Emotional Tales From Hillsborough

This is the follow up to yesterday article - Hillsborough Remembered.

Eddie Spearritt, Survivor who lost his 14-year-old son, Adam
There was a policeman on the track. He must have been five or six feet away from me. I was screaming and begging him to open the perimeter gate. You can scream your head off when you’re screaming for your son’s life. I was right at the front and I'm screaming that Adam had fainted, I think at one stage I even said he was dying, but he didn't open the gate. I woke up in hospital on Sunday evening to find that Adam had died.

Trevor Hicks, Lost both his daughters, Sarah, 19, and Victoria, 15
I was profoundly and forcibly transformed by Hillsborough. Within a few hours I had lost everything of real value, my daughters Sarah and Victoria, my status and responsibilities of Dad and Husband, my respect for the British establishment and any reason to look and plan for 'the future'. All my values and beliefs were shattered. Years on I am slowly rebuilding a different life, trying to 'make the best of a bad job'. I still hurt like hell and keep wanting what cannot be, but like it or not, life will go on, Mother Earth keeps revolving, time doesn't heal, you just get better at dealing with it.

Chris Mann, Survivor
Being afraid happens to us all. That day, for a few minutes in those enclosures, everybody shared the same fear. I survived because somebody went under a barrier. I was pushed up against it with no way of lifting myself over. My ribs felt like they were about to snap at any second and my lungs were on fire. I reached out and pushed up on the nearest thing. As I was pushing myself up, I looked round and realised that I was pushing someone else down. I wanted to stop, but I knew if I did, I would go down with him. So I didn't stop, and he went down, and I still don't know if I killed him.

Neil Fitzmaurice, Survivor
We were pushed forward into the pens and we just hit the fans like a wedge. It's at this point I realised how out of control things had become. Then I realised I was basically paralysed from the neck down. I had no control over my body. The panic hit me because fans were building up behind me. You'd move five or six feet and then there'd be another crush. I couldn't see the game - all I could see were heads. My senses were being attacked - touch, sight and sound. The noise was deafening and I'd forgotten there was a game on. People were starting to fall and if you fell you didn't get back up. It was blind panic.

Fans were trying to climb over the chicken wire fences and I distinctly remember many being thrown back in by the police. The crush intensified and I looked round and saw people fainting. Some were lifted in the air and it was as if they were floating.

I was only seconds away from losing consciousness. I silently did a deal with God, looking up and telling Him: "Get me out and I'll go to church every day." It sounds ridiculous now. Someone near me was trying to lift themselves up and as he did his elbow ended up in my throat. It wasn't his fault, he was just trying to get out. I moved my head and he lost his balance, so he put his hand on my shoulder and I was pushed back. This meant I pushed the guy in front of me and he fell. For one reason or another there was suddenly some room. There was a guy next to me with a Crown Paints Liverpool top. He was about 40-odd and I was 17. I grabbed his arm and we started moving towards the steps in between the pens that led to the pitch - but the safety gate designed to ease congestion was locked. We started lifting some people over the fence. There was this guy - he was purple and grey. I presumed he was unconscious but it turned out he was dead. As we lifted him up I told him to get onto the pitch once he was over the fence, but as soon as we let go of him he just thudded to the floor. That's when I knew we had to get out of there. I climbed onto barrier, down and onto the pitch. I fell on my back and I distinctly remember a completely blue sky. I totally switched off from everything going on around me.

Other Survivors
I couldn't believe what was going on. No one could move, not an inch. People around me were contorted in whatever position they'd been compressed. Heads were locked between arms and shoulders, the faces gasping in panic.

I was bent forward, from the waist, my full weight pressing down on people in front of me. At first the pain in my back was sharp but then it was in my chest. Suddenly, I knew I was going to die.

I realised that the guy next to me was dead, his eyes were bulging and his tongue out. It was sheer horror.

I saw a young boy go down and knew that was it for him. He went under people's feet but no one could do anything about it. The pressure was so great.

Fans screamed at the police on the perimeter track to open the small evacuation gates on to the pitch, but they just seemed transfixed. They did nothing. As fans tried to climb the overhanging perimeter fence, officers on the track pushed them back into the crowd.

96 Reds - Hillsborough Remembered

"Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that." Bill Shankly

Twenty years ago, on April 15th 1989, over 25,000 Liverpool supporters travelled to Hillsborough, Sheffield to watch the FA Cup semi-final match against Nottingham Forest. 96 of them never returned!

What should have been a fantastic day for the club and the fans turned into the scene of the most horrific football disaster the game has ever seen.

