Where were you on April 15th, 1989?

 YouTube: Early BBC News report on the day; Clips from Jimmy McGovern's Hillsborough drama

Remembering an enormous tragic event is difficult, heart-rending, distressing and many other adjectives which would describe the utter turmoil at Hillsborough on April 15th, 1989. Fans from both sides of the city give their recollections of that terrible day, in an overview of the shocking coverage on TV, to the total confusion about what they were witnessing.

Andrew Williams, part of the large Welsh contingent of Liverpool fans, reflects on the worst tragedy in British football history.

“I was living at home in Bettws at the time. I had played football in the morning as
normal for my under 14 team and all the banter after our match was about the semi-finals that afternoon, the majority of us supporting Liverpool, with a couple of Evertonians thrown in and a few Manchester United fans predicting our demise and giving us stick about losing to Wimbledon the season before. I remember rushing home after the match to watch the build up to the game on Football Focus and Saint and Greavsie, getting all excited about the possibility of another all Merseyside final.

“Then I saw the l scenes from the ground on Grandstand and through my naiveté, I was made up at first, thinking to myself how big a club we were taking all those fans with us and that it might set a new record attendance, which as a young lad seemed to be big deal at the time.

"Then you heard the concern in the voice of Bob Wilson and started to realise that this is serious. I remember feeling sick and couldn't watch, a few of my mates came and knocked at ours and we sat in disbelief at what was happening in front of us on the TV. We were stunned. I remember my mothern trying to stop us looking but we insisted on watching, all in total shock as we started hearing that people had died. It was at this stage that we all left the house and went out for a kick about, not through disrespect, it was just that we couldn't bear to hear anymore bad news. My mate's cousin was at the match and we were all concerned for him and didn't find out until the day after that he was OK. It was all a blur after that, but I remember my mother trying to stop me watching the news and Match of the Day that night.”

Nick Jones, who was 12 years' old at the time, recalled: “I remember sitting down for lunch watching Football Focus and the build up to the game. The BBC were doing pre match interviews and all the other normal prelims that you would expect. At about 2.50pm I remember Grandstand broke into the coverage of whatever they were showing - I think it was the snooker - and cut back to the ground as 'something' was occurring on the terraces. My initial thoughts, bearing in mind that I was 12. was that there was a riot taking place and that the Liverpool fans were 'doing a Heysel'. As time wore on and the commentator passed on news nothing could have been further from the truth.

"What followed was probably the most traumatic thing I can think that I have witnessed. Details were sketchy from the TV; it just seemed that everything was in chaos. As more news came through of what was happening, from the initial reports, to the realisation of the horrible truth, I don’t recall myself actually realising the gravity of what was occurring. It wasn’t until later and with some time to reflect that it dawned on me.”

The opposite side of Stanley Park was not unaffected by the disaster. Everton fan Daniel Lorentz said: “I remember being in the garden on a hot sunny day with my mum and dad. I was 10 at the time, when one of our neighbours came out of their house and said that something bad had had happen at the Liverpool match.

"I ran and put the TV on. After about a minute of watching, my Mum remembered that my uncle was at the match. It was a very anxious afternoon for the whole family as there was no such thing as a mobile phones in those days, so it wasn’t until later that night that we knew he was OK. He was one of the lucky ones that was in that end of the ground but got out unscathed.”