Hillsborough: The Disaster that Changed Sports Forever

Check out Squarespace: squarespace.com/geographics for 10% off on your first purchase of a website/domain using the code GEOGRAPHICS
→ Subscribe for new videos every week.
/ @geographicstravel
Love content? Check out our other KZbin Channels:
Biographics: / @biographics
TopTenz: / toptenznet
Check out Karl's Socials:
Fact Fiend: / @factfiend
Wiki Weekends: / @wikiweekends
Untitled Side Channel: / @untitledsidechannel
Twitter: / karlsmallwood
Ben Adelman can be reached for writing commissions or comments at [e-mail]
Further Reading:
Hillsborough: The Truth by Phil Scraton, Penguin/Random House, 4th edition published 2016
Sponsor

[@geographicstravel]

Check out Squarespace: squarespace.com/geographics for 10% off on your first purchase of a website/domain using the code GEOGRAPHICS

[@TheCaptainConway]

"...the absolute rag known as the sun..." Well said.

[@charlottehardy822]

More polite than I ever am.

[@kateemma22]

In university while studying journalism I did an essay on the power media has to frame a story and used Hillsborough's coverage by The Scum as an analysis on how wrong it can go when the media does a poor job. To counter that you guys did a brilliant job summarising this nightmare. As a Liverpool fan of 30 years... thank you! RIP the 97. Add to note that you showed my local football team with the 'safe standing' business, the Western Sydney Wanderers, and let's just say that most fans are not happy with those. The Wanderers do have a horrific problem with hooliganism, ironically, because apparently some of us are determined to not learn from history.

[@hoppytoad79]

I've had an interest in Holocaust and the Third Reich most of my life, and, looking at everything's that's happened in the world in the last several decades and the U.S. in the last 30-40 years, it's very clear too many people haven't learned from history.

[@JPriz416]

Very seldom are the police held accountable for their actions. Karl did a great job on a very touchy subject.

[@charlottehardy822]

I’ve had chills from the first moment of this video as a Liverpool fan, a person remembering seeing the television footage as a child and someone seeing the never ending fight for justice. Thank you for your careful handling of this tragedy and travesty of justice. RIP 97 YNWA ❤

[@eileenbass952]

I am from Liverpool and saw this happening, then the years of lies from the police, unbelievable.

[@crispendaysh3401]

I’m not a Liverpool fan but I remember watching it in 1989 I was so gutted and felt for you guys with trying to get justice. It still upsetting even now. Isn’t it?

[@MrTexasDan]

I remember this at the time was reported in the US media. Unfortunately we got the "Hooligans" story. Thanks for setting the record straight for us Karl.

[@truegunnersawaken]

He hasn’t set the record straight for you mate. He’s a scouser promoting their propagander of what happened They had over 10000 Liverpool fans try to enter the stadium without tickets in a stadium that wasn’t designed to accommodate them What did they expect?

[@pixiesouter9461]

When I was 12 my Pappy bought us season tickets for Livingston Football Club. 100% smaller team. 100%smaller stadium and every Saturday my Nan was near sick with worry that something like this might happen. It obviously never did, but I feel that goes to show how deeply this event embedded itself in British consciousness.

[@pauliemc2010]

As a scouser (the blue half of Liverpool) his video stuck home.

[@LucySims1968]

If it wasnt for Everton I dont think Liverpool Fc would have ever got over Hillsborough. you were there for them at the start, you were there for them after and you are there for them now. Remember the match at Goodison in May 1989? Even the Everton fans were singing you'll neve walk alone, that sent shives down my spine. JFT97, UTFT!!! Lucy Sims, Ipswich Town fan.

[@Hammerhead547]

You should do an episode about the donnington disaster of 1987 where a massive fan stampede during Guns N' Roses set at the 1987 Monsters Of Rock Festival at Donnington Park. Event security was so incapable of controlling the crowd which was estimated to have been 120.000+ (most of whom snuck into the venue unticketed) that several other bands had to stop their shows to try and assist security in controlling the crowd. Iron Maiden headlined that sunday evening and they had to stop their show no less than four times to pull people onto the stage, bruce dickinson even threatened to end the performance if the crowd didn't move back.

[@ballinlikestalin878]

Give more sport disaster stories a go, like the 1955 le Mans race, or the disco demoilition night in baseball?

