Former Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish said an inquest jury ruling on Tuesday that the 96 victims who died in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster had been unlawfully killed "totally vindicated" families who had campaigned for the truth to be revealed.
Former Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish says an inquest jury ruling on
Tuesday that the 96 victims who died in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster
had been unlawfully killed "totally vindicated" families who had
campaigned for the truth to be revealed.
LONDON: Former Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish said an
inquest jury ruling on Tuesday (Apr 26) that the 96 victims who died in
the 1989 Hillsborough disaster had been unlawfully killed "totally
vindicated" families who had campaigned for the truth to be revealed.
Dalglish, Liverpool's manager at the time, told BBC Radio
Five that Tuesday's ruling was a just reward for nearly 30 years of
campaigning that had taken place after an FA Cup semi-final against
Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough ground led to
Britain's worst sports stadium tragedy.
"The fans have been totally vindicated, and the families have been
victorious in everything they put forwards. The truth they knew 27 years
ago has just come to pass now," said Dalglish, in an interview with his
daughter Kelly Cates, a broadcaster."They fought for the person who went to a football match and lost their life," added the 65-year-old Scot, widely regarded as Liverpool's greatest-ever player.
"You cannot surmise or even to begin to guess what those
families have been through ... for 27 years ... to live it ... there
were times when things looked bleak and they stayed totally true to
their loved-ones.
"They have been humble, had integrity and gone about getting
what they knew to be the truth - it has taken them 27 years to do it,
so you just feel so relieved for them."
Dalglish also recalled the heartache many fans suffered in
the days immediately after the tragedy, amid claims that rowdy behaviour
by Liverpool supporters had contributed to Britain's worst sports
stadium disaster.
"The fans who survived... what did they have in their mind?
That maybe people thought that they were the ones who caused the death
of the people who were feral Liverpool fans, and for them to have to
live with that for 27 years must be soul destroying for them."
Dalglish added: "The only thing we saw the supporters do on
the day was to try and help. People tried their very, very best that
they could - to help people survive. For everyone involved with
Liverpool, this is a fantastic outcome, but it is horrendous that it has
taken 27 years for this to come through."
Dalglish attended several funerals of Hillsborough victims, including
four in a single day, and was widely praised for the role he played in
Liverpool's response to the disaster. "For me, the families were always
the most important thing," he said. "I just wish I could have done
more."
- AFP/de
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