I was only twelve when i went to this match. Trying to recall as much as i can. I was in Antwerp a week before visiting my Uncle and Auntie who also went to the game. i remember walking through the streets of Bruxelles and seeing a few fans around then hearing the Liv-er-pool Liv-er-pool Liv-er-pool chant getting closer as we walked into the main square. The old man put me on his shoulders so i could see better then i saw the statue in the middle with fans hanging off it and scarfs, flags etc and all the tables outside the bars filled up - good atmosphere. I was wearing my LFC jersey which my old man had cut a number seven out of a pillow case and stitched on me back. Problem is, he only used about ten stitches so the top half of the seven used to hang down when a stitch broke.
At the stadium i sat with my mum in section W, which was at the end of the main stand. All the trouble was where the Old man, Uncle and Auntie were stood, over to my right in XY and Z at one of the ends. I remember there were lots more Juve fans in the stadium than ours. Seemed about seventy five percent Juve. There was lots of smoke in the air and it was a nice warm European evening with the sun still up but lowering. At some point when the stadium was nearly full i could see skirmishes at the end over to my right and some fans from both teams had sticks and were hitting the fence that separated them, then each other.
During the next half hour, that end of the ground all of a sudden cleared of where the Juve fans has been stood, just empty terraces on the left and Liverpool fans on the right. I didn't know about any wall that had collapsed or fans hurt. The skirmishes certainly didn't go as far down to where the wall collapsed as i know it now. They were up by the divide of supporters it seemed to me.
The game was delayed by what seemed like an age and i remember Joe coming over the tannoy system, saying to the Liverpool fans 'to calm down and that people had been hurt'. Then i think a player or another part of the management team said something over the tannoy as well. It was dark at this point or nearly. Then the game started, i remember wanting to see Boniek and Platini as well as the reds. At half time a Juve fan came running up the running track from my left hand side with a plastic seat in his hand and frizzbied it up over the fence in our general direction and a fan a few rows in front fended it away. He must of heard what had happened and probably lost friends and wanted to vent his anger at the first red shirts he could see in the crowd.
I remember the penalty and i was truly gutted at the final whistle, Liverpool don't lose European cup finals. I didn't know though. Walking with me Mum back to the train stop outside the ground bottles and glass were smashing all around our feet but my mum was shepherding me away quickly so i didn't see where they were coming from. I recall you could of heard a pin drop on that train, everyone was emotionally drained.
After a few days i started to gather bits of what had happened and i remember me Dad saying that it wasn't the Liverpool fans (However they did play their part as did the Juve fans in what led to the accident). He just wanted to defend the club and our fantastic supporters and lay blame anywhere which didn't tarnish the image of the club in his eyes or mine. After realising about the loss of life i remember feeling that if we had won how embarrassing that would of been. Now i know the game should never have happened. I didn't want to go back to school at the end of the holiday and pleaded with me Mum although it was alright in the end and i didn't get the digs i was expecting from the other kids.
My condolences to those Thirty Nine Juve fans and their families and friends, they probably just wanted to get away from idiots like me and mum did.