[@yankeecrazy9]

Geographics covered Le Mans awhile ago, I included a whole section on the 1955 disaster

[@ripn929707]

I learned about the LeMans tragedy from my auto shop teacher in high school. He was in the U.S. Military at the time, and was at the race, in the stands about 2 sections down from where it happened. He used the experience to teach us about the dangers of fire and magnesium. You could tell the entire thing still haunted him in the mid 1980's.

[@Inspadave]

It is odd seeing Karl be serious . . . and sober.

[@ayameisastar]

Considering that boycotts rarely result in real change, it makes me so happy that the Liverpool Sun boycott still costs the Sun money and continues

[@GaryOK]

7:28 is the start of the video...

[@resileaf9501]

Good job, Ben and Karl. This was not an easy subject to talk about, but you did so with grace and appropriate respect. Thank you for your hard work.

[@jellyman888]

Having been with witness to the Itaewon Halloween disaster of 2022, this was a hard one to watch. So many similarities between those two events, especially the lack of police accountability. Tragic.

[@MrDan708]

ESPN carried a two-hour doc about this not too long ago here in the US. It was possibly the most infuriating thing I ever watched.

[@DannyQ1988]

there will NEVER be another phone like the legend that is the NOKIA 3310, that thing was borderline bulletproof 🤣

[@JohannSebastianWainwright]

The Nokia 5210 was far more durable! Literally made of rubber, fully waterproof. I once witnessed my mate kick one about 100 yards and it was fine 😂. Designed for builders / workies etc.

[@davidschoenfeld4463]

I had family, aunts and uncles, at the infamous "The Who" concert. Survivors, all, thankfully, but still have obvious signs of ptsd regarding personal space and crowds generally, to varying degrees, because they were varying degrees of separated from each other and the worst of the push.

[@kennashan]

That concert was the reason my mother forbade me to go to concerts as a young teen, and we lived in Virginia. I was 21 before I ever attended a live music performance.

[@davidschoenfeld4463]

It definitely sent shockwaves throughout the whole country, shook up the way those sorts of performances were executed and regulated in many ways similar to those mentioned in sports reforms in this video. I remember hearing that there were parents all over who put in similar prohibitions on concerts over it. It was enough of a cultural cornerstone at the time to make it into a "Weird" Al song, but I don't remember the last time I heard anything about it. I think it'd be a good one for the channel to cover.

[@kennashan]

@@davidschoenfeld4463 it was the end of festival seating , if I remember correctly

[@Anamnesia]

There was also the recent crowd stampede/crushing around October 2022 (?) in South Korea, where 135 (?) people died

[@ABrit-bt6ce]

That was unbelievable.

[@belindareidy18]

I live in Australia, but I still remember the Hillsborough disaster. I was only young at the time, I remember the photo on the front page of the paper showing a person crushed up against the fence.

[@ShaneShellmore]

Its rare to see fighting in American sports stadiums, just a subtle racism.

[@JimTheFly]

If anyone wants another great even more in-depth look into this, look up ESPN's "30 for 30: Hillsborough" video. It's nearly 2 hours and goes into even greater detail, including the events that led to the panel that FINALLY brought the truth to light. I had vaguely heard of what happened at Hillsborough before the night I watched it, and for the entire time, I was glued to my TV from shock, anger, frustration, and vindication.

[@murrayscott9546]

The hopeless look in the eyes of those who are about to die breaks my heart.

[@julioperez1850]

Welcome back, Karl! What a subject for you to start hosting these videos, again! I remember ESPN back in 2015 talking about this very tragedy! I was heartbroken then as I am now. We've come a long way, yet tragedies like this still happen all over the world. Hopefully, we'll get to a point where they'll be a thing of the past.

[@geographicstravel]

We have two hosts. Eric's still learning the ropes and getting used to presenting again (he used to write and host science get and has written some videos for Geo and Bio). Karl's permanent now, but we'll be making an official announcement between the two of us soon. Probably as a short or something.

[@resileaf9501]

@@geographicstravel Awesome to hear that Karl will permanently be part of the crew as host!

[@deawallach3404]

Good on those that live in Liverpool and surrounding areas for boycotting that newspaper to this day! I find it funny that the newspaper keeps trying to re-establish themselves however fund that they can't, and hopefully have given up completely.

