35 years on from the Hillsborough disaster, is the stadium still unsafe?

Good afternoon readers — and welcome to this week’s Monday briefing.

15th April 1989 is a date burned into the minds of millions. The Hillsborough disaster cost the lives of 97 people in the worst catastrophe in British sporting history. It led to major changes in crowd management at football games, including the abolition of standing terraces.

But an explosive new report from The Athletic last week claims that at Hillsborough stadium not enough has been done to ensure crowd safety. Their report identifies failings at the Leppings Lane stand for away supporters, including inadequate stewarding, and overcrowding issues both inside and outside the stadium. That’s our big story today.

As well as that, plastic dinosaurs have descended on the city centre, and The Crucible is staging a new play written with the help of more than 200 local residents.

Catch up

For our weekend read, we tried something a little different. Dan joined forces with writers from Liverpool, Birmingham and Manchester to produce a zoomed-out view of the events that spurred on the riots of the last few weeks. While the breadth of this report meant we couldn’t provide our usual level of hyper-local detail — quite a few readers noted the lingering influence of the “grooming gangs” scandal in Rotherham, which we recently reported on here — it allowed us to draw parallels to events in other cities that our coverage would normally miss. “Thank you to the team for some outstanding reporting,” wrote Jo Holliday. “There is hope but a lot of hard work and building of bridges is needed to overcome the hate.” You can read the piece here. 

We also took the unusual step of removing the paywall on one of our mid-week stories — Dan’s sobering first-hand account of the attack on the Rotherham hotel housing asylum seekers — because we believed it was in the public interest for it to be read as widely as possible. And on Thursday, regular Tribune freelancer and champion of the natural world David Bocking wrote about Sheffield’s ambition to become an even greener city, and whether its plans go far enough. You can read an extract of that piece below.

This is called ‘shifting baseline syndrome’, which means that people in their twenties and thirties won’t understand when older people talk of swarms of insects on warm summer days, or when opening your window on an early May morning revealed a cacophony of dawn chorus birdsong. Ten years ago I saw one of those spectacles out near Stoney Middleton, as tens of thousands of starlings swirled and coalesced in the darkening winter sky, a murmuration of shifting breathtaking patterns governed by flocking instincts we barely understand. Humans have marvelled at winter starling patterns in the sky since the Romans, but murmurations of those numbers have not returned to Stoney Middleton, and it’s possible that falling numbers and changing weather means the murmurations on Sheffield’s border may be over.

The big picture: Jurassic plastic 🦖

The Steel City Snapper (@steelcitysnaps on X) went out dinosaur-hunting, after 15 Lego dinosaurs were installed across ten locations around Sheffield. This “Lego safari,” which also includes some more modern animals, is part of Sheffield Bricktropolis, a local celebration of the versatile building block that will last until 18th August. To go dinosaur hunting yourself, click here.

Editor’s note: How fast do you want your news? The recent trend has been to move ever closer to warp speed — if it isn’t breaking, it doesn’t matter.

But you lose a lot if all your news comes that way. The breaking news cycle is addictive, and like all addictions, damaging. We become anxious and forgetful, as clever headlines hijack our neural pathways. And news can start to become meaningless, because there’s no context. Without knowing what the background to the story is, we can’t judge whether, and how much, something matters.

At The Tribune, we’re much more into slow news. By that, we mean taking the time to really dig into a story, speaking to experts, and giving our readers as full a picture as we can manage. It’s why we give you a few longer pieces every week, rather than lots of “breaking updates”.

David Bocking’s piece from last week is a perfect example. The gradual decline of nature is never going to be breaking news — but it’s much more important than probably all of what will pop-up on 24-hour news feeds today. The “shifting baseline syndrome” David describes means it’s easy to miss — but we mustn't.

Or take our weekend read about the riots. Of course, the riots themselves were breaking news — and very important news at that. But we knew, from our reporting into far-right videos about asylum hotels and the work of our colleagues elsewhere, that there were big missing pieces in the accounts of the disorder being provided elsewhere. We drew on that to give a much deeper, clearer picture of what happened.

So come, join the slow news movement. A movement that prioritises nuance, debate, and context over knee jerk reactions and the relentless bombardment of stuff that often isn’t really that important. Clearer, calmer. Subscribe today.

