What a wonderfully honest assessment of the Heysel tragedy. Liverpool fans get very tetchy about that incident. Both the fans and the club have basically swept it under a large red mat, as if it never happened.

Extremely rare to hear anyone associated with Liverpool to talk about Heysel

Respect to Mark L for actually speaking about this.👏🏻

Lovely to hear from a man with guts and integrity. Remember Heysel!

He's so, so right. Heysel has been memory-holded in the most atrocious way. I remember watching it as a kid. Will never, ever forget the horror.

Very strange night . Remember watching as a 10 year old kid . Couldn’t believe they played it . Yes definitely not spoken about enough. FairPlay Mark , well said

Hat's off to you Mark, I have often thought of Heysel and the forgotten 39 lost lives in 1985. Never comes up in conversations on Sports programmes. Horrendous night.

Regardless of guilt, Heysel is the reason why Liverpool struggle for sympathy from fans of other clubs, especially as the two disaster were only four years apart.

Very brave of him to bring it up. I was in Belgium, with work, the week following Heysel and I was incredibly uncomfortable and I was only saying to my wife last week after Paris that you never hear about Heysel so I’m so glad Lawro has brought this up.

Great interview. I applaud Mark Lawrenson for his honesty over the years. Fascinating stuff, yet tragic at the same time.

Only took Liverpool 25 years to commemorate the Heysel disaster with a plaque at Anfield so that goes to show how they view that tragic event.

Mark has gone up in my estimation massively. But the documentary has to happen.

Mark well done for been so honest , it has been my view for ages

Rest in peace to those who died in this awful tragedy 37 years ago in 1985 today. 29th May 2022.

I have wondered for years why there is almost no mention of Heysel either from Liverpool or indeed from the media as a counterpoint to Hillsborough. So how brave of Mark Lawrenson to say something. The victims may not have been Liverpool supporters but they were human beings with mothers, fathers, brothers and children. They have been forgotten in the UK. That is shameful.

Bet they talk about it in certain parts of Turin very often !!!!!!!! Respect to Mark for even mentioning it

I was at herself. It as the worst day of my life. We were in the stand next to the wall. This was nothing to do with UEFA, the Belgian police or the Juve fans. The blame lies completely with Liverpool fans. There was no aggression from the juve fans who were mainly families. IT was all down to the Liverpool thugs and yet ever since there has been a struggle ng attempt to either forget it happened or to blame someone else. There are no minute silences for the 39.

nice to hear someone from liverpool say this.

Sono da sempre un tifoso della Juve, ho 65 anni, quella sera dovevo essere all'Heisel, probabilmente sarei stato nel settore Z.. Avevo visto allo stadio Olimpico di Roma le due finali del 1977 e del 1984, ho gioito per le vittorie del Liverpool che ho sempre tifato sin da bambino, quello che è successo all'Heisel è qualcosa di tremendo, inaudito. La grande responsabilità per me è stata degli organizzatori belgi e della Uefa, incapaci e corrotti!! Onore a Mark che non dimentica e ci tiene in memoria, peccato che a Torino si siano invece dimenticati ed hanno seppellito la memoria. Sogno da anni una grande nuova finale europea fra Juve e Liverpool in amicizia e fratellanza!

I was there, it was a really strange day all in all. Around lunch time,I and a friend were drinking and eating snacks with Juventus supporters in La Grand-Place in Brussels ,and having a great time. This continued until we got to the stadium which I have to say should never have been used for a European Cup final, as the place was crumbling. I recall there being a breeze block perimeter wall around it, which was not particularly high,and those without tickets, simply climbed over it. Even if you couldn't manage to climb over the wall, the mortar was so rotten that I actually watched people kick out several of the blocks and scramble through the hole. The police seemed out of their depth in managing the crowd. We eventually got in and took our seats adjacent to where the trouble was. From memory, there was an inadequate fence dividing both sets of supporters, and it literally just 'kicked off'. As mentioned, the police appeared unsure how to react with what was unfolding around them, so much so that although we were sat well away from the disturbance, they were walking down the steps of our area of the stand indiscriminately swinging their batons at us ,even though the stand consisted of Liverpool supporters who were doing nothing more than watching agog at what was unfolding. Once we knew people had been killed, my mate and I left the stadium.We went back to Brussels Airport and as we were one of the first there, a police officer heard our accents and said you'd better come with me as there's likely to be trouble here later. We ended up biding our time in an unlocked police cell until the charter flight returned. Even the boarding of the plane took a surreal turn. The aircraft didn't park at the gate as it would normally do,but remained on the apron well away from the terminal building, and we were bussed out to it. When we boarded the bus the driver said, I'm going to turn the lights off until we get out to the apron. Once there we got off at the foot of the steps of the plane, where the crew were unsure whether we were even going to be allow to board or not. eventually it was resolved, and we returned to Liverpool, on what I think was the first plane back. As I said, a really strange day.

