\

From:Nick Eriksen SARD

Tel: 211 6073

Date: 26 O ctober 1994

cc: Miss StewartM r Jones

Parliamentary Clerk

EDM 1645: BRIAN CLOUGH AND THE HILLSBOROUGH D ISASTER

As requested in your note o f 25 October, I attach a line to take and a background note for the above EDM .

a J

N IC K ERIK SEN

EDM 1645: BRIAN CLOUGH AND THE HILLSBOROUGH DISASTER

LINE TO TAKE

T he tragic events at Hillsborough on 15 April 1989 which resulted in the death of

96 Liverpool supporters were fully investigated by Lord Justice Taylor, who found

that this disaster was caused by a complex combination o f several factors which are

fully explained in his interim and final reports. It would not be appropriate for the

G overnm ent to comment on press reports o f personal comments contained in an

autobiography.

BAC K G RO UN D N O TE

O n 15 April 1989, 96 Liverpool supporters were killed at the FA Cup semi-final be tw een Nottingham Forrest and Liverpool staged at Hillsborough. An adjournm ent debate on this issue (inspired by a recent "Cook Report" television programme and unconnected to the Brian Clough autobiography) will be held on 26 O ctober, at the instigation o f Sir Malcolm Thornton MP.

T he autobiography o f M r Brian Clough, the former Nottingham Forest manager, is due for publication next m onth. Press reports indicate that M r Clough has stated in this book that he believes the Hillsborough Stadium disaster was mainly caused by the behaviour o f other Liverpool supporters arriving late at the ground. This is obviously an extremely sensitive issue in Liverpool.

Lord Justice Taylor, who was charged by the H om e Secretary with investigating the causes o f this tragedy and making recommendations to ensure there would be no repeat, published Interim and Final Reports in August 1989 and January 1990 respectively. Taylor found that: "The immediate cause o f the gross overcrowding and hence the disaster was the failure, when gate C was opened, to cut off access to the central pens which were already overfull". There were many other contributory factors however, and it is true that Taylor also stated: "The presence of an unruly m inority who had drunk too m uch aggravated the problem".

T h e Final R eport contained 76 recommendations to prevent a repeat occurrence, by far the most important o f which was that standing accommodation should be eliminated. The Government accepted the R eport, but has decided that in order to target most effectively those clubs where the problems of safety and crowd control are greatest the all-seater requirement will only apply to clubs in the FA Premier League and First Division of the Football League, which were given until August 1994 to go all-seater. Clubs in the Second and Third Divisions will be permitted to keep some standing accommodation, provided the terracing is safe. By August 1994 the vast majority o f the 46 Premier League and First Division clubs had all-seater grounds or had closed their last remaining standing accommodation and were w orking on its conversion to seating.

From: Vanessa YoungParliamentary Branch Room: 208Tel : 211 6289

Date: x g oc/tibes

0.*~\ \C $-QS\ cc PPS/Secretary of StatePS/Mr Sproat Mr Phillips Ms MacLeanr n r O o n J lSMr Loehnis

EDM: l b ( f - f

You will wish to be aware of the attached briefing which was sent to the Leader of House earlier today. It has been cleared by the Secretary of State's Office.

\ I O J { \ S L X lO j< ) c X U ^

VANESSA YOUNG Parliamentary Branch

Q

°^4L

ED M 1645: BRIAN CLOUGH AND THE HILLSBOROUGH DISASTER

LINE TO TAKE

T h e tragic events at Hillsborough on 15 April 1989 which resulted in the death of

96 Liverpool supporters were fully investigated by Lord Justice Taylor, w ho found

that this disaster was caused by a complex combination o f several factors which are

fully explained in his interim and final reports. It would not be appropriate for the

G overnm ent to com m ent on press reports o f personal comments contained in an

autobiography.

B A C K G R O U N D N O T E

O n 15 April 1989, 96 Liverpool supporters were killed at the FA Cup semi-final b e tw een N ottingham Forrest and Liverpool staged at Hillsborough. An adjournm ent debate on this issue (inspired by a recent "Cook Report" television program m e and unconnected to the Brian Clough autobiography) will be held on 26 O ctober, at the instigation o f Sir Malcolm T hornton MP.

T h e autobiography o f M r Brian Clough, the former Nottingham Forest manager, is due for publication next m onth. Press reports indicate that M r Clough has stated in this book that he believes the Hillsborough Stadium disaster was mainly caused by the behaviour o f other Liverpool supporters arriving late at the ground. This is obviously an extremely sensitive issue in Liverpool.

