Liverpool fans BLAST Martin Tyler for appearing to describe Hillsborough as ‘hooligan-related issue’

Beginning of the day: South Yorkshire Police asked both clubs to ensure their fans arrived between 10.30am and 2pm for the game.

2pm: The Leppings Lane turnstiles began operating smoothly, but after 2.15pm the volume of fans increased.  

2.30pm: The road was closed. Fans were asked over the PA system to move forward and spread out in the space. Officers considered delayed the kick-off but did not.

2.40pm: Large crowds had built up outside the turnstiles.

2.44pm: Fans were asked to stop pushing, though crowding was already bad and the turnstiles were struggling to cope.

2.47pm to 2.57pm: Some external gates were opened to relived pressure on the turnstiles – which caused fans to rush forward and crowd the pens even more. Pressure built up, and narrow gates in two of the pens were opened. Officers though fans were deliberately invading the pitch.

Liverpool and Nottingham Forest players are escorted from the field as the seriousness of the crush in the stands begins to emerge

Fans in the top tier of the away end help those in the crowded lower tier as the crush unfolds

Fans in the top tier of the away end help those in the crowded lower tier as the crush unfolds

3pm: Kick-off. By this time the crush at the front of the pens was intolerable.

3.04pm: Liverpool player Peter Beardsley struck the crossbar of the Nottingham goal, causing fans to rush forward again. The huge pressure caused one of the crush barriers to break, making the situation even more dire for those pressed against it.

3.05pm: Ambulance staff began investigation.

3.05pm to 3.06pm: Police Superintendent Roger Greenwood decided the match had to be stopped and ran onto the pitch.

3.06pm to 3.08pm: Police called for a fleet of ambulances.

3.07pm to 3.10pm: South Yorkshire Police called for all available resources to come to the stadium. 

3.08pm: Ambulance officers, under Mr Higgins, returned to the Leppings Lane end to treat a fracture victim. There were more spectators on the pitch. Some were distressed, some were angry.

3.13pm: An ambulance from St John Ambulance, the volunteer force, was driven around the perimeter of the pitch at the north-east corner. It was mentioned that there may have been fatalities.

3.15pm: The secretary of Sheffield Wednesday and the chief executive of the Football Association, Graham Kelly, went to the police control box to ask for information. Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield said there were fatalities and the game was likely to be called off. He also said that a gate had been forced, that there had been an in-rush of Liverpool supporters. This later transpired to not be correct.

Horror: Fans carrying one of those injured in the disaster using a makeshift stretcher

Horror: Fans carrying one of those injured in the disaster using a makeshift stretcher

3.29pm: By this time fire engines and more ambulances had arrived. One ambulance was driven onto the pitch.

3.56pm: Kenny Dalglish, the Liverpool manager, broadcast a message to all fans. He asked them to remain calm. The police had asked him to do so.

4.10pm: The match was formally abandoned and many fans returned home.

4.30pm: By this time, some 88 people had been taken by ambulance to the Northern General Hospital and some 71 to the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield by 42 ambulances.  

5pm: The South Yorkshire coroner, Dr Stefan Popper, gave instructions for the bodies to be kept in the gymnasium until they had been photographed and identified. By the end of the evening 82 people had been declared dead at Hillsborough. 12 more were declared dead in hospital.

Another person, Lee Nicol, survived for two days on a life support machine before he, too, died. The 96th victim of the Hillsborough disaster was Tony Bland. He survived until 1993, but with severe brain damage.

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