My God Mark, it's so good to see you. Watched you so many times for Ireland in the 80's. One of the best defenders English (and world football) has ever seen.

I was at Heysel and Hillsborough and I totally agree that Heysel was almost forgotten. That's always felt uncomfortable.

Spot on Mark. I remember it well and the flak English clubs took following the match. Everton fans will never forget it.

Thank you Mark! All respect to you sir and I hope you do speak about it again. All the best for you in the future!

Mark is 100% correct when he states the game should never have been played that night after the said tradegy!! Mark also states he's never watched a second of footage from that night, well Mark we both have something in common because I never went to watch another game at Anfield , ashamed to be a fan of LFC after 4 years of solid home and away games from 1981-1985 ☹️☹️☹️☹️

Liverpool fan through and through , my family member was at Heysel and growing up I knew a lot about it from his diary. The football hooligan groups at that time in stadiums that were falling apart are reasons why they died yes…. However not speaking on it in my opinion is cowardice . How can we scream for justice on one hand (righty so) but then shelve heysel it’s nonsense.

Well done for speaking out on this Mark

The stadium was crumbling, underdeveloped and stones were lying around, ticket assignment was a disaster, the preparedness from the police and organization of the whole event was a disaster, but also the fans went in a craze... It was traumatic for everyone involved and a collective black day for the sport, the organisation and fanbase as a whole.

I respect Mark so much for this. I have always asked this question myself.

so true great interview there should be minutes silence every year at the euro Cup final

Juventus played a blinder when they played at Anfield years later and the Scouse Drama machine kicked in and they saw it as an opportunity to offer an over the top apology, marching from the centre of the pitch to the Juve end with wreaths, when they got there the Italians spurned their efforts by turning their backs and giving them the finger. Bravo Raggazzo’😉

They were never forgotten in my public house. Rip the 39 souls.

Its about time this got mentioned.

I recall watching this unfold as a teenager at home (Must've been on the BBC or ITV). One of my most vivid memories is listening to the co-commentator, the late Emlyn Hughes, actually crying on live TV watching the horrific events unfold. The most amazing thing is that despite all this death the authorities insisted that the game go ahead which of course it eventually did.

I vividly remember the night.. couldn't believe what I was seeing on TV and massively stunned and upset. I was only 13 and personally I was falling out of love with football due to the culture that surrounded it at the time.. this just destroyed my love of the game for years. I 'supported' Liverpool in the mid to late 70s through the early 80s too. Respect to Mark L for his insight

Respect for good old Mark Lawrenson.

As a Liverpool fan myself. He is right. Its shame but we should do better because we know what it’s like for fans to never come home from a football match. Like all history, it’s about accepting what happened regardless of how uncomfortable it is. Yes it was a poor quality stadium, yes the fans shouldn’t have been that close to each other from opposing teams but at the end of the day, a group of Liverpool fans rushed other supporters and regardless of what the intention was, people died.

As fans we are ashamed of it its so sad and tragic . RIP 39. YNWA

I go wrong sometimes. I saw Mark Lawrenson in Birkdale at Christmas one year and lost the plot, gave him a big hug , although quite shocked he was a perfect gentleman and just asked was I Alright and smiled . He’s a living ledge ⚽️ x

Fair play here. I mentioned this the other week in a discussion as to 'why do stadium issues seem to follow Liverpool around?' I got one Liverpool fan trying to tell me that it's well documented that it was the Juve fans that caused it. WTF? Nothing to do with a selection of Liverpool fans charging through the breach. The sad fact is that there are SOME extremely deplorable Liverpool fans that are causing significant problems and this results in the tarring of the whole fanbase. It's not fair on the majority of the fans, but it's completely understandable given the troubles caused and authorities don't really have much time to differentiate between good ones and bad ones in the heat of moments

He is absolutely right. I remember that evening so well, in fact it was an awful time to be a football fan. When they had the issues with crowd control in Paris the other week, everyone spoke about Hilsborough but it was Heysel that I was reminded of.

Very honnest of him ! Liverpool have deleted this from history

Great inrerv8ew as always.