Lord Justice Taylor, who was charged by the H om e Secretary with investigating the causes o f this tragedy and making recommendations to ensure there would be no repeat, published Interim and Final Reports in August 1989 and January 1990 respectively. Taylor found that: "The immediate cause o f the gross overcrowding and hence the disaster was the failure, when gate C was opened, to cut off access to the central pens which were already overfull". There were many other contributory factors however, and it is true that Taylor also stated: "The presence of an unruly m inority who had drunk too m uch aggravated the problem".

T h e Final R eport contained 76 recommendations to prevent a repeat occurrence, by far the most important o f which was that standing accommodation should be eliminated. The Government accepted the R eport, but has decided that in order to target most effectively those clubs where the problems o f safety and crowd control are greatest the all-seater requirement will only apply to clubs in the FA Premier League and First Division o f the Football League, which were given until August 1994 to go all-seater. Clubs in the Second and Third Divisions will be perm itted to keep some standing accommodation, provided the terracing is safe. By August 1994 th e vast majority o f the 46 Premier League and First Division clubs had all-seater grounds or had closed their last remaining standing accommodation and were w orking on its conversion to seating.

7164 Notices of Motions: 25th October 1994 No. 147

m $«JBRIA N ‘eZOUGH^NDJT.HEHILLSBOROUGH.DISASTER 24:10:94

Mr Eddie Loyden Mr John Cummings Mr Alan Simpson Mr Harry Barnes

★ 4That this House condemns the actions of Brian Clough in his allegations that Liverpool

supporters were responsible for the Hillsborough disaster; notes that such an insensitive statement will do nothing to assist the bereaved families in dealing with this terrible tragedy and loss; concludes that this is a cynical attempt to boost the sale of his autobiography; and calls on him to withdraw his statement, and to apologise to the people of Liverpool and to the bereaved families in particular.

★ The figure following this symbol gives the total number of names of Members appended, including those names added in this edition o f the Notices of Motions.

No. 146 Notices of Motions: 24th October 1994 7133

1645 BRIAN CLOUGH AND THE HILLSBOROUGH DISASTER 24:10:94

Mr Eddie Loyden★ 1

That this House condemns the actions of Brian Clough in his allegations that Liverpool supporters were responsible for the Hillsborough disaster; notes that such an insensitive statement will do nothing to assist the bereaved families in dealing with this terrible tragedy and loss; concludes that this is a cynical attempt to boost the sale of his autobiography; and calls on him to withdraw his statement, to apologise to the people of Liverpool and to the bereaved families in particular.

* ^ fi/!ire/ oUo ing this symbol gives the total number of names of Members appended, including those names added m this edition of the Notices of Motions.

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BRIEFING FOR LEADER OF THE HOUSE £ 0 TV1 l&Lf.S

1. Subject: M a > \ U a u g i* t tvv£ (a 9i

2. Briefinq to be provided to Parliamentary Branch please by: feSfc 30#/V\v o e c t f z f c

3. Briefing required by Leader's Office by: 3p/v> Qfe.vO. q,

4. For use during Business Questions on Thursday.

5. We have been asked to provide briefing for the Leader of the House onthe above EDM/subject to which the attached extract from the OrderPaper/Official Report refers.

CONTENTS/LAYOUT

the EDM number and title should be given at the top of the page.

briefing should be in prose (not telegraphese) and on one pageof DNH headed A4 paper.

it should comprise a line-to-take (double spacing) of no more than three lines and a brief background note (single spacing) - both in lower case.

and should include when appropriate

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6. I would be grateful if you could adhere strictly to the deadline, prescribed at paragraph 2 above, which takes into account the time needed for Ministerial clearance.

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2.S O U n ^ 1994

From: Paul McCormack SARD

Tel: 2116083

Date: 25 O ctober 1994

1. Mr Eriksen cc: Miss StewartMr C Jones

2. Parliamentary Clerk

EDM NO.1645: BRIAN CLOUGH AND THE HILLSBOROUGH DISASTER

As requested in your note of 24 O ctober, i attach a line to take and a background note for the above EDM.

P A C McCormack

EDM NO. 1645: BRIAN CLOUGH AND THE HILLSBOROUGH DISASTER

LINE TO TAKE

Lord Justice Taylor was charged by the Home Secretary with fully investigating the causes of the

tragic events at Hillsborough on 15 April 1989 which resulted in the death of 96 Liverpool

supporters. Taylor's findings and 76 recommendations w ere outlined in his Final Report which

was published in January 1990.

