The football tragedy at Hillsborough was only barely discussed here in the United States. Sadly, we heard the headlines that 'hooligans' were responsible for this stampede that killed 96 people--but not the real story. Here, "30 for 30: Soccer Stories" explains not only what happened but the incredible efforts by some to deliberately project an inaccurate account of what really occurred.
In the 1989 FA Cup semi-finals between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, fans from Liverpool began a stampede which ultimately killed 96 people. At the time, as I mentioned above, this was blamed on 'hooligans'-- even before any real investigation occurred. In fact, many factors contributed to the stampede--such as an inadequate police presence, ineptitude by the police organizers, forcing all the Liverpool fans through one tiny set of turnstiles (thus creating a HUGE choke point) and more. But, for the longest time, hooligans and folks without tickets forcing there way in were both promoted as THE causes--even though neither had any serious impact on the stampede. Much of the film chronicles the efforts by families of the dead to get to the truth...which FINALLY happened in 2012!!! All in all, a very sad and compelling film--one which begs the viewer to wonder WHY...why the deliberate attempts to misrepresent the tragedy.