I have been thinking about Heysel of late. Always wondered why it isn't mentioned or memorials streamed. I care, I remember. Let's not forget them!

Well said Mark , brave of you

Very rare indeed , usually conveniently brushed under the carpet . Well said that man .

I was at Heysel, a Liverpool supporter aged 21 and I didn’t murder anyone. I still have my ticket as I entered the ground through a hole in the wall, just take that in… a hole in a wall of a stadium hosting the European Cup Final. The stadium was completely unfit for purpose, it was a crumbling wreck. As I entered the ground I could see that the opposite end of the stadium was Juventus, all of it. Our end was Liverpool, except it wasn’t because it was 2/3rds Liverpool and 1/3rd Juventus. UEFA in their wisdom had allocated 33% of our end to Juventus. I was struggling to move where I was stood, we were rammed in so tight it was awful and we were all wondering why this was the case…it became clear afterwards. As kick off came closer, I remember the tensions were terrible, our section was unbearable, many Liverpool supporters were struggling to cope with how we were all so rammed in, much like they were in Paris at the weekend prior to the game. I’m tall so I could see more than others and I saw the fence between us and Juventus was so flimsy. Then I remember flares being fired over the fence from Juventus supporters to us landing in the middle of our supporters, not just one flare but many as well as fireworks. The atmosphere grew even worse as the sense of injustice we felt being rammed in was now real. The fireworks continued and I could see the Juventus supporters taunting us, of course the Liverpool supporters retaliated both verbally and eventually physically. I couldn’t see what was happening too clearly but I heard lots of shouting and aggression and I remember seeing in the distance some Juventus fans being crammed into a corner. So please note now … at no point did I nor the Liverpool supporters around me realise what was happening as we couldn’t see, I just thought there was confrontation between the two sets of fans. Everything dragged on and the kick off was delayed, rumours started to spread about injuries and a wall collapsing, but as I was stood there I swear on my life I still did not have a clue what was going on. I saw at the other end Juventus supporters wearing face coverings and some of them seemed to be holding weapons and I’ve never known a tension like it inside a stadium. There was information over the tannoy, but apart from a few words in English most of the information given to the crowd was in Italian. The game was strange and I remember feeling very angry Juventus getting a penalty that was not a penalty, and I remember Liverpool were the better team. Why did I feel like this? Because NONE OF US had a clue that people had died, they didn’t tell us, so we just watched the game as normal, all be it realising that was being played in a very strange, highly toxic atmosphere. As we left the stadium there were Juventus supporters openly showing they had knives and sticks. I saw coaches being attacked and supporters being set upon, I guess in revenge. We got out of Brussels asap and I swear the first time I realised anyone had died was on the ferry probably about 4 hrs later. It was a tragedy and I feel for those poor souls who died and their friends and families. But the stadium was like a building site, it was dilapidated and dangerous. I am not a scally, 5 years after Heysel I became a police officer myself. I think about Heysel a lot and I’m happy to talk about it, unlike Mark Lawrenson here. Yes Liverpool supporter caused the deaths of 39 innocent Italians, but there was many many other extenuating circumstances surround this debacle organised by UEFA.

Big respect to Mark for manning up.

I was 18 years old at the time of Heysel and I remember it all too well. About 10 years ago I began a friendship with a woman who was 3 years old in 1985. She was British born and bred and had no interest in football. She knew all about Hillsborough but she had never heard of Heysel until I told her about it. She also knew about the Bradford fire disaster which happened a couple of weeks before Heysel but of Heysel itself she was completely ignorant. I think there is definitely an unspoken agreement in the mainstream media to avoid mentioning it.

Brilliant interview. Well done lads and well done Mark Lawrenson for a unique insight into that awful night. Always had a grá for Juve because of Liam Brady but that night turned me into a savage Juventino.

I (65yr non Liverpool living LFC supporter) mentioned this after LFC supporters disgracefully boo,’d the anthem. Many excuses were given and inevitably Hillsborough came up. Nothing was mentioned about this shocking event while Liverpudlians were spouting off being victims - their anger at authority, history and excuses for booing. I was in Germany on Heysel night for a very important business meeting with Italians. Got back late to the hotel and in the TV room was greeted by “mad British” - all I could see on TV were people and horses on the pitch. Attended the meeting the following day where the Italians simply walked out when we arrived leaving German and Norwegians staring at each other and us apologising for our country. One can understand the anger.

Remember watching it live on TV. Just awful scenes. Not surprising many Liverpool supporters avoid talking about it.

Very surprised that Mark Lawrenson is so naive as to wonder why Heysel is never mentioned, blindingly obvious to me and others given the comments.

