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The Heysel Stadium disaster was an event that took place at the 1985 football European Cup final at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium.
On May 29, 1985, Liverpool played Juventus in the European Cup final. In a widely criticized move, the Belgian authorities had allocated a section of the ground to neutral fans. This was an idea opposed by Liverpool and Juventus, as it would easily provide an arena for fans of both clubs to obtain tickets from Belgian ticket touts outside the ground and evade the segregation measures.
A flimsy wire fence had been erected to segregate the Liverpool fans from the neutral area. A rain of missiles from the Italian fans inside the neutral area fell upon the spectators in the Liverpool section, who charged at and breached the fence. In an attempt to retreat from the advancing English fans, the Juventus fans ran to the far end of the Western End, where a concrete wall blocked their retreat. The huge load and pressure that resulted from the sheer numbers of people gathered proved too much for the wall and eventually it gave way, falling directly upon the trapped Italian fans. 39 people (1 Belgian and 38 Italian) lost their lives. The pitch was then invaded by Italian fans attempting to get at the English. It appeared that one of the Italian fans was firing a gun at the English fans, and it was later revealed to have been a starting pistol.
It was felt that to abandon the game would incite further trouble, and the match eventually kicked off. Juventus won 1-0 with a penalty from Michel Platini.
There has never been an inquiry into the causes of the disaster. It is widely suspected that the root cause of the disaster was the events of the 1984 final, when Liverpool had played AS Roma in Rome (the venue for the Final was picked months in advance, before it was known who would be playing). The English club had won the match, but their supporters were attacked afterwards by violent elements of Italian ultras: many others were locked out of hotels and abandoned by their coach drivers who were supposed to be taking them to the airport. The police were reportedly unwilling to help and the Liverpool fans had to seek refuge in the British embassy. This treatment had led to various hooligan firms setting aside their differences for the chance to collectively settle the score with another Italian club, and their presence could easily have combined with poor police tactics and the actions of some of the people in the 'neutral' section of the ground.
As a direct result of this event, UEFA banned Liverpool from participating in its competitions for 10 years, and all other English clubs for five years. The Football Association extended the England-wide club ban for another year on its own.
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