It would not be appropriate for the Government to comment on press speculation surrounding

Mr Brian Clough's forthcoming autobiography.

BACKGROUND NOTE

W e understand from press reports that the Autobiography of Mr Brian Clough, the ex- N ottingham Forest Manager, is due for publication next month. There was some press speculation last weekend that Mr Clough has suggested in his autobiography tha t the Hillsborough Stadium disaster was caused by drunken Liverpool supporters arriving late at the ground. Mr Clough, as manager of Nottingham Forest, was present at Hillsborough on the day of th e disaster.

Lord Justice Taylor's Interim and Final Reports on the Hillsborough Stadium disaster w ere published in August 1989 and January 1990 respectively, following the tragic events at an FA Cup semi-final the re on 15 April 1989, at which 96 people died. The Final Report contained 76 recom m endations, many of which, including a reduction in the permitted crowd density on terraces and the removal of spikes from perim eter fences, w ere included in a revised edition of the G reen Guide, published in 1990.

By far the most important of Taylor's recommendations was that standing accommodation should be eliminated at all grounds designated under the 1975 Act. The Government accepted th e R eport, but chose to limit the all-seater requirement to football, due to the particular problems of safety and crowd control experienced in that sport. Accordingly, clubs in th e old Division I and 2 of the Football League w ere given until August 1994, and at those in Divisions 3 and 4 until August 1999, to go all-seater. In July 1992, following a review of the all-seater policy to ensure tha t it targeted m ore effectively those clubs w here the risk is greatest, it was announced that all clubs in the FA Premier League and the First Division of the Football League w ould still be required to go all-seater by August 1994 , in accordance with Taylor's original recommendation. However, clubs in the Second and Third Divisions would be perm itted to keep some standing accommodation, provided the terracing was safe.

By August 1994 the vast majority of the 46 Premier League and First Division clubs had all-seater grounds o r had closed their last remaining standing accommodation and w ere working on its conversion to seating.

verdict□ BRIAN CLOUGH spent his footballing |

life pouring petrol on the fires of con­troversy. B ut no two sentences he ever uttered or wrote will inflam e greater furore that those

w hich appear at the top of page 260 in the autobiography he is to publish next m onth.

Recalling the Hillsborough disaster, which claimed 96 lives, Clough writes: 7 will always remain convinced that those Liverpool fans who died were killed by Liverpool peo­ple. All those lives were lost needlessly.'

Clough is now living in near reclusive retirement and there are many, not least the relatives of the dead, who will judge as heartless and shocking his gratuitous deci­sion to exhum e the events of that terrible day, April 15, 1989. But two things must be remembered. Clough, whose Nottingham Forest team were contesting an FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough, was a close witness to the catastrophe. And there are many who, though they remained silent at the time for

variety of motives, totallyagree w ith him.

One organ which did not stay silent was The Sun news­paper. It boldly laid the blame at the feet of drunken, late- arriving Liverpool supporters who forced their way into an already crowded end of the stadium. For this opinion it was boycotted by thousands of readers on Merseyside.

Nor did this newspaper dodge the issue when, five weeks lat­er, Liverpool came to Wembley to play in the Cup Final. This time I watched as a 200-strong mob of their tickletless fans charged a police line to gain a d m it ta n c e and reported accordingly.

It provoked an unprece­dented barrage of hate mail. None of it questioned the accuracy of my observation. Much of it implied that Liver­pool fans, because of the intensity of their recent grief.

were entitled to some moral dispensation.

C l o u g h r e - o p e n s t h e Hillsborough debate cautious­ly. 7 am now going to say som ething that m ay sound, harsh and I loant to make sure I choose the right words . . . but it im s the innocent who were killed on that dreadful day, killed by others who arrived at the stadium later and in such numbers that mistakes were made.'

He never cites drunkenness as a contributory factor but insists: '1} all the Liverpool supporters had turned up at the stadium in good time, in orderly manner and. each with a ticket, there would have been no Hillsborough disaster.'

And he concludes: 'Thepolice bore the brunt of the blame but I had enormous sym­pathy with them because they were so outnumbered. Yes, the police made, mistakes but I will

forever remain convinced that a major factor was the Liverpool fans who flooded through those gates after the police had become concerned that if they were not adm itted Quickly there was a danger of people dying otdside the stadium.'