[@ignitionfrn2223]

3:15 - Mid roll ads 7:35 - Chapter 1 - The people's game 11:05 - Chapter 2 - The reds are coming up the hill 13:55 - Chapter 3 - Disaster 15:55 - Chapter 4 - Chaos & lies 19:35 - Chapter 5 - The campaign for justice 23:40 - Chapter 6 - The truth 26:00 - Chapter 7 - The legacy of hillsborough 29:30 - Conclusion PS: This is also the video that changed the background forever

[@DGS2605]

It's crazy to think of something like this happening in North America. Not even in NASCAR or the rowdiest NFL fans, must be because of having your own assigned seat to a ticket.

[@crispendaysh3401]

I still remember it just like it was yesterday, the whole of football ⚽️ stood by Liverpool for 1 day every year it’s heart breaking after all this time. That’s good you did a paper on hillsbourgh and video so ty for that.

[@dunccameron3283]

Really good job Karl! I’m from Sheffield (Walkley) and from a long lIne of Forest fans so a truly difficult subject and I was super impressed by the narrative and how it was explained by Karl. Great job

[@kevinhernandez2594]

I noticed the lighting and the color grading has a somber tone, compared to the one in the ad read, fitting considering the subject matter

[@raquellofstedt9713]

How anyone thought bringing horses into that was going to help boggles my mind. My word!

[@rachelavincent]

I remember watching this on telly/the news. I was really young and unable to understand what hooliganism had to do with pushing too many people into a confined space causing the crush and death of those fans. This is a good video, but it fails to address the ongoing impact of the tragedy - and its misreporting - on the experience of Liverpool fans when they travel abroad, particularly the 2022 UEFA Champions League Final in Paris, where Liverpool fans again found themselves in a dangerous crush scenario and the misconceptions of the French police, due to Hillsborough, meant they ignored warning signs and accused the club's fans of causing the situation when the police and ground management was at fault. For fans who attended both occasions, it was a fresh trauma and reopened PTSD. I am not a football fan; but this tragedy and that the UEFA Champions League Final was able to happen again to the same club riles me no end. The club's fans need justice.

[@melasn9836]

This event was my first awareness of soccer/footie in Britain, and it still haunts me, especially as I learn more & more about how much was done to deflect blame to the victims instead of the apathy/hostility of officials & the media. Even now, I still worry about the same thing happening here, a disaster at a city considered notorious for rowdy sports fans, with the same "eh, they're from Philly/Chicago/insert-city-here, they probably caused it, they deserved it" reaction. Karl, you have my sympathies for having to grow up in the shadow of this disaster.

[@jamesmcpherson1590]

Excellent episode and excellent narration! Great job Karl!

[@ABrit-bt6ce]

I've a few New Nokia 3310s as backup phones. They will fall apart when thrown but just clip back together and keep rolling.

[@36inc]

this story teaches us a lesson- that punitive measures dont work. if someones calling for punishment instead of change theyre being scammed.

[@skyfever111]

always wanted simon to cover this one but here we are

[@kieran1289]

Where is Simon.

[@paulherman5822]

Gone, about 6 months ago. It wasn't his channel, and he and the new owner parted ways amicably. TopTenz has a video on it.

[@resileaf9501]

Been gone for months, try to keep up.

[@hughes3511]

Holy crap....5 minutes dedicated to the sponsor? Yeah not ok....most YT channels give 30-60 seconds tops. Yes we can scroll through it but some of us listen to these channels in the background and it's annoying when they are so freaking long.

[@Weeble_Wobble]

Two and a half minutes

[@hughes3511]

Starts around 3:15 and ends around 7:25. So closer to 4 minutes I guess but still. Over 4 minutes is like 14% of the video. @@Weeble_Wobble

[@Weeble_Wobble]

​@@hughes3511 Oooof I was way off. Not sure what the hell led me to my initial conclusion.

[@badgermoring5290]

Exactly, when the ads are too long, I intentionally stay away from that company.

[@nachoisone]

Tbh I too am out off by that but also I love the random fun bonus fact. 😊

[@rebeccaridolfo6538]

A valuable reminder of the calibre of the ethics and integrity of govt officials and mainstream journalists. When they tell you they're well intentioned, competent and it's for your own good (and granny's), remember Hillsborough.

[@patriciaposthumus6684]

Thank you. You finally got rid of that bare lightbulb that was behind you. A million thank you for that.

[@richshimmin664]

Well done. A well done video about a very difficult subject.

[@littleredchucks2758]

I had no idea of the true cause of the Hillsborough disaster, this was eye opening and infuriating. Thank you for making it.