96 Liverpool supporters were crushed to death. Half of them were 21 or younger (youngest was 10 years old, cousin of present club captain). To the families and friends they left behind, they were simply a dad, a son, a brother, a sister, a cousin, an auntie, an uncle, a granddad, a boyfriend, a husband, a soul mate and a best friend.

If you are not a football fan, imagine you and your mates were looking forward for a great evening watching your favourite artiste performing in a concert hall. Something bad happened and you lost your mates, forever!

Initial details were sketchy in those days without mobile phone and Internet. Three days later, on Tuesday, Liverpool awoke to a sickening headline. The Sun’s infamous “The Truth”, reported that “some fans picked pockets of victims; urinated on the cops and beat up PC giving kiss of life.” It was soon established as lies and cover up! The police had tried in vain to cover their tracks, first lying that Gate C had been forced open and then blaming drunken fans for the chaos that they failed to control.

(Perhaps our mata-mata are taking a cue from their colonial bobbies!)

Four months later, Lord Justice Taylor published his findings into the disaster, after he was commissioned to investigate the causes behind the tragedy. (Correct, correct, correct - we have similar Royal Commission over here too). The inquiry named the cause as failure of police control “a blunder of the first magnitude.”

Police froze and failed to control the huge crowd lining up at the limited turnstiles. Fifteen minutes before 3pm kick-off, they decided to open exit gate. The fans flooded on to the already overcrowded standing terraces of Leppings Lane. The police failed to divert them to other less crowded areas. Hundreds were crushed against perimeter fence.

Lives were never the same again for many survivors. There was a sense of guilt among those who had gone home alive that day! Many suffered from post traumatic stress disorder. There were documented cases of mental breakdown, marital woes and suicide!
There are many moving articles and tributes that can be found on the Internet. Check out www.liverpoolfc.tv.

p.s
1) After the tragedy, generally all football stadiums had been converted to all-seater and the removal of barriers at the front of stands.

2) The city boycotted the paper and till today it did not recover its loss of 200,000 circulation in Merseyside!

96 Reds live on in our memories. RIP.
May all be well & happy, be free from mental and physical suffering!

Knowing Me Knowing You, KAKA

“Knowing me, knowing you Kaka
There is nothing we can do
Knowing me, knowing you Kaka
We just have to face it, this time were through” – Abba

Manchester City Football Club, failed in its astounding 100 million pound ($147 million) bid to buy Brazilian Kaka from AC Milan. On top of the signing fee, he could easily have earned well over 1 million pounds a month. Wow! This move could have damaged the sport image at a time when many clubs and fans are in debt.

The bid was made possible after a consortium from Abu Dhabi bought the club from Thaksin in August. Yes, that 'assets frozen' Thaksin, who was associated with the mayhem in Bangkok, that showed little sign of ending!

In investment point of view, how do we justify this amount? Assuming he stays injury free and is to play 5 years for the club, are there enough time to recoup such a high single investment? Wouldn't it be a better bet to diversify and spend on 5 different high quality players?

Agreed, the calculation of return of investment in football business is very different as there are many spillovers. In addition to increase in gates collection, his glamour boy appeal could translate into millions of pounds in replica jersey and other merchandises sales. Then there are the television and image rights, branding and other intangible like new supporters’ base all over the world.

This formula had been proven but at a very much lower cost. The first few Asian imports (Korean, Chinese and Japanese footballers) to English league were signed primarily for commercial reason instead of footballing reason. They get their wages warming their rears but the revenues generated were multifold. The Asians especially the proud countrymen started supporting these clubs. Some flew over to watch the games; all dressed up in the team colours. Summer tours to these countries were arranged as more money was milked from Asians. Not forgetting increased in cable TV subscription! It was a commercial masterstroke.

In purely football point of view, there could untold damages. Spending such a huge amount on one player could trigger angry reactions from players and supporters. The gap between the haves and have-nots is widening. As unemployment is growing across Europe, spending so lavishly would have been nothing short of outrageous; enough to make some followers of the game simply turn off.

Personally, this model does not work. Are these rich investors prepared to stay for the long haul? They might have unlimited funds but do they have unlimited passion and patience? If they were tired of these toys, they could just go on another spending spree and dump the oldies. Look at Chelsea. Just like US government, the club is in spending deficit and heavily in debt! The moment the Russian walks out, there is a real danger all the pounds and ruble will turn to rubble!

To put into perspective, Kaka’s fee could be used for the following :

It could buy almost three F16 fighters which were priced at $US55 million dollars each in 2008.

It could cover the GDP of a host of nations. For example, in 2005, the Marshall Islands estimated GDP was $US115,000,000 and Anguilla $US108 million.

