Nottingham Forest v Celtic – The Completely Ignored Hillsborough Warning

Nottingham Forest v Celtic – The Completely Ignored Hillsborough Warning...​

Winning Captains said:

Nottingham Forest v Celtic – The Completely Ignored Hillsborough Warning...​

Nottingham Forest v Celtic – The Completely Ignored Hillsborough Warning | The Celtic Star

Thirty seven years ago this evening a massive Celtic support had travelled down to Nottingham to play Brian Clough's Forest in another one of those Battle of Britain affairs. It was also a battle

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A frightening read - football fans really were treated appallingly back in the day.

I was at that game, was the most scared I have ever been at a game we got there early enough but the crowd wee crazy,I still have the whole ticket from this game as we got in a big exitgate that we were crushed against then when we did get in they had only opened the first pen ,I climbed over that one then the next one but they seemed to take ages to open the pens up for what reason a don't know as it was just all Celtic fans at that end,if the fans at the front off the first pen hadn't started climbing on to the pitch God knows what would have happened,I've been going to games since I was a wee boy in the sixties and this was the most scared I have ever been at a football match,the lead up to the game was horrible as well the city was shite, it was freezing and foggy,and it was a horrible game as well,a hazy night with the swally on the Motherwell 9 in a row bus,but when I think off it now it was just as well a was half pissed cos if I wasn't it would have been even more scary

I was also at that game, I was living and working in Blackpool at the time and my father drove down from East Kilbride the night before to pick me up, I then took over the driving and we headed to Nottingham. Both of us sober due to driving and I thanked God for that many a time.

We arrived at the ground in plenty of time but still got caught in the crushing both outside and inside, I remember my father saying to one of the police officers in charge outside the ground that he had better open the exit gates to ease congestion, after a while this was done and we surged in to the city ground, we got directed into the first corner pen behind the goals and found ourselves halfway down the terrace and up against the fence, I pulled myself up the fence and could see that immediately behind the goals there was plenty of space, so my father and I both climbed over 3 different fences and settled in behind the goals .Why the stewards and Police directed us and hundreds of others into an already packed area we will never know. Incompetence and unprepared for what was a relatively small travelling support almost caused a disaster. To me it was indicative of Police attitudes to the public during the Thatcher era and it seemed as though they were geared up hoping for a riot rather than being there to help and protect.

I was there too...the crush in that narrow street going into the ground was horrendous...I will always remember my old man telling me (I was about 11) to keep my arms up go and with the flow of the crowd. It most definitely saved me from falling and serious injury.. thankfully I was nowhere near the crowd surge that caused the wall to collapse....it certainly was a very scary evening