[@paulceglinski7172]

Damn Karl! Excellent job! What a story and script. Brilliant Ben. Only knew the basics on this and that was biased as hell I found out. Well done. Cheers from Tennessee

[@TM-yn4iu]

Presentation is rocking, clearly crossing the threshold of comfort - impressive! A few more tweeks and time, you'll have mastered it. But again, great!

[@A_p_T53040]

Never realised the channel was based in Sheffield!

[@geographicstravel]

It's based in two locations. Richmond, VA, and Sheffield, and also wherever Jen, Allison, and co live.

[@bnthern]

great, thoughtful presentation

[@jasonrowe6302]

You need to stop banging/moving your hands round on the desk as you can hear it through the microphone. Or move the microphone from being attached to the desk.

[@JELazarus]

I have many fond memories of feeling like my ribs were going to be crushed against the front barricade at concerts in the 90s-2000s. Good times. Occasionally someone did pass out, but were always gotten out of there, albeit with some difficulty. I was never at a show that reported fatalities to my knowledge.

[@eadweard.]

Why are you telling us this?

[@geographicstravel]

Because of the standing barricades meant to prevent people getting trampled?

[@JELazarus]

The barricades to prevent people from rushing the stage. Often they're only about waist high for me, but at some shows, they were like ribs high, and that could be very uncomfortable if you were front row right against it. As I was watching this video, I was thinking it was surprising we don't hear about more serious trampling incidents given the level of crowd crush and lack of much serious crowd control I had experienced at fairly run of the mill rock concerts. Obviously it pales in comparison to incidents like Hillsborough, but it had me thinking. . .

[@YT.lt3ag4s]

Entertaining sponsor spot as always. I think you need to get an anteater safety net.

[@johnmcaree7298]

JFT97

[@YuuChoobHandle]

Sheffield FC? Damn, that's a new one on me. Wednesday must be fuming not be even counted among the Sheffield teams...

[@A_p_T53040]

Yeah considering Sheffield FC are a small club in Dronfield 😂

[@Whoispepesilvia]

Jesus Christ I’m 7 minutes in and we aren’t even talking about the topic

[@StuballB]

Quality video well done

[@coolesteagles09]

I’m claustrophobic so this is my actual real worst nightmare come to life it makes me shudder and sweat to think about being one of those people in the pens of that standing area

[@KingKikikoi]

How many times are you gonna say you’re from there. Once is enough 😂

[@alidaweber1023]

My idea of crowd control is never to go anywhere near a crowd

[@murrayscott9546]

Y'all brought me back 30+ years. Can't say I likkit but it remains.

[@deniseatkins9407]

Hi Karl i remember this and the other 😅 disasters that occured when i was a teen. I also remember not so long ago the Sun called us the poop hole of the North

[@robert_941]

Where's the bald guy?

[@archstanton6102]

Left about 6 months ago

[@resileaf9501]

Been gone for months, try to keep up.

[@karmichel]

It is common not to procecute people in England, even when people know they what they made...

[@AnnaAnna-uc2ff]

Thank you.

[@yvechapman9342]

I've never been in a crowd that size, but at school we were doing a fire drill when the idea got around the crowd that the fire was real. Kids panicked and started to stampede. Problem was the only way out was through a single wide gate in the chain link fence around the school creating a bottle neck. In a crowd like that you're completely at their mercy and it's all you can do to stay standing with everyone pushing and shoving. I got pinned against the fence for a bit. Luckily no one got hurt seriously just bruises and anger. Ever since I've been afraid of crowds.

[@urshurakdieohnekanal9291]

Disgusting, really. I wonder if and how anybody in Britain will the justice system after this. How that Duckenfield fellow could have been acquitted after he even admitted his mistake is beyond me.

[@whitex4652]

I remember that desaster ... and I am from Mönchengladbach, where Borussia resides, the partner club of Liverpool FC.

[@danielwolf6875]

LOVE your bonus facts.... ;-X ❤️‍🔥🐺

[@semiretired86]

only a week after the Heysel disaster the danish national team was set to play the Sovjet Union at the old danish national stadium - arround the same age as Heysel thankfully it went without any problems Denmark won 4-2 and qualified for the World cup for the first time the sovjets also qualified back to Hillsborough Duckenfield was saved by his friends

[@subclasshero6391]

Has this been edited badly or something? It's a good video but there are a couple of places where it's like a word is missing, like the "two divisions" part.