It would fund 20 million family-sized mosquito nets for sub-Saharan Africans, who lose 800,000 children under age five to malaria each year.

It could buy roughly 588 million meals for the World Food Programme. More than 10 million deaths were related to malnutrition each year.

It could buy himself Malaysia's Premiership. Not the football premiership as it had long gone to the dogs but the other almost going to the dogs premiership.

In the end, the four Liverpool lads were right to sing Money Can’t Buy Me Love. To add salt to injury, Mancunians could only shed Holding Back The Tears.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! Hello 2009. Set your goals and work toward realizing them. Do not procrastinate, start now! As we know, time does fly and before long, it’s hello 2010!

Here is my wish list for the year :

1) Home front - Charity begins at home, so gotta continue to allocate the time and effort to build the loving home. Applicable to friends too, can count on me when you need a hand or two. Or wanna borrow money? Can but….!

2) Lifestyle – Health is wealth, so vow to stay healthy. Step up the exercises and games, let go and not to cling on to things that eventually cause stress and eat and sleep well!

3) Career news – Global downturn but surely there is opportunity. Anticipating a busy schedule as there is a new project in the pipeline.

4) Politics front-page - Change of government – whoever the new PM has no time for honeymoon. There are many ailing things to be sorted out immediately and bring back the feel good factor.

5) Malaysia Today – We are losing our sense of humour. Please bring back the days where we could laugh at ourselves. Please don’t be super sensitive and jump on every word or statement that is deemed politically incorrect!

6) Sports page – We are the Champions. Liverpool FC to win the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup. YNWA!

Credit Crunch To Topple Sports!

There is a lot of money in modern day sports. The stakes are so high that it is becoming common for sportsmen to cheat by way of taking performance enhancing stimulants. However sports don't exist in a bubble as the global credit crunch starts to burst them. Motorsports are still reeling from Honda's pullout from F1 and Subaru's timeout from World Rally.

In football scene, there was a comment by Wenger, the French gaffer of Arsenal FC. "..the current financial climate will change the attitude of many clubs. I come from a little village of farmers where I was educated that when you earn £100 you do not spend £100. For me when you earn £100 and you spend £110 it is like cheating. A club must live within their own resources, not artificially supported.

The economic crisis will force many clubs to rethink the way they are run. It seems too many believe football exists in a bubble, away from the financial crisis! Football depends heavily on the financial markets, sponsorship and television rights, all of which are suffering right now."

This musketeer is well educated by his folks. Perhaps he was a financial guru in his previous life before professional football era! Live within own means! So unlike his London neighbour, a certain Russian who could be suffering right now!

RM880,000 Per Week!

Michael Owen was last night offered £21million to stay at Newcastle. Owner Mike Ashley has handed the England striker a three-year contract worth a whopping £140,000 a week. It would make Owen not only one of the Premier League highest-paid stars but also one the world richest. The ex-Liverpool and Real Madrid ace, 28, is currently earning £100,000-a-week. (what an increment, how come the corporate world does not have the same rate?)

What is your initial thought? Thinking about sending your kids to football academy instead of piano and ballet lessons? Or change career and become a football agent?

Majority of the workforce will never earn this obscene amount of money in their lifetime. I will not go into the debate if they are overpaid and overrated. (We, football kakis, can debate until the cow comes home). The interesting point to note is being a sportsman is no longer a pastime. It is a profession. It is a sunrise industry and it is attracting huge amount of money. The income stream is no longer limited to tickets sales but so many innovative ways to get big bucks. There are TV broadcasting revenue (think ESPN channel), sponsorship rights, advertisement fee, jersey and merchandise royalty, property and facility rental, investment income and even the right to name the stadium (how about finding a Petronas Stadium in London?).

The recent Malaysia Olympic case study is a good example. RM1 million was dangled to reward the gold medalist plus lifetime pension money! (Throw in a Datukship!)

The stakes are so high that many are willing to cheat including doping. However the flip side is that their career span will probably last till late 30s. Once retire, most will prefer to remain in touch with the game, returning as coach, pundit, punter etc and continue to earn a living. Some highly publicized cases wasted their riches and, sadly their lives away – spent on the booze and bees. These were the ones that do not know how to handle the riches and were surrounded by free loaders. The classic example of rags to riches and back to rags – the most exciting heavyweight boxer, Mike Tyson!

On the one end of the chart, one of my favourites, Robbie ‘The God’ Fowler – Owen ex-strike partner -who is at the tail-end of his career has divested his money into good use mainly investing in properties all over UK. He wrote in his autobiography that he was blessed with a good financial planner who guided him into making wise investment choices. Instead of buying the flashiest car to celebrate a new contract, which is the norm, he has an eye for property in prime location!

