Five of the worst disasters in football history

While football has produced some of the most beautiful moments, not just in sports but also world history, the game has also seen its fair share of sad, horrific incidents. In this article, we will go through five of the worst football disasters in the sports' history in memory of the victims who went into the stadiums to witness the beautiful game but never got to return home:

1. Hillsborough stadium disaster

Date: April 15, 1989

Location: Sheffield, England

On April 15, 1989, an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest came to a halt when 96 Liverpool fans were killed at the Hillsborough Stadium after being crushed to death in the stands of the stadium.

The disaster took place as several Liverpool fans began streaming towards the Leppings Lane stand, allocated to them, at the stadium. It soon became evident that nobody would reach the stands in time for the game.

In an effort to control the over-crowding, Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield, the police commander in charge of the game at the time ordered exit gate C to be opened. This, however, resulted in even more supporters getting into the already-overcrowded central pens.

More and more fans thereafter surged into the standing-only central pens forcing those in the front to be pushed up against the perimeter fence, by the weight of the crowd behind them. Desperate fans tried to climb the fence to escape the crush, others escaped by breaking a small gate but unfortunately, the rest struggled for air among the tight crowd.

The space behind the pen became so tight that people started to die out of compressive asphyxia. A total of 96 people died and 766 injured in what is now deemed the worst disaster in English football.

Floral tributes and scarves adorn a fence

The police would later blame Liverpool fans of causing the death, claiming that they were drunk and uncooperative. The deaths were ruled accidental in the 1991 inquest. However, a new 2016 inquest jury ruled that the fans were unlawfully killed due to gross negligent failures by police and ambulance services.

The disaster was so impactful that it resulted in the elimination of fenced standing terraces, in favour of all-seater stadiums in the top two tiers of English football.

2. The National Stadium Disaster

Present day fans at the Estadio Nacional in Peru

Date: May 24th, 1964

Location: Estadio Nacional in Lima, Peru

On May 24th, 1964, Peru were hosting Argentina at South America's Olympic qualifying tournament, both teams competing for a chance to play at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. The stadium, with a capacity of 53,000 seats, was almost entirely full.

Argentina was leading 1-0 when a disallowed Peru equaliser by the Uruguayan referee resulted in two angry fans invading the pitch. Things started going out of hand when the second fan suffered a brutal assault at the hands of police officials in the field. It was only a few seconds before more angry fans tried to break down the barriers to get to the pitch.

This resulted in police unleashing tear gas shells and dogs on the angry mob. This caused panic among the thousands, with the crowd attempting to exit the stadium. Hundreds were trampled as the mob tried to get away from the police by charging at the exits.

A fan who was at the Estadio Nacional that day recalled that the tunnel was so tightly packed that "his feet did not touch the floor until he ended up at the bottom, trapped in a pile of bodies, some living, some dead."

The chaos continued outside the stadium - mobs set fire to houses and a tyre factory and 100 cars were reported to have been stolen.

A total of 328 people died of internal haemorrhaging and asphyxia that day while more than 500 were injured in the incident. This number does not include those who died by gunfire.

This disaster is, to this day, considered the worst disaster in the history of world football.

3. Heysel Stadium Disaster

A tribute to the disaster during a Liverpool v Juventus game

Date: 29th May,1985

Location: Brussels, Belgium

The European Cup final of 1985 sits heavy on the minds of English and Italian football fans. Even before kick-off, Liverpool fans began pelting stones at Juventus fans. This eventually led to the English fans breaching a fence that separated them from a neutral area to charge at the Italian fans.

As a result, Juventus fans attempted to flee from the trouble on to another stand while others backed away onto a concrete retaining wall. Several fans were crushed onto the perimeter wall before it collapsed.

A total of 39 fans, mostly of Juventus, were crushed to death or died out of suffocation while 600 other people were injured. The game was still played despite the disaster and this has drawn attention over the years for being the most insensitive decision to be taken in football.

The disaster resulted in all English clubs being banned from playing in Europe for a period of five years.

4. The Oppenheimer Stadium disaster

Present day Ellis Park Stadium

Date: April 11th, 2001

Location: Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa

On April 11th, 2001, a Soweto Derby game between the Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates witnessed thousands of spectators pouring into the Ellis Park Stadium. While there were already about 60,000 fans in the stadium, another 30,000 fans were still trying to enter. That day, a staggering 120,000 fans were admitted despite the lesser stadium capacity.

This, unfortunately, resulted in a stampede that crushed 43 people to death. Untrained security guards, unable to control the crowds, started firing tear gas at the crowd, causing further chaos and panic, worsening the situation.

The incident is believed to be the worst sporting disaster in South African history, beating out the Orkney incident where 42 people died after fans who were trying to escape the stadium brawls were trampled or crushed to death against riot-control fences.

5. The Kathmandu Disaster

A still from the disaster

Date: 12 March 1988

Location: National Stadium, Kathmandu, Nepal

On 12 March, 1988, the Nepal and Bangladesh national teams were set to face each other in front of 30,000 fans at the National Stadium in Kathmandu.

However, during the course of the game, a hailstorm took place in the stadium, which resulted in panic and fear among the fans. Fans desperately tried to flee the stadium but the screaming spectators soon discovered that only one of the stadium's eight exits were open.

This resulted in a stampede that killed at least 93 people and injured 100 more.

Government television stated that 73 persons were killed in the incident including two police officers who were reported to have been trampled to death or suffocated.