[@osvaldomedina173]

i remember perfectly the Heysel incident but i have no memory of this one

[@multiyapples]

May those that passed away rest in peace. These tragedies that were mentioned should’ve never happened.

[@philwood5288]

I remember this when it happened. I believed the press reports about hooliganism.

[@JohannSebastianWainwright]

Evertonian here. Harrowing video. Thank you.

[@caitlinwinder3346]

The stadium shown at 27:18 is Western Sydney Stadium, home of the Western Sydney Wanderers in the A-League

[@michaelpyatt831]

Did you hear about the Liverpool triathlon?? Football , fencing and squash

[@NotALizardPerson81]

Nothing of quality was lost that day.

[@Boomken76]

my intrest is in the how / why something happened & what was learned by it

[@Tkon321]

Im guessing before clicking this is about "the crush"? Glad to see you over here Karl

[@louise8001]

It is horrific that this type of incident was allowes to happen, and the fact that the person responsible tried to blame everybody else for his stupidity is disgusting. Hearing about this level of violence at a sporting match is unheard of in Australia, and Australians love their football. At football matches here, fans from opposing teams sit next to each other. They enter and exit through the same gates. I hope that man in charge had trouble sleeping for the rest of this life.

[@darkerarts]

Such a tragic day and I will never forget it.

[@WendyLouPollock]

Karl I love to hear your voice! Can you tell a Californian what kind of accent you have!

[@geographicstravel]

He's got a Northern accent. Eric Malikyte, our other presenter, is also from California.

[@footynutguy]

I’m from Liverpool And I’m afraid to say that there are sone places that still sell that rag. They claim it’s in their contract with the wholesalers that they have to sell it.

[@schanataylor2067]

What happened to Simon??

[@stevenwebb3634]

I remember the Hillsborough Disaster and I was only seven or eight years old

[@mrbigfish6951]

Smallwood nice to see you

[@patkins8319]

As someone who has been in a crush after the Hillsborough disaster, it is a bit shit. You cant actually breathe and if it wasn't for the pre stressed concrete beams giving way under the strain... Wouldn't actually be here. Was this a league football game i was at.. no, it was a Lancashire Football Association Cup game at a Northern Premier League ground. Very grateful to John Coleman ex Accrington manager for being a player who raised his hand and realised what was going down

[@EuropeanNationalistFront]

My mum is from Liverpool, she remembers being blamed alongside everyone from liverpool being blamed for the disaster even though she doesn't even watch football and knows nothing about it, never forget those killed by police incompetence.

[@pennolfc2]

You should change the thumbnail. But very good video

[@jorgewashington1469]

Why is everyone being dicks to the new host I get it you miss Simon but it’s not this guys fault I think he’s doing a great job

[@TheDneaves]

Because he spend half his videos rambling on about something else entirely and he's annoying.

[@CC-gg4oj]

Thank you... Please cover the Post Masters, another travesty of justice.

[@motorsiegefan931]

Video begins @7:30 after the Squarespace documentary

[@alanmurphy3402]

I’m a man united fan and the one thing I would never do is buy the sun no football fan should.

[@C.A.A93]

My first girlfriend had a grandfather who was a paramedic at the Hillsborough disaster, it haunted him right into his last days, lived in Sheffield all his life and moved away not long after. The girlfriend said that she only ever heard him talk about it once and she remembers clear as day her grandfather drinking a pint at a family gathering, tears welling up in his eyes, and he said “that morgue at Hillsborough smelt like a F***ing brewery”

[@Greystache14]

Thought I was going to watch a documentary on Hillsborough. Instead I get a one sided social commentary about class politics spliced either side of a 5 minute ad. Won’t go back for a second video.

[@mktf5582]

please do on another channel the post office scandal mr bates,massive news atm in UK.

[@stevenwebb3634]

I have good honest Scouser friends

[@thomashoskins8817]

dude - can you not thump your table? it booms through your mic summat bad - if you can't help doing that at least isolate your mic better.

[@timoteolafrance6805]

I remember when it was reported. I am live in the U.S.A. You Brits are a whole lot scarier and my people fought for the Crown. All kinding aside. It is a tragedy.

[@alexppape]

Hooliganism is still around…they’re Philadelphia sports fans

[@ASMR-Arboretum]

These channels have gonne so down hill.