April 11 – Every senior fixture in England across all four professional divisions will kick off seven minutes later than normal this weekend as football marks the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough stadium disaster in Sheffield, when 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives at the club’s FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest.
The move will be felt most poignantly felt at Anfield where Liverpool take on Manchester City on Sunday at what is being billed as a title decider.
The 1989 semi-final was abandoned after six minutes and an additional minute of silence will complete the seven-minute observation. Ironically, this season’s FA cup semifinals also take place this weekend, both at Wembley stadium.
“I know there are 96 people in the sky who will always be supporting this team,” said Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers whose side are bidding for their first championship title since 1990, two years before the Premier League was launched.
After a long fight by campaigners, fresh inquests into the deaths of 96 fans who died got under way last week and could take a year to resolve. The inquests, in front of a jury of seven women and four men, come after the original accidental death verdicts were quashed by the High Court in December, 2012.
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