Never Forgotten 🕯️97🕯️

Today is the 35th anniversary of Hillsborough. 35 years. It’s crazy how it’s been such a long time and yet the memories of that day are still so powerful within my mind.

So much has changed in the world since that day, the day all future hopes, plans and dreams were criminally taken away from them all. Nobody deserves to go to a football match and come home dead, or come home with life changing injuries only to die from those injuries decades later.

Its criminal that those people accountable have not been placed behind bars for their murderous disregard for human safety.

I was 24 when it happened , my mate Barry was 26. He was so excited to be able to go to the match that day. The timing of his ship docking in Glasgow was perfect.

Being a Merchant sailor it wasn’t always possible to get the timings so aligned but on this occasion he managed it.

He went on the coach with five of our mates. Five lads and one girl. You can be sure the lads would have taken good care of the girl. Jackie Costello is her name, sister of an ex gf.

What was Barry like? Well he was a bit of a charmer, like I used to be back in the day. A couple of Irish girls came over to Liverpool on what I think was an extended trip. They found their way to our local n Barry was straight in there with the chat. They became close. Her friend decided to head back home after a few weeks, whilst Barry’s new squeeze decided to stay. I can’t remember her name which is sad.

Not long after the tragedy she headed back home to Ireland too, never to be heard from again. They’d been together for quite a few months at this stage and it was obvious they were both smitten.

I’ve known Barry since our school days. He was two years above me at school so we weren’t exactly close back then. He actually lived around the corner from me.

Our friendship blossomed sometime later. We drank in the same pub, met the same friends and we both had a love for Liverpool football club.

We would all meet up several times a week ( Barry would join us when he was home ) n have a few drinks together. At full strength there were about 20 of us. On a Sunday we’d have a few beers before the pubs closed at 2pm and then go to the park and play footy. The girls would come along too and watch us lads kick a ball around. We were a tight knit group.

I’ve mentioned this before but I’ll mention it again because looking back it was kinda funny in a cheeky kinda way. One of these Sundays we were all heading to the park after being in the pub. I was chatting to him, with my girlfriend just ahead of us talking to one of the other girls and Barry said, ” Your bird’s got one hell of a nice arse”. I was like, what? Did you really just say that? The cheeky fooker😂.

The feeling of loss never goes away, not for me and not for anyone else that has been affected by what happened that day. It will never go away until the day I draw my last breath.

The authorities didn’t learn from previous scares, like Leeds United v Coventry in another FA cup semi final a couple of years earlier. That ground wasn’t and still isn’t fit to host any kind of event. I was there the previous year to watch us play Sheffield Wednesday in a mid week league cup match. It wasn’t even full but I noticed myself the failings of the set up in that Leppings lane end.

This tragedy could have been avoided but the powers that be gave that dump a safety certificate even though anyone that has been there knows it’s anything but safe.

I was 24, Barry was 26.

I’m now 59, Barry is still 26.

Rest in peace my brother .

You’ll never walk alone.

You’ll never be forgotten.

We are LIVERPOOL.