There are single words that can tear up even the hardiest of football supporters. Powerful words that speak of things beyond the game — events that impinged upon football in a way that nobody should have to endure.
Juventus carry one of those words, and one of those events, with them. ‘Heysel’.
Standing on the site that the almost completely renewed Stade Roi Baudouin now occupies in Brussels, the Bianconeri were due to meet Liverpool at Heysel Stadium in the 1985 European Cup Final. 30 years ago this year, that match and that final are some of the most important moments in Juventus’s history.
At the end of the evening, Juventus had won their first European Cup, but that triumph, and the match that came before had become an unwanted spectre. Thirty nine fans lay dead, including 32 Italians — simply because they happened to be attending a football match.
By the standards of the time the stadium was an acceptable venue to hold such an event, and had hosted previous European finals, most recently Anderlecht’s home leg of the UEFA Cup Final in 1983. That is not to say the stadium was in good condition, however.
It is indisputable that the 55-year-old venue was showing considerable signs of wear and tear, with fans able to kick holes in the base in their attempts to get in to see the game. When Observer photographer Eamonn McCabe noticed something was amiss, his initial thought was that he was taking pictures of just that — an old stadium finally unable to cope with the strains put upon it.
It was much more than that, and it was much worse than that.
A group of Liverpool fans had moved from Sector Y, where they were gathered, into the Sector Z, the neutral space between themselves and the bulk of Juventus fans. As it was, this neutral zone was occupied by a number of exiled Italians and those of other nationalities who wanted to attend. While there was certainly some Juventus support amongst them, it was not the main bulk of Bianconeri supporters.
Upon reaching Sector Z and finding it largely unpoliced, this group charged towards Juventus’ supporters whilst those fans who were in the area were to escape. In their rush for the exits, a wall collapsed; it is this collapse that caused the deaths and injuries.
There were few police in the area, though riot police gathered in number when they did appear. The scenes, being broadcast into the living rooms of Europe, of Liverpool supporters hurling missiles at police, and violence that raged as so many lay dying or dead, remains shocking and horrifying to this day.
Yet in 1985, in the days before immediate mass media, it is impossible to know exactly who knew what was happening at the stadium, or even when. This was not something that was exclusive to the terraces, but to the dressing rooms, too.
Paolo Rossi, who was to start for Juventus in the final insists that the Bianconeri did not know the scale of the problem yet, even then, there were calls in the dressing room for the match not to go ahead.
The fact that it did, with the received wisdom of the day being that calling the game off — even in those tragic circumstances — would incite further violence and more clashes, indicates how ill-prepared the authorities were for such an event.
Michel Platini has said that a piece of him died that day; Liverpool coach Joe Fagan looked a broken man in the dressing room and players on both sides still find it difficult to, or refuse to, talk about the events in the stadium that evening.
The memory of the Heysel Stadium Disaster hangs large over European football; a tragedy that unfolded in front of everyone, yet has never been fully explained.
Thirty years on from that night, much has changed in football. UEFA stage their big games at state of the art all-seater stadia, one of which is the Juventus Stadium. Violence around those games is no longer commonplace.
Yet much has not. There are still large, crumbling stadia; Italy has a number of them. There is still football violence; often in European games involving Italian clubs.
The 39 supporters that died that night are honoured by Juventus; there is a section of the J-Museum at their stadium dedicated to those who died at Heysel and a new development will incorporate a monument to their memory.
Alongside from the club’s official stance, the Italian FA lay a wreaths at the site of the former stadium at Euro 2000. Bianconeri supporters have been involved in many memorials since 1985. Most recently, they expressed their feelings at the final home game of this season, holding aloft a large number “39”.
Talking about Heysel may be uncomfortable and unedifying, but one thing Heysel should never be is forgotten. Juventus’ supporters understand that. Alongside their “39” was a banner.
“No one truly dies if they live on in the hearts of those who remain, forever.”
RIP respect to all the 39 victims and Families from an LFC supporter YNWA.