The big story: 35 years on from the Hillsborough disaster, is the stadium still unsafe?

Top line: Sheffield Wednesday began their 2024/25 championship campaign in style yesterday, with a thumping 4-0 home win over Wayne Rooney’s Plymouth Argyle. But a major investigation published last week by The Athletic has raised serious safety concerns about the club’s Hillsborough stadium.

Their report includes evidence of concern from both police and safety officials, and reveals several issues at the Leppings Lane stand, which hosts away supporters. They also spoke to several away supporters for firsthand reports of visiting the stand. Given the stadium’s painful history, it’s uncomfortable reading.

Inadequate stewarding: According to minutes of an April 2024 meeting, an official from the Sports Ground Safety Authority (SGSA) reported that Wednesday “had the lowest proportion of (SIA standard stewards) of any club he dealt with” and flagged the pre-match briefing to stewards as “inadequate”. 

And at a recent Leeds United game, several stewards had to be treated for panic attacks after overcrowding among fans (as reported by several Leeds fans The Athletic spoke to). The briefing these stewards had received “did not cover emergency procedures” according to Sheffield City Council’s Safety Advisory Group. 

Overcrowding at entrances… The entrance to the Leppings Lane stand is a “bottleneck”, with away fans separated from home fans only by metal barriers (see picture). 

For games with a strong local rivalry, such as the Steel City derby against Sheffield United, this can be especially problematic. The 2024/25 season will be the first time both teams have been in the same league in six years, with a match at Hillsborough scheduled for the 10th November.

…and inside the stadium: At a game against Newcastle in 2023 there was unease after crowds built up in a bottleneck at the end of the central gangway. The Athletic reports that some fans ripped covers off seats to make more space. 

Perhaps most worryingly, at the last Steel City Derby at Hillsborough in March 2019, both clubs acknowledged severe overcrowding, and some stated it was only the actions of United fans that stopped serious harm to Wednesday fans. “My girls would have been crushed to death if it wasn’t for the United fans,” claimed one Wednesday supporter on social media.

Poor signage: Newcastle fans also complained that poor signage was adding to difficulties — with signs only at the sides, but not overhead, making it much harder to read when crowded. This has been blamed for causing confusion, leading to congestion in the crowd.

Is there a fix? A reduction in capacity was recommended following the Newcastle game. This has been implemented. But after offering to cut the number of seats in the upper tier of the stand from 3,200 to 2,000, the club then suggested 2,400 (which was accepted by the Safety Advisory Group and police). As of last September, the club was pushing for an increase to 2,800.

Some of the other issues, around the size of walkways and amount of entry space, will be harder to fix given the age of the stand (the third oldest in the championship) and physical constraints around it — particularly the A61 and the River Don. 

Start over? In comments under the article, some fans were calling for the entire stadium to be knocked down and rebuilt somewhere else with more space. But that’s extremely unlikely to happen under current owner, Dejphon Chansiri. His relationship with fans has become toxic, with him saying last September: “from now, I will not put additional money into the club”.

“Echoes of the 1980s”: Of course, this is an especially sensitive subject for Wednesday, given the events of the 15th April, 1989. A fatal crowd crush at an FA cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest held at the stadium led to 97 fans losing their lives — the worst disaster in British sporting history.

Gareth Roberts, a representative of Liverpool supporters’ union Spirit of Shankly, told The Athletic:

“The echoes of the 1980s and the evidence related to the Hillsborough Disaster are chilling. Back then, there were near misses and clear red flags about the ground’s suitability. The Leppings Lane end of Hillsborough was not fit for purpose in 1989 and before. That it seems to remain inadequate in 2024 is shameful, shocking, and tragic.”

Club response: Despite the evidence gathered by The Athletic, a spokesperson for the club denied there is any reason for concern, saying: 

“Sheffield Wednesday work tirelessly with the relevant authorities to ensure the safest possible environment for all supporters visiting Hillsborough…”

“We can assure everyone visiting Hillsborough that Sheffield Wednesday operate a completely safe stadium and will continue to work side by side with the Safety Advisory Group, the Sports Grounds Safety Authority, Sheffield City Council and South Yorkshire Police to ensure that remains the case.”

Have you been to the Hillsborough Stadium recently? Do you agree there are grounds for concern? Let us know in the comments below.