Doubtless Clough will be pilloried on Merseyside for controversially reappraising the causes of one of sport's greatest disasters and I assume some sharp-eyed protester will notice that his literary collab­orator in producing the 312 pages of Clough: The Autobiog­raphy (Partridge Press £16.99) was John Sadler, sports col­umnist of The Sun.

But will there be one among them who for more than five years has lived with a troubled conscience? Could it be that, stripped of the emotion of the afterm ath of Hillsborough, Brian Clough's analysis might be absolutely right?

Sunday M irro r 23rd October 1994 Paae 56

6 Wei find you. We want an explanation ’REPORTING TEAM: KEN WS0MTG98SERY, STEUE M U IR , PAOl SMITH, NEAL COLLINS

T

(ltlay M ir ro r O c to b e r 1994

/GEL Clough must QUIT Liverpool. That was the verdict from Anfield fans af-

his father Brian’s astonishi­ng Hillsborough outburst.W ithin h o u r s o f C lo u g h S n r ’s o u t ­

ra g eo u s c o m m e n t s b la m in g R e d s ’ fans for t h e d isa s te r , L iv e r p o o l s u p p o r t e r s w e r e s p r e a d in g th e word: ‘F in d C lo u g h .’

: P la s terer T e d M orris, secre ta ry ofth e L iv e r p o o l S u p p o r te r s ’ C lub, warned: “I w o u ld n ’t l ik e to be B rian Clough's son a fter the rem arks h is fa­ther has m ade."

And R ichard Pedder, ch a irm an of the L iv erp o o l FC Su pp orters’ Club, se n t th is m e ssa g e to Clough: “There's no w a y we a r e g o in g to le t yo u r o u t­rageou s c o m m e n ts on th e H illsb or­ough d isa s te r go. We w il l find you.

"We w an t a n exp lanation — NOW."And h is 14-year-old son G ary, w ho

also w itn e sse d th e ev en ts a t H ills ­borough , fum ed: “T h is w i l l f in ish N ig e l a t A irfield. H e w il l ta k e th e backlash for w h a t h is father has said .”

"We w ill n e v e r forgive B rian Clough for h is a c c u sa t io n s and h is so n w il l bear th e b r u n t o f i t .”

And th e a n g er w as n ot lim ited to the fans. E x-A n fie ld g rea t T om m y S m ith growled: “T h e m a n ’s a co m p lete dis­grace and I’v e lo s t a l l respect for him If I saw h im now , I w ould sp it in h is face. He d e se r v es n o th in g else.

D isgrace“He s h o u ld h a v e ju s t s t a y e d a

rec luse , s a t in h is garden an d g o t drunk.

“I can o n ly assu m e he m u s t have been h a v in g one o f h is w o rst days w h en h e w r o te th is crap book.

■'I s t r o n g ly su g g e s t B rian keep s aw ay from L iverpool. He w on’t be wel­com e here a g a in .

"The p eop le o f L iverp oo l h a v e tr ied to pu t th e ir l iv e s b a ck to g e th er and th en t h i s happens. A b lood y d is­grace, th a t ’s w h a t C lough is.

“M y w ife i s c o m p le te ly d istra u g h t ab ou t h is c o m m e n ts Sh e s t i l l keep s in to u ch w i t h tw o o f the fa m ilie s in ­vo lved in th e d isaster . T h is w i l l s e t th em b a ck y ea rs .

"I d o n ’t t h in k i t ’s g o in g to be co m ­fortable for N ig e l e ith er — thou gh the fact is i t ’s h is fa ther’s com m en ts , n o t N igel's.

"If he comes out publicly and supports his father, then I think he'd better leave Liverpool."

Iro n ica lly , N ig e l w as in the F o re st side on th a t d isa stro u s FA Cup s e m i ­f in a l day in 1989.

His fa ther’s assertions fly in the face of th e T a y lo r report, w h ich co m ­p letely CLEARED the Liverpool fans.

T he lu c r a t iv e book Clough: The A u­tobiography w a s ser ia lised in a new s­paper rev iled in L iverpool — The Sun. Y et th ere w as no m ention o f the H illsb orou gh d isa ster in th e ir e x ­tracts.

T h a t's b eca u se T he Sun has never recovered from th e furure caused when they accused drunken Liverpool fans of c a u s in g th e tragedy.