They are human after all. No matter how much we earn, we need to save and plan for the retirement years. We need to set aside for the rainy days. Without money we are in hope business. Hope the kids don’t get sick. This negative hope is a miserable way to live!

C’mon let start teaching our kids – when the teacher ask what is your ambition? It is no longer cool to answer doctor or teacher. The in answers should be footballer or golfer. Or maybe a weightlifter?

*Money is option. With money you have many options. Without money, you have very few options!*

pic - pa said forget about dancing. Got to start running. Don't like it, it's hot out there. Anyway, gotta listen to pa. Target Olympic 2022.

Inglatera

Immediately after the end of the Euro 2008, proud English media proclaimed joy that the 3 Lions missed the boat. Blessing in disguise. Spare the blushes. Ha! Ha! They admitted the football was breathtaking. The overrated and overpaid Poms would be out of place. No running in circle, no chasing shadows. Even the referees were enjoying themselves without being chased and abused by the usual suspects! Less off-field antics too. No WAGs drama and no hooligans rampage.

Fans that are reading may disagree. No prob, let do a run-down vs Spain line up. In the goalie department, no way the calamity and overweight could provide safer hands. Defence - the absent minded who forgot to pee and cry baby referee harasser would probably warmed the bench. Midfield - Names like Downing and Huddlestone do not breed confidence. Striker - cry of " Torres! Villa!" would send shivers to the opposition! Compare to cry of "Crouch! Ouch! Defoe! Fold!".

Ok la. If they play 4-5-1 instead of the above 4-4-2, maybe Stevie G would make it to the team. He could feed Torres! Disagree? Feel free to comment! No need to use Statutory Declaration.

pic - the legendary Pele, has no problem walking into any team as he is still the best player. He just found the time machine and consumed lots of tempe. The lady is his agent, not the missus!

Spain & Sodomy

Ole!Ole! Espana. BMW! Best Man Wins, or in this case best team wins. They truly deserved to lift Euro 2008. No more doing a Greece! Now, what am I watching till mid August? Wimbledon? Nay, perhaps monitoring the local politic scene is a better choice, as it enters the knockout stage.

Same old game called sodomy! As a spectator, can't do much but just hoping the final is not drag into August, as not to distract the new footie season. Good thing is that no need to wake up in the wee hours. Just keep our fingers cross, it's a fair game, even though fiery tackles and play acting are cropping up. Not too sure how long the referee is going to keep the red card.

Hope everyone embrace the ethos RESPECT. BMW!

Alive & Kicking in Mumbai

Landed in wrong part of Mumbai. Partner is based in Navi (new) Mumbai not the Bollywood end of Mumbai. Additionally, being holed up in office working with Sanjay, Sandeep and Sunil. So there is no way of celebrity sighting. Aiyah!

Food wise - superb. Have my fair share of briyani, mutton, roti, curry, tea, aftermint etc.

It is monsoon season (June to August), so it has been raining every now and then. Traffic is terrible. As a metropolitan, obviously it is huge, so travelling from 1 office to another take more than an hour. KL traffic is nothing!

Lots of cricket coverage on TV. At last count, yesterday night, there was 4 channels showing cricket matches. Cricket is like a religion here. The players are multi millionaire and demi-god. Exactly 25 years ago (1983) today, India won its only cricket World Cup in England. In the press and TV, there were so many coverages and footages on the historic triumph.

India was not among the favourites and against all odds, the great West Indies team was beaten in the final. This victory changed the landscape of the cricket scene in India, forever!

Sports Day

Last Friday attended daughter's Sports Day. Due to lack of playing field, the event was held in Selayang Stadium. Just imagine, a 7 years old girl, who was a greenhorn, made her running debut in the running track as compared to her parents who raced barefooted in muddy school field. The other thing worth noting was that they conducted their opening ceremony reherseal just before the actual do!

My girl was excited the past week but was also worried that she could not finish her race. She was the first runner for Green House in 4x80 m relay. She kept asking how far she needed to run. The funny thing was the training was conducted next to the canteen thus not the actual distance was covered. To cut the story short, all went well as they emerged triumphant. What a great race - all newbies making their debuts. It was a great start and boosted her confidence to indulge in sports!

I will encourage her to take part actively in sports as it builds character. All work and no play make LiVen a dull girl! Study Hard, Play Hard!

pic - on your mark..

