Heysel Stadium Disaster - Events Leading Up To The Disaster

Events Leading Up To The Disaster

In May 1985, Liverpool was the premier football team in Europe, having been European Cup winners in four of the previous eight seasons. Liverpool reached the final again in 1985, and were looking to defend the title won by defeating Roma the previous year. Again they would face Italian opposition, Juventus, who had won the Cup Winners' Cup the previous season and had a team comprising many of Italy's 1982 World Cup winning team, and Michel Platini of France, winner of the Ballon d'Or (awarded to European footballer of the year) in 1983, 1984 and 1985.

Despite its status as Belgium's national stadium, Heysel Stadium was in a poor state of repair by the time of the 1985 European Final. The 55-year-old stadium was not sufficiently maintained for several years, and large parts of the stadium were crumbling. For example, the outer wall had been made of cinder block, and fans who did not have tickets were seen kicking holes in it to get in. Liverpool players and fans later said that they were shocked at the abject conditions of the ground, despite reports from Arsenal fans that the stadium was a "dump" when the Gunners played there a few years earlier. They were also surprised that Heysel was chosen despite its poor condition, especially since Barcelona's Camp Nou and Madrid's Bernabéu were both available. Liverpool CEO Peter Robinson urged UEFA to choose another venue, claiming that Heysel was not suitable to host a European Final, but UEFA refused to consider a move.

The stadium was crammed with 58,000–60,000 supporters, with more than 25,000 for each team. The two ends behind the goals comprised all-standing terraces, each end split into three zones. The Juventus end was O, N and M. At the other end Liverpool were allocated X and Y, with the Z section (to one side) being reserved for neutral Belgian fans. The idea of this large neutral area was opposed by both Liverpool and Juventus, as it would provide an opportunity for fans of both clubs to obtain tickets from agencies or from ticket touts outside the ground and thus create a dangerous mix of fans.

At the time Brussels, like the rest of Belgium, already had a large Italian community, and many expatriate Juventus fans bought the section Z tickets. Added to this, many tickets were bought up and sold by travel agents, mainly to Juventus fans. A small percentage of the tickets ended up in the hands of Liverpool fans.