I watched it when I was a student, had a very heated argument with a die hard football fan who said they should play the game to prevent crowd violence. I was as disgusted as I've ever been, it was like dancing on peoples graves.

I and a number of friends were in Iceland watching Scotland in a world cup qualifier, the Liverpool game was live on TV but never did see the game as the Icelandic Authorities took the match off air and closed the station down that night. the next morning we found out why and some of the Italian newspapers did not hold back with very graphic pictures of the tragedy.

I still find it unbelievable that they decided to play the game after they knew there had been fatalities..

Maybe it is because it happened abroad and English clubs were banned from European competition for five years; Liverpool for six years. Several top officials, police captain Johan Mahieu, and 14 Liverpool fans convicted of manslaughter. Unlike Hillsborough, it didn't have an ongoing saga for too many years because of the police cover ups. It does get mentioned but not like Hillsborough is because it didn't happen here. I think one Brit died from Northern Ireland and the rest were European and that's another reason it isn't in our media all the time. It was caused by Liverpool fans sadly and got us banned from Europe, people don't want to remember that.

Respect to Mark Lawrenson for mentioning this tragedy which has been sweptunder the carpet. English European football's darkest day.

Legend. Fair play to him.

I wonder how much of the club's memorial activity to both Hillsborough and Heysel is a direct response to communication with the families of victims. It might help to answer why Heysel is not remembered as much as Hillsborough when so many of the families of victims presumably reside in Italy, with a different first language and no communication with LFC.

Many of the scenes on the television have stuck with me , Lawro careful with his words here and perhaps holding back but clearly still upset , good on him

5 minutes of " why isn't anyone talking about it" Then says he couldn't be arsed replying to the email regarding a program about it....

Well done mark for highlighting it

That's one I remember. I even remember how I learned about it. I was on a break in the back room of the coffee house I was working at and flipping through the New York Daily News. The photos were shocking, especially for me who is short and tends to be a bit claustrophobic.

Its been airbrushed out of history. They never stop banging on about Hillsborough.

RESPECT MARK .

Well done Mark..spot on heysel has been forgotten were Liverpool is concerned and no it shouldn't be ..well said ..

Well said Mark.

I remember Heysel. Was camping out in my mate's back garden the night it happened.

Fair play to Lawrenson for saying the cold truth. Liverpool fans want the world to acknowledge April 15th for Hillsborough. And yet, on May 29th this year, the club not only failed to acknowledge Heysel, but they held an unnecessary parade through the streets of Liverpool. Can you imagine the uproar if a parade was held on April 15th?

GREAT player!!!!! Always honest heartfelt in interviews.

It doesn’t get a mention because some Liverpool fans acts like morons and savages that night. The disaster that night was completely down to Liverpool fans. No ifs, buts or maybe. From a Liverpool fan.

I was 15 at the time and remember it as if it was yesterday. I was on holiday in the Eden Valley so dependent on the television in the TV room at the camp site we were staying at. The game should not have been played despite the concerns that not doing so may have worsened the situation, difficult though the judgement call must have been, to say the least. I am not aware of other matches that have been played after many have died in such circumstances. As someone else has pointed out, there are people walking around who were involved in what happened and have escaped justice. The stadium was not fit for purpose but the same could be said of other stadia where large events have been held yet attendees behaved properly. The wall did not collapse on its own. The horror of Heysel has not dimmed all these years later; footage of it on You Tube is truly beyond belief and no words can do justice to the tragic and completely avoidable loss of life. Those responsible should hang their heads in shame.

Well said Mark - brave and honest man

Fair play, Lawro - what’s right is right! I’m a bit younger and honestly I’ve literally only just heard about it - hence looking for more info about it and found this vid. For something so violent and tragic to just be seemingly ignored reeks of hypocrisy and is just a really scummy and cowardly thing to do. 39 people died…that is horrific.

Lawro is right, and Hillsborough and Heysel should be mentioned together never separate, they were both injustices for different reasons and both equally tragic Its because one of those events envokes sympathy towards the club and the other event envokes rage..

The truth is, if this had have happened to Liverpool fans, you would have never of heard the last of it!

Spot on

Always enjoyed listening to Mark, even as a pundit on Monday he was best pundit there, always fair and unbiased.

And today they’re holding a trophy parade on it’s anniversary - despite refusing to play matches on the anniversary of Hillsborough.

