Football
PA Sport 8y

Liverpool remembers Hillsborough victims at last public Anfield service

A service was held to mark the final Hillsborough memorial ceremony at Liverpool's Anfield home on Friday, 27 years to the day after the tragedy.

Loved ones of the 96 people who died in a terrace crush as Liverpool played Nottingham Forest in an FA Cup semifinal at Sheffield Wednesday's ground on April 15, 1989, were joined by club legends and around 25,000 members of the public.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and his players received a rousing reception as they took their places for the service following Thursday's dramatic Europa League win over Borussia Dortmund.

The families of the 96 unanimously agreed that this year's service would be the last major public event of commemoration at Anfield.

It began with the traditional football hymn, Abide With Me, before the names of the 96 Hillsborough victims were read aloud.

As each name was read, a light was illuminated on a large art sculpture entitled The Band Of Life.

When the time reached 3:06 p.m., the exact moment the 1989 semifinal was abandoned as Britain's worst sporting disaster unfolded, a minute's silence began.

Kenny Dalglish, one of Liverpool's all-time great players and the manager of the team on the day of the disaster, gave a reading.

Liverpool's mayor, Joe Anderson, said: "This city will never forget the 96 people who lost their lives."

Bishop James Jones, the former bishop of Liverpool, said when he first came to the city Hillsborough was like an "open wound" but the families now were not "vengeful or vindictive."

Trevor Hicks, the president of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, who lost his daughters Victoria, 15, and Sarah, 19, in the tragedy and has been instrumental in the families' long campaign, was next to address the service.

He said, to cheers and laughter, he thought the Liverpool players got some "divine intervention" after Thursday night's result.

The final address was left to Margaret Aspinall, the current chairman of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, who lost her son, James, 18, in the disaster.

Mrs Aspinall thanked local religious leaders, the club and most of all the fans during the years of their long campaign.

She added: "I'm looking at all these faces around here and I know we all owe you a great, great debt. You stuck with the families all these years, you did not have to."

At end of the emotional service, 96 white doves were released before a rousing rendition of the club's anthem, You'll Never Walk Alone, accompanied by The Salvation Army Band, reverberated around the ground.

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