Flashback: The story of the Heysel Stadium disaster and how it changed football

It is the week of big European finals. Last week, Tottenham won the Europa League, beating Manchester United in the final. Today (Wednesday, May 28), Chelsea and Real Betis will compete for the Conference League title. Finally, the most prestigious competition, the Champions League, will culminate on Saturday, when Paris Saint-Germain and Inter will face each other in Munich. All these finals are a celebration of football, but in Brussels in 1985, one of them ended in an enormous catastrophe: the Heysel Stadium disaster.

On the Wednesday evening of May 29, 1985, the football world was full of tension and great expectation. Fans were eagerly anticipating the battle for the coveted 'eared trophy,' awarded to the winner of the European Cup - known today as the Champions League. Liverpool were eager to defend their victory from the previous year and win their fifth European Cup, while Juventus wanted to make up for their loss in the final two years prior when they were beaten 1-0 by Hamburg.

Millions of fans turned on their televisions to watch this football gala, but instead of seeing star footballers preparing to kick off the season's biggest match, they watched as rescue workers and bloodied fans ran around the pitch.

They saw also several motionless bodies lying in the stands. About an hour before the scheduled start of the match, disaster had struck the outdated Heysel Stadium in Brussels.

Heysel Stadium@OldSchoolPanini X account

Chaos, crowd pressure and a collapsed wall

After the experience of the previous year's tense final between Liverpool and Roma, the organizers approached the 1985 final with particular caution.

The two groups of fans, where clashes were really expected, were divided in such a way that the sector behind one goal belonged exclusively to fans clad in the red Liverpool, and the other to the fans in the black and white of Juventus. The main, longitudinal tribunes were occupied by more peaceful spectators.

However, several dozen Juventus fans managed to get into one of the neutral sections, near the Liverpool area. They had bought tickets on the black market. They were mostly "normal" fans, with the hardcore supporters on the opposite side, but Liverpool ultras didn't care.

The English hooligans broke through the barrier between the sectors and began to attack the Italian fans. The Juventus supporters wanted to escape the violence and pushed towards the exit - there was only one for a huge sector. Aggressive Reds fans were pushing the retreating crowd in front of them, and the wall separating the stand from the playing field could not withstand the pressure of the mass of people, collapsing.

Many lives were lost in its ruins, with others also trampled by the crowd. Among the victims were over thirty Italians, as well as several Belgians. The incident claimed 39 lives and about 600 people were injured.

The Juventus fans from the opposite stand were immediately hungry for revenge, but fortunately, the police prevented another clash.

To play or not to play

Meanwhile, a heated discussion was taking place in the bowels of the stadium about what would happen to the match.

It should have been cancelled, of course, but there was a big risk that there would be a massacre between the fans of the sides outside the stadium in the streets of Brussels.

The players of both teams initially refused to play, but were eventually persuaded by UEFA officials.

The match took place in a very sombre, sad atmosphere. It was watched by a half-empty stadium, as some fans toured Brussels hospitals looking for their friends. The only goal of the match was a penalty in the 56th minute by Michel Platini.

Juventus symbolically dedicated their first triumph in the most prestigious club competition to the victims of the Brussels massacre.

Consequences of the massacre

The tragedy also had repercussions off the pitch.

UEFA identified Liverpool fans as the main culprits of the incident. Several of them went to court, with 14 of them convicted, and all English football clubs were banned from European competitions. The ban lasted five years, and in the case of Liverpool, six (originally 10, but the sentence was later reduced). The Heysel Stadium disaster thus had a far-reaching impact on all of English football.

The incident also contributed to a major reform of stadiums and security measures across Europe in general, with an emphasis on fan separation, ticket control, CCTV, a ban on alcohol, and seating instead of standing in stadiums.