Kop chants at Anfield in 2009 spurred Andy Burnham to press for Hillsborough inquiry
On 15 April 2009 at Anfield, during the 20th anniversary Hillsborough memorial, chants of “Justice for the 96” from the Kop interrupted a speech by then secretary of state for culture, media and sport Andy Burnham and helped propel him to push for further action on the disaster.
The memorial that afternoon had drawn visitors from as far afield as Australia and typically saw around 10,000 mourners seated on the Kop to support the families; by the time the author walked with families from the Centenary Stand to the front of the Kop, 29,000 people inside Anfield stood to applaud them. Former players from 1989 and current figures, including Steven Gerrard — who lost his 10-year-old cousin Jon-Paul Gilhooley in the disaster — and Jamie Carragher, were present, and 96 candles were lit in the Kop goalmouth before a two-minute silence that was broken only by babies’ cries. Margaret Aspinall, who had been invited to ask an MP to speak and had lost her 18-year-old son James at Hillsborough, told the author: “We had never allowed an MP to speak at the service because we hadn’t really had any meaningful support from any of them. But I wanted to give Andy a chance.”
Burnham, a scouse-born Evertonian, had agonised over accepting Aspinall’s invitation, aware that Gordon Brown’s Labour government had been in power for 12 of the 20 years since the disaster and had offered little new to the families. He had been at Villa Park watching Everton play Norwich in the other FA Cup semi-final on the day of Hillsborough and feared he might break down addressing an emotionally charged Kop. As he began his remarks he described Britain’s worst sporting disaster as “man-made” and won some approval for praising the actions of the fans that day.
The tone shifted when Burnham said he brought a message from the prime minister that the victims would never be forgotten: pockets of the Kop began to boo and jeer, there was a shout of “When do we get justice?” and a scream of “Hypocrite.” From the back of the Kop a chant of “Justice for the 96” then broke out and quickly spread across the stand and through the stadium, interrupting his speech and stopping him in his tracks.
Aspinall recalled sitting “on eggshells throughout Andy’s speech,” and described how former chairman Trevor Hicks looked at her as if to say: ‘What have you done, Margaret? Let’s say something.’ She decided instead to let the Kop speak: “No, let them carry on, don’t say anything. Let the Kop tell the government and the country how angry we all feel.” The scene dominated news bulletins and front pages that day, and Burnham later said: “When the first justice chants rolled off the Kop, I was not surprised, as I half-expected them. And, actually, I wanted the country to hear them. The people on the Kop that day were right to barrack me. I don’t hold anything against anyone who shouted at me. It helped me find the political courage to do something.” He pressed Gordon Brown and, despite some cabinet opposition, the prime minister backed him.
By the end of 2009 a Hillsborough Independent Panel had been established, appointing experts to scrutinise hundreds of thousands of unseen documents relating to the disaster. The panel’s final report in 2012 identified a litany of calamitous mistakes by police and emergency services, showed how dozens of lives could have been saved and revealed a massive cover-up; the then prime minister David Cameron subsequently issued a grovelling apology to the families and to Liverpool fans from the floor of the Commons. The original inquest verdicts of “accidental death” were quashed and new inquests were held, and in 2016 they returned 96 verdicts of “unlawful killing” and exonerated the fans.
Margaret Aspinall said of the eventual verdicts: “We would never, ever have got the verdicts of ‘unlawful killing’ without the support of the Kop. The fans played a vital part over the years in supporting us and getting accountability. But the turning point definitely came when those chants of ‘justice’ came at Andy Burnham. That day the Kop changed everything.” Five years later Burnham was invited to address the 25th anniversary service, where a banner read “Thank You, Andy Burnham”, and he told the crowd: “Five years ago things changed, not because of me but because of all of you. You made your voices heard and thank God you did. Your voices carried off this Kop into every living room in the land and into the heart of the establishment. I knew you were right and they were wrong. With that chant of ‘justice’ the dam burst. You were asking the most profound question about our country and how it is run. How can it be that an entire city shouted injustice for 20 years and no one was listening? There is still an uncertain road ahead but the country is with you now. The families will prevail because of all of you. You have made this city stronger and you will make our country fairer. You have given hope to people the world over. What was your call five years ago is my call today; justice for the 96.”
This is an extract from The Kop: A Fan’s History of Football’s Most Famous Stand by Brian Reade (Quercus, £25). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.