M orris p o in ted out: '‘H illsborough

B la m e

w ill never be fo rg o tten , b u t th e w hole s itu a tio n w as beg inn in g toca lm down. .

‘ What linn n Clough has done is to n, - oven all the those va in fu lw o w ^ ^ J J J ^ scandalous. tactless andJasteless-_

“I ju s t don 't know w h at has m ade th e m an decide to s ta y su ch d isg u st­ing th ings. . .

“Maybe the beer has g o t to his brain, as h as been su ggested in th e past. Maybe he is go ing se n ile ;

“B u t w h a tev er m ad e h im w rite such stu ff - and i t co m es to m e as no

surprise th a t the book w as g h o sted by a m an from the S u n - I can assure h im th a t h is co m m en ts are t o ta l ly untrue.

“I had e ig h t coach es of supporters a t th a t gam e and we had tw o people m issing . We had one lad in h o sp ita l ca lled P au l, and I w as w ith h is un cle and a u n t a s we searched in th e m or­tuary and round th e h o sp ita ls for the youngster.

“He survived but we lost a g ir l called P a u la S m ith . And we w ill never for­g e t th a t l i t t l e girl.

‘‘O bviously the fee lin g a m o n g th e L iverpool fans w ill be h o s t ile to B ri­an Clough.

“H ow does he know w h a t w a s o c ­curring on the Leppings Lane terraces w h en h e had sp en t th e prev iou s hour and a quarter in th e p ressing room w ith h is team ?

"Personally. I will never hold Brian Clough's statem ents against Niael. but I am sure m any o f our suvvorters will."

Richard Pedder, whose club h a s 6,000 m em bers in L iverpool a lon e , added: “We c a n n o t possib ly l e t th e m a n g e t

aw ay w ith c la im s th a t i t w as L iver ­poo l fans w ho k il le d L iv erp o o l fans. T he Lord J u s t ic e T a y lo r R ep o rt on th e d isa ster s ta te d q u ite c le a r ly the reasons - i t w as dow n to in ad eq u ate p o lic in g and stew arding.

“I’ll never forget th a t day, b ecau se I to o k m y so n Gary, who w as o n ly 10 a t the t im e and we arrived a n hour before th e k ick -o ff a t the L eppings L ane end.

“I to ld m y boy there w as no w a y we w ere g o in g in th a t w a y th ro u g h the ch aos and w en t in to our sta n d s se a ts by a n oth er entrance."

Pedder, a 47-year-old accou nts clerk w ith a L iverpool g la ss firm , h as been a fan of L iverpool for 40 years.

••And th is is one of th e m o s t u p set­ting things I've ever heard of,” he said. “Apart from the d isa ster itse lf .

“Clough’s c la im s are u tte r ly r id icu ­lous.

•‘I t ’s a to ta l in su lt n o t ju st to L iv ­erp ool fans, bu t to fo o tb a ll fans a ll round th e cou n try .”

W hen Mr Pedder can vassed fans in the o ffic ia l headquarters o f th e Sup­p o rters’ Club y esterd ay , th ere w as anger a l l round.

M achine operator K eith R ichards, a L iverpool fan from N ew port, said: "After B ill S h a n k ly , I a lw a y s c o n ­sidered B rian C lough to be th e great-

| e s t m anager who ever lived . T here's i no w ay I th in k th a t now. I ’m d is ­

gu sted by him."

Richards, 40, continued: “I should have been k illed in the Hillsborough crush. B ut a friend gave mo a t ic k e t for the stan ds just before the m atch, and I gave m y terrace t ic k e t away.

“What Brian ('lough has accused I.it crpool supporters of is unbelievable, it's toorse ifuan cUsgraceful.

"I can assure Mr Clough th a t there was no way Liverpool fans were re­sponsib le for ki l l ing their fellow sup­porters.

"You can 't blam e N igol Clough for the behaviour of his father, but there is no doubt th a t N igel w ill take the b ack lash for this. It m ig h t be advis­ab le if he did g e t a m ove from L iv­erpool football club."

L iv erp o o l’s ch ief executive Peter R obinson would on ly say: "I’m sorry, bu t I am n o t prepared to m ake any c o m m en t on behalf o f Liverpool FC or m y se lf u n t il I have seen the Bri­an C lough b ook .”

But Robinson is certain to bring the mat­ter immediately before the Anfield board.

Form er Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar, now w ith Southam pton , said: “I h a v en ’t read the book but if th a t's ex a ctly w h at Mr Clough is say ­ing th en I'm deeply saddened. I feel very sad for a l l th e L iverpool fam i­lie s bereaved by the Hillsborough dis­aster.

