In the 23 years since that awful day much has been said and done about what happened then and afterwards. 96 of Liverpool fans died, over 750 were injured seriously enough to require hospitalisation. And still the fight for justice goes on.
In a novel approach, 6 Liverpool fans and a support team of 9 are running the 76 miles between Hillsborough and Anfield to raise funds for the two Hillsborough groups, the Hillsborough Families Support Group (HFSG) and the Hillsborough Justice Campaign (HJC). While raising funds for the two groups, the Run is also getting significant press exposure and this is raising the topic of Hillsborough in advance of the 23rd anniversary. The brainchild of Dom Williams, he tells the story of seeing the Hillsborough mosaic at the opening game of the season against Sunderland. A novice runner, he wondered how often people had run from Hillsborough to Anfield. When he discovered that this had never been done, he started organising.
So on the 12th of April at 10AM, the team will gather in front of the Leppings Land end of Hillsborough stadium – a big thank you here to Sheffield Wednesday – and begin a 3 day, 76 mile odyssey to Anfield, stopping off at Manchester Hyde and Widnes along the way. That’s the equivalent of 3 marathons on successive days. Eddy Izzard and John Bishop eat your hearts out!
Sponsorship has been forthcoming across many areas, not least of which are the hotels, 9 rooms in each, gratis. The Holiday Inn in Sheffield, DeVere Village in Hyde and Lavender/Best Western in Widnes.
The Run itself will finish at about 1PM on Saturday 14th April on the field at Anfield and the following week, at half time of the WBA game, the team will be introduced at halftime. But for the team it’s not about the glory of running out at Anfield; it’s about the 96.
The Run has received considerable support across Liverpool and obviously from both Hillsborough groups. Steve Rotheram, MP and Andy Burnham, MP are on board as are a host of Liverpool players past and present with more joining as the start date gets closer.
For more information and to make a donation, please visit, www.hillsborough-anfieldrun.co.uk. JFT96.
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