12/21/24
April 04, 2005
Twenty years on, almost.: The Guardian has a retrospective on the Heysel stadium disaster, which is made more relevant by the fact that Liverpool are playing Juventus in the Champions League this week. There's a whole series of articles here including memories from some of the players and some fans. I didn't think we should let this pass without a mention on SpoFi.
Excellent article. Several years ago I interviewed the late-great BBC Radio 1 disc-jockey John Peel, who is mentioned in the article, albeit as a symptom of the hooligan mentality, which seems to me a stretch. A gentler man you never met, but yes, Peel was a huge Liverpool fan. He told me the show he did after the Heysel tragedy was his toughest ever, and he did in fact break down and cry on air.
posted by the red terror at 07:14 PM on April 04, 2005
Correction: just checked my notes, and Peelie actually made the comment about the show he did after the Hillsborough disaster. Too many unnecessary deaths connected to the Reds that decade.
posted by the red terror at 07:24 PM on April 04, 2005
Jeebus, agreed, Phil Neal is a total WANKER, and to think someone actually pays him a salary to be a commentator, and he wants more. Given 20 years to reflect on a tragedy, Phil Neal wants to profit from it. "What's in it for you, Phil?" How about a little humanity you filthy greedy stinking bastard.
posted by the red terror at 07:33 PM on April 04, 2005
A documentary of the Heysel tragedy is playing in Toronto this month. Perhaps someone has seen it already?
posted by smithers at 08:12 PM on April 04, 2005
Happier ending this time. 2-1 Liverpool. Let's hope we finish the job in Turin.
posted by worldcup2002 at 11:36 PM on April 05, 2005
That was nailbiting to watch! Thanks to the crap ESPN commentators--Tommy Smythe I'm looking at you--I had no clue about who was doing what after the two substitutions. Baros for Nunez, Le Tallec for Smicer, where did Benitez think the offense was going to come from? FYI: Despite the lack of programming updates, ESPN2 is showing Chelsea-Bayern Munich tomorrow at 2:30 EST and the Milan derby on tape delay Thursday morning early.
posted by billsaysthis at 01:08 AM on April 06, 2005
bill, when you take off both your strikers for a defender and a midfielder, I think it's pretty clear what the gaffer is trying to do.
posted by worldcup2002 at 01:40 AM on April 07, 2005
Christ almighty... Phil Neal, what a twatface.
posted by afx237vi at 09:13 AM on April 07, 2005
WC, that was my impression though it would have been nice for the commentators to actually comment rather than blathering repetitiously. And I wonder if the move will back fire on us next week.
posted by billsaysthis at 08:17 PM on April 07, 2005
Phil Neal, the Liverpool captain of the time, comes over as a complete prick. I'm not ashamed to say that the memories of the fans made me cry. Such a tragic and needless waste of innocent lives.