Coming up

This week, our paying members will receive two exclusive editions of The Tribune, balancing the light-hearted and fun with the much more serious. To provide the former, Victoria has written one of our semi-regular “writer’s editions” — a tasting menu of local observations and recommendations that, while delicious, are not hearty enough for a full story. For the latter, Dan has been chatting to insiders at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, who have some real concerns about the way it’s being run. If you want to read those, become a full-fledged Tribune subscriber today — it costs just £1.71 a week or a mere 24p a day (about one sip’s worth of a decent coffee) if you pay for 12 months up front.

This week’s weather 🌥

Our weather forecast comes from dedicated Sheffield weather service Steel City Skies, who predict a hot start to the week, but soon turning fresher with a more changeable mix of sunshine and showers developing.

Monday 🌦 hot and humid with early showers clearing to sultry sunshine and isolated downpours. Breezy from the west later, with highs of 30°C.

Tuesday 🌦 sunny start, with cloud increasing later in the afternoon ahead of some light rain. Warm and increasingly breezy from the southwest. 24°C.

Wednesday 🌥 a ridge of high pressure from the southwest brings a fine reprieve with spells of pleasant sunshine and lighter winds from the north. 23°C.

Thursday 🌧 keen southwesterly winds ahead of the next low from the west. Clouding over with outbreaks of rain likely. 21°C.

Friday 🌥 a few showers possible but a lot of fine and fresh weather likely, too. Breezy from the west with temperatures around 21°C.

Weekend outlook: high pressure looks set to ridge in again from the southwest, ensuring an increasingly warm and settled weekend with a diminishing shower risk.

To see the full forecast and keep up to date with any changes to the outlook, follow Steel City Skies on social media.

Our media picks 🔗

An 18-year-old boy from West Yorkshire is among the first of the Rotherham rioters to be sentenced, while many more have already been convicted. Kenzie Roughley, from Pontefract, was filmed punching and kicking a South Yorkshire Police van and will spend up to two years and four months in a young offenders institution. According to The Times, Judge Jeremy Richardson told him: “The officer [in the van] was scared for his life and thought the vehicle would be turned over, which was clearly your aim… You have brought shame on yourself and the town in which you live.”

And in further bad publicity for Sheffield Wednesday, the club has been criticised for saying that only “official” team shirts will be allowed in the stadium, and that those wearing counterfeits may be ejected from the ground. Adult shirts cost £69, and can only be bought from the club’s own Megastore. “The trouble is, football shirts are more meaningful to fans. They are a must-have item for many families, whose budgets no longer run to a full junior kit (with shorts and socks)”, writes Stefano Hatfield in the i.

Home of the week 🏡

The garden is definitely the star attraction of this three-bedroom bungalow in Stannington, featuring both a shed-turned-bar and a hot tub. Since one room is currently a work-from-home office with its own bathroom, it could easily become a four-bedroom house if necessary. The guide price is £450,000 to £475,000 and you can find out more here.

Tribune Tips: If you want to tell us about a story or give us some information, please email editor@sheffieldtribune.co.uk. We are always happy to speak to people off the record in the first poll instance, and we will treat your information with confidence and sensitivity.

Things to do 📆

Literature 📖 On Tuesday evening, local publisher And Other Stories is hosting their annual summer party, welcoming writers Andrzej Tichý and Tim Etchells. Both writers will read from their recent work and there will also be a paid bar, courtesy of the venue La Biblioteka. While the event is free, you should RVSP on the publisher’s website here.

Paint 🎨 On Wednesday, from 10am until 4pm, artist Jennie Hinton will teach the colourful art of painting agapanthus in Sheffield Botanical Gardens. The one-day course costs £45 and all abilities are welcome. To book your place or find out more, contact Jennie on info@jenniehinton.co.uk or 07779464044. 

Theatre 🎭 From Wednesday to Saturday, the Crucible is staging a brand new production created with the help of more than 200 Sheffield residents. Something Old, Something New, written and directed by Tess Seddon, tells the story of Nat and Alex trying to keep the peace at their wedding when everyone is behaving badly — “The father-in-law is nowhere to be found. The aunties are on the warpath. The guests from London keep attempting Yorkshire accents.” Find out more and book your ticket here.