“Y ou c a n 't p u t th e b lam e down to anybody. I"m so sorry th a t the peo­ple who lo s t love ones w ill read th is in h is book.

“It w ou ld be su itab le for th e of­fend ing paragraphs to be tak en out bu t th a t is dow n to one person, Mr Clough. O nly he can m ak e th a t de­c is io n .”

THERE’S no fool like an old fool.

But when Brian Clough blames Liverpool fans for the 96 people lost in the Hillsbor­ough Disaster, you must ques­tion his sanity.

He has devastated a City still in mourning and made life im­possible for his own son,Nigel.

Clough Snr has become syn­onymous — and infamous — for his outrageous outbursts.

Especially when he is be­ing ya id to make them.

So is it any surprise that his comments are contained in his new, money-spinning biography?

This time Clough goes be­yond the realms .of decency.

The People of-Liverpool — and Soccer in general — are RIGHT to condemn him.

A nd th e y ’l l h u rt h im even more when they te ll him

la y M irro r "fLl O cto b e r 1994

^ 72

Br i a n c i o u g h sparked a wave of revulsion on Mersey-

de last night after blam- g Liverpool fans for the llsborough disaster. Plough m ad e h is outra- ;ous a c c u sa tio n s about e 1989 traged y which ft 96 people dead in his w book Clough: The Auto- •graphy.■he former N o tt in g h a m For- ; and D erby C ou nty boss •rs: “I w ill a lw ays rem ain con- iced th at tiio se L iverpool is w ho died were k il le d by

w ill always remainconvinced that those

ans tvho ateat Hillsboroughwere killed b

W/ i

YOU'LL NEVER WALK AL

FOOTBALL CLUE',

\

Wall their

supporters had ^turned up in

time, inmannera tic k e t,t have been no dtsaster. f

' i i T i T *

^ W a/IONTGOMERL iv e rp o o l people. All those l ives were lo s t needlessly ."

Thereaction on Merseyside last nig'ht was (mFW^Jscjust.

And leading the a t t a c k on the o u t sp o k e n C lough was L iv e r ­pool legend T o m m y S m ith .

S m i th stormed'. “T h e m a n is a c o m p le te d isgrace. I ’ve los t a ll respect for h im. If I saw h im now r d sp i t in h is face. He de ­serves n o th in g else."

S m i th 's response was n o t i so ­lated . Severa l L iverpool fans responded to tlie c o m m e n ts by c a l l in g Clough "a b a s ta rd .”

O th e rs reck o n e d t h a t he had g one co m p le te ly senile .

One to ld me: "The beer has gone to h is head. I t ’s l o a th ­som e."

T h e C lough book will cause o u t r a g e in fo o tb a l l circles.

In t h e c h a p t e r w h e re he m a k e s his incred ib le a l leg a ­t ions a g a in s t Liverpool fans he adds: "I a m now going to say s o m e th i n g t h a t m a y sound h a r sh a s I w a n t to m a k e sure I choose th e r ig h t words.

" B u t i t was the in n o c e n t who w ere k i l led on t h a t dreadful day. k i l led by o th e r s who a r ­r ived a t t h e s t a d iu m la t e r and

i n s u c h n u m b e r s t h a t m is ta k e s were made.

“If a ll the Liverpool s u p p o r t ­e r s h a d t u r n e d up a t t h e s t a d iu m in good t im e , in o r ­d e r ly m a n n e r and each w i th a t ic k e t , th e re would have been no Hil lsborough d isas ter ."

. Clough's co m m en ts — which h ave e n rag ed a c i ty and re ­opened a l l the wounds o f so m an y bereavem en ts — flies in the face of the Lord Ju s t i c e T a y lo r r e p o r t which b lam ed th e t r a g e d y on i n a d e q u a te policing and stewarding. .. -

C lough 's son Nigel, who was t ran s fe r re d from N o t t in g h a m F o r e s t to L iverpool , in the s u m m e r of 1993. could be t h e f i r s t m an to suffer for his f a th e r 's a u to b io g ra p h ic a l o u t ­burst .

A n g r y L i v e r p o o l f a n s insis ted la s t night: •■Nigel will ge t the b ack lash . He m ig h t as well get, o u t of town now."

G e t o u t o f lA v t '.rp o o l S e e P a g es ? 6 f 5 7