blues-fans-recall-Hillsborough-choas-50631.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020060706/http://www.coventryobserver.co.uk/2012/09/20/news-Sky-Blues-fans-recall-Hillsborough-choas-50631.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 October 2012|title=Sky Blues fans recall Hillsborough choas |work=Coventry Observer|date=19 September 2012|access-date=22 September 2012}}</ref> and again during the semi-final between Coventry City and [[Leeds United F.C.|Leeds United]].<ref name="cov_obs2">{{cite news|last=Bates|first= Matthew |url=http://www.coventryobserver.co.uk/2012/09/12/news-Hillsborough-warning-signs-were-there-in-1987---report-50174.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120919190651/http://www.coventryobserver.co.uk/2012/09/12/news-Hillsborough-warning-signs-were-there-in-1987---report-50174.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 September 2012|title=Hillsborough warning signs were there in 1987|work=Coventry Observer|date= 12 September 2012|access-date=15 September 2012}}</ref> The Leeds fans were assigned the Leppings Lane end for the semi-final; one fan described disorganisation at the turnstiles and no steward or police direction inside the stadium, resulting in the crowd in one enclosure becoming so compressed that he was at times unable to raise and clap his hands.<ref name="cov_obs2" /> Other accounts told of fans having to be pulled to safety from above.{{sfn|HIP report|2012|p=|loc=Part 2: Chapter 1. 1981–1989: unheeded warnings, the seeds of disaster}}<!--add page?-->

Liverpool and Nottingham Forest met in the semi-final at Hillsborough in 1988, and fans again reported crushing at the Leppings Lane end. Liverpool lodged a complaint before the match in 1989. One supporter wrote to the Football Association and the [[Minister for Sport and the Olympics|Minister for Sport]]: "The whole area was packed solid to the point where it was impossible to move and where I, and others around me, felt considerable concern for personal safety."<ref>{{cite news|last=Ross |first=Sam |url=http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/football/911825-david-bernstein-makes-unreserved-apology-for-hillsborough-disaster |title=David Bernstein makes unreserved apology for Hillsborough disaster |work=Metro |date=13 September 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120914195848/http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/football/911825-david-bernstein-makes-unreserved-apology-for-hillsborough-disaster |archive-date=14 September 2012}}</ref>

=== South Yorkshire Police command changes ===
[[South Yorkshire Police]] (SYP) presence at the previous year's FA Cup semi-final (also between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest and also at Hillsborough Stadium) had been overseen by Chief Superintendent Brian L. Mole.<ref name="Brian Mole">{{cite web |url=http://hillsborough.independent.gov.uk/repository/docs/SYP000067080001.pdf|title=Witness statement of Chief Superintendent Brian Mole, South Yorkshire Police|website=hillsborough.independent.gov.uk|date=19 May 1989|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160706143904/http://hillsborough.independent.gov.uk/repository/docs/SYP000067080001.pdf|archive-date=6 July 2016}}</ref> Mole had supervised numerous police deployments at the stadium in the past. In October 1988 a probationary PC in Mole's F division, South Yorkshire was handcuffed, photographed, and stripped by fellow officers in a fake robbery, as a [[hazing]] prank. Four officers resigned and seven were disciplined over the incident. Chief Superintendent Mole himself was to be transferred to the Barnsley division for "career development reasons". The transfer was to be done with immediate effect on 27 March 1989.<ref name="transfer">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jul/07/most-experienced-police-commander-prank-transfer-hillsborough-disaster|title=Hillsborough inquest hears of police commander's transfer before match|last=Conn|first=David|date=7 July 2014|work=The Guardian|issn=0261-3077|access-date=6 August 2016}}</ref>

Meanwhile, Hillsborough was accepted as the FA Cup semi-final venue on 20 March 1989 by the Football Association.<ref name="Brian Mole" /> The first planning meeting for the semi-final took place on 22 March and was attended by newly promoted Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield, not by Mole. No known minutes exist of this meeting.<ref name="transfer" /> Although Mole could have been assigned the semi-final match's planning despite his transfer, that was not done. This left planning for the semi-final match to Duckenfield, who had never commanded a sell-out football match before, and who had "very little, if any" training or personal experience in how to do so.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/30/hillsborough-police-officer-david-duckenfield-training-1989-fa-cup-barrister|title=Hillsborough police officer in command 'had little training' for 1989 FA Cup|last=Conn|first=David|date=30 June 2014|work=The Guardian|issn=0261-3077|access-date=6 August 2016}}</ref>