Cakap Bola Makan Bola Tidur Bola

The sign o' times. Kids are growing up playing PS2 and surfing Internet. Whereas we grew up banging in goals! Without fail, after school, I would bring myself to the nearby field and chased after the ball. No equipment, no boots. Bare footed with lots of energy to burn. No Astro to show Match of the Week but gladly glued to the TV every Saturday to watch Big League Soccer and Football Made in Germany.

It was glory days for Liverpool FC and obviously everyone loves a winner! My idol was Ian Rush, the number 9, the striker who banged in goals for fun! Once we were more organised and started forming team to take part in competitions, we got ourselves jerseys. Number 9 is mine o' mine. Of course, it was good to dream - that one day, I would sign professional paper with Liverpool FC. Dream on, brader! Maybe next life!

As I got older, somehow the lungs could not take in that much air, thus re-invented myself as a defender. Time to be number 5. Not much off the ball running was needed, just needed to clear the ball out of sight or kicked the strikers! Pretty easy, huh!

However for the past 2 years, been enjoying the number 10 role, playing in the middle of the park, harassing the opponents and dictating play. It was not that my stamina improved, but others were worse off. Blame it on the haze, beer, fags, Internet, stress, wives, in laws and all the jazz. Except ourselves for not taking care of our body and health!

Majulah Sukan Untuk Negara.

Euro 2008 - Let Do A Greece?

The next major football tourney is here, starting this weekend. Let get it started. Need the fix after end of EPL. All wives and girlfriends please be understanding. Football is more than life and death.

Who is going to win? The usual suspects are the favourites. Germany with their discipline and Octoberfest powers, Italy with their Armani suits and Mafia looks, France with their cheese and wine diets, Holland with their orange blinders and total football and my favourite, Spain with their Liverpool influenced armada!

Dark horses? Maybe Croatia, Czech and Turkey. C'mon Torres, go get the Golden Shoes!

That's the end. Wait! How come no words on England? How can a football article without mentioning the 3 Lions, so called creators of this beautiful game? Sorry, I don't miss them. They are overrated. Give me Russia, anytime! & don't listen to Shebby!

Anyone fancy making money to offset the 2.70?

Lunch

It's lunch time. Knew many people who have big problems in deciding what to eat during lunch! As for me, the usual stuff if I am in the office. Will walk to the banana leaf restaurant, indulge in my rice kasi banjir, tenggiri fish either fried or curry, vege n papadam! Have even build relationship with the Indian workers who hail from Chennai! (When are they hiring China dolls to serve in these restaurants? he!he!). What makes us click? Just mentioned the names of their cricket heroes like Tendulkar, Dravid etc and how they are faring against Pakistan - they are your friends for life. Talking about cricket, half the people I met are clueless about cricket. The only cricket they know is the insect that goes crickey! I learnt to play this game in 1986 in VI. My football kakis in the neighbourhood were into it, playing for a rival school, Setapak High. Decided to give it a try and played against them annually in KL School meets. Not too bad, at least do not have butter fingers - quite an agile fielder and on most occasions, the ball got stuck in my hands! Went all the way to represent KL age groups -Under 20 and Under 23.

Well, the first love is still football. Was not good enough to represent my beloved VI team - in fact went for selection for 2 years but was not good enough. Period. The lack of size also contributed to it! Stuck at 5'2'' for many years but somehow managed to outgrow most of them. Had a good laugh when 1 of the footie mate, Zul (have not met since 88) commented. "Tingginya engkau!"

High n Low

After the high of meeting up with fellow Victorians in the school and playing some great football yesterday, was real disappointed to read in today's MSM, a fellow mate, who heads the education bureau of a fading politician party, uttering some nonsense regarding distribution of scholarship. This matter will crop up every year around this time of the year and for everyone's sake, do the necessary to stop the brain drain and stop making it a mess.. enough of the low..

VIOBA Inter Batch Mokhtar Dahari Challenge Shield - that was the 7 a seven football tourney that we took part in. We managed to defend the champions title in the Veteran League (35 yrs old n >). We were so strong that we decided to field 2 teams.. n as predicted, it was all 88 final in the end. Defeated Batch 90 (the youngest), 87, 81 and 83 along the way. The icing on the cake was our captain, Jeffrie was chosen as the Best Player/MVP

At the end of the evening, Paul of Batch 81, called for the continued support for this tourney, as he flew in from India, without fail for the past few years.. That's the VI spirit! & dont us let down our fellow Victorian, the late Mokhtar, who is still the best Malaysian player. ( At this rate, dont think our national team could produce another legend in my living years!)

We really hope to play on till our heart could not take it! 20 years ago, the boys were the KL age group champs. At the present moment, the skills are still there although heavier on the tummy and lighter on the head! Will be back to defend the title!