Twenty years ago, 96 Liverpool fans went to Hillsborough to watch an F.A. Cup semi-final and never came back. This one is dedicated to them. You will never walk alone lads and you will never be forgotten.
I strongly remember that day. I was 12 years old back then, me and my dad were sitting on a couch, getting ready to watch the English F.A. Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forrest at Hillsborough. I was very anxious about the match and couldn't wait to see my football idol back at the time Ian Rush. Suddenly and after only 6 mins after kick off, the referee stopped the game, as Liverpool fans had already climbed the fences at Leppings Lane end. In the beginning I thought some kind of riot had started, but unfortunately it didn't. Liverpool fans were dying from asphyxia !
I couldn't realise the magnitude of the disaster until the commentator started saying that there are plenty of injuries and that there's a strong fear that are many dead as well, as ambulances had arrived at Hillsborough...
Still, it was only after many years that I realised how big this disaster was. The reports were controversial but in such cases it's only the people who really suffered that have a clean an honest word about it. Justice has never been served, as until today, no one had been accused for it. In my country and since the very ancient years, we believe that people who die without fullfilling their goals in life, are not really dead and that their soul will never RIP, not until they feel like it.
I gave a promise to myself. If I ever managed to get to Anfield, the first thing that I'd do was to go and visit the Liverpool Memorial at the back of Anfield Road end. Life has been kind to me and last year I managed to visit Liverpool for the first time in my life. It was the Champions League game against Inter. When me and some Scousers went to Anfield, a day before the match, I told them I wanted to go there first. They looked at me and one of them told me "did you happen to have a relative or know any of the victims?". I replied to him that "no, but isn't Liverpool a family?
We walked fast at the back of Anfield. The pic above is the very first I took. The lads told me that the place is full of flowers and scarfs every single day and as so rightly someone said, these lads are not dead unless we forget them. Since then and every time I visit Anfield, the first thing I do is go the Liverpool Memorial, stand there for a minute of silence, say a little prayer and tell the lads that we 're playing for them tonight, so they better rawr loud when the team enters the pitch.
Official announcement of the Liverpool FC Greece Supporters Club
On this day every year we reflect our thoughts to these souls. We stand with compassion by their hurt and bereaved families, who have lived in pain since that awful day. And they continue to live so hurt, because justice has never been awarded for their beloved dead. The Liverpool FC Greece Supporters Club organizes its own memorial service on this day. For the fifth consecutive year we will gather at Saint Constantinos Church, right in the heart of the Athens city centre and pray for the "96 of Hillsborough". Our service, as every year, will be performed by the Very Reverend Archimandrite Seraphem, who is a great Liverpool supporter. We thank him warmly.
If these 96 souls could listen to us, we would send all our love and prayers to them saying: 'We'll never forget you'. Because we must not forget.
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