'Heysel is never, ever mentioned' | Mark Lawrenson recalls night of the 1985 stadium disaster | OTB

Former Liverpool defender Mark Lawrenson shared his memories of the Heysel Stadium disaster in the 1985 European Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus.

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[phil]

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.

[lee]

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

[keithoconnell]

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

[davidh.]

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.

[backpackingireland]

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

[aidankearney]

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.

[expatwealthasia]

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

[meanredspider]

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.

[Bobbibouchersmumwasright]

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

[EightFrancs]

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

29th May 2022.

[Racy_michael]

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

[andygreen]

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

[neilshaw]

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.

[jimstan]

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

[thinkofitthisway]

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.

[Theoriginalbigbrillo]

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 ☹️☹️☹️☹️

[tw]

nice to hear someone from liverpool say this.

[nigelduckworth]

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.

[VR]

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.

[marisalombardi]

Liverpool might want to forget it, but JUVENTUS NEVER WILL...