Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Legacy Of A Tragedy

Today's Guardian carried a moving account by David Conn of yesterday's Hillsborough memorial service at Anfield (http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2273847,00.html ).
The address by Phil Hammond, whose 14 year old son Philip was one of those who died, was spot-on about the ramifications of Hillsborough for the domestic game:

"'Football got rich on the back of the 96,' he said, referring to the grants of public money paid to clubs to improve their grounds. 'The safe stadiums were built as a direct result of the recommendations of the Taylor Report. Football became a popular sport...Sky TV stepped in and suddenly football became lucrative. Premiership clubs became a very attractive proposition for overseas investors. At their peril,' he concluded, 'do those overseas investors forget the heavy price that we paid.'"

Neither Hicks nor Gillette were present to hear Mr. Hammond's words. Something tells me they would have fallen on deaf ears anyway.

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