So many folk just don't know about this, espaecially younger ones. I was with Everton two weeks before this happened, in Rotterdam with 22,000 fellow Blues. It was well organised and trouble-free. Heysel was a terrible event, many mistakes were made in the choice of stadsium and ticketing, but a minority of Liverpool's support caused this, and the club should acknowledge the tragedy and commemorate it with as much vigour as they do Hillsborough.

Well said ML!!

Well done Mark. First time i've heard it mentioned by anyone associated with it in any way.

Same as the tradgey at Bradford. The press never mention it.

Shame on Liverpool fc and fans. Bloody hands

Totally agree with you 👍🏾

It's good to hear an honest person. Best Wishes for a fulfilling future!

Heysel isn't mentioned because it goes against the preferred narrative of Koppites always being victims. It's never, ever their fault. Official UEFA observer Gunter Schneider said, "Only the English fans were responsible. Of that there is no doubt." I watched it live and anyone who thinks for a second it wasn't Liverpool fans to blame obviously wasn't paying attention.

I live in Brussels & I remember the disgusting hooliganism in the city centre all day before the match. My best friend's shop (close to the Grand Place) had her shop window smashed in for no reason & she also went through a terrible time.

Well done mark for mentioning this.👍

Well said Mark

Worth noting there is a memorial to Heysel at Anfield and the club put flowers there every year.

I could listen to Lawro all day. Such an eloquent and important man. What happened that evening affected so many.

I was there that night,im a leeds fan and had been at birmingham v leeds on the sat,terriable scenes with no excuses,then remember shareing wakefield station with millwall and we all in shock about bradford fire,RIP POOR SOULS,no mobiles to find out,i then decided to get away from all this and went to heysel,little did i know what would happen,i was on my own but very savvy.but what i saw has lived with me ever since,i had a ticket for that section and swapped it with a juva fan,im on youtube if you watch the match,i stood at the end of standing terracing next to the seating opposite the main stand,never forget liverpool fans screaming for coach to leave heysel to the station before juva fans got out,lawro is spot on

You have to ask why it was played there in the first place. A year prior in 1984 Liverpool beat Roma in rome. As a result dozens of Liverpool fans were stabbed

Wherever blame was apportioned tragedy seems to follow Liverpool and their supporters. Disaster follows disaster, poor behaviour follows poor behaviour and yet Liverpool and their supporters seem impervious to any critisium!

Well said

I was there with my brother having been to Rome the year before. Hours before the game, the two thirds occupied by Liverpool fans was so tightly packed you couldn't get your hands out of your pockets and the one third occupied by 'neutrals' had plenty of space. It was only a matter of time before the Liverpool supporters spilt into the "Z" section because there was no crowd segregation or security and when it did the Italians retreated. I'll never forget it for the rest of my life, RIP, Forza Juve

The photo of the crowd at the start of this video shows a man in an arsenal top involved in the fight. Another man in a white top is trying to hold him back by the looks if it. Also seen other photos showing fans with england tops on among the crowd, something that Liverpool fans would never wear to a European cup final. Just proves fans of other clubs took part in heysel

He´s right. It is strange. The images and videos of that day are absolutely horrific. The thing with Heysel, in comparison to Hillsborough, is that all of the relevant authorities up to and including Juventus themselves saw fit to sweep it under the carpet. The Liverpool fans who charged the Juventus supporters were obviously the most direct at fault. So when the Liverpool fans were rightly done for manslaughter, LFC and the English clubs banned from Europe, too many other culpable parties saw that as enough to take the heat off them. The "English hooligans" was the easiest and simplest line to follow. The problem is UEFA and Belgian authorities were involved in the organisation of the event in forseeably unsafe conditions, and even Juventus were happy to claim the European Cup won that day and didn´t want to publicise the fact that, after 39 supporters had already died in horrific circumstances, the game was unbelievably played on in fear of there being another riot from their end of the ground in response. There was never a campaign for justice into the deeper issues of the day - as there absolutely should have been. If football had properly addressed its safety issues after Heysel as it should have done, in the same way it did after Hillsborough, then perhaps Hillsborough would not even have happened (that is not me saying Hillsborough was down to the fans by the way - it absolutely wasn´t. But it was down to patently unfit stadiums and crowd control management, as was Heysel). It should have been the wake up call, and it wasn´t. Even today in England, most fans are happy just to use it as a stick to beat Liverpool fans with, without actually caring or understanding about the event or what went on. People, many of whom were not even alive at the time, doing wall pushing gestures and singing "Murderers" is the sad and only real remaining legacy of the horrendous deaths of 39 people. The whole thing is grim. RIP39.