While today it is 35 years since the Heysel disaster, Juventus says it ‘continues to invoke the same, unchanged feeling within us: pain.’
The Old Lady went on to win the Final 1-0 and lift their first European Cup/Champions League, courtesy of a Michel Platini penalty. The horrific incident occurred at Heysel Stadium in Belgium, before this European Cup Final between Juventus and Liverpool.
On May 29, 1985, 39 football supporters, many of them Bianconero, were crushed to death.
“The word Heysel is one of those that we will never ever forget,” wrote the Bianconeri on their official website.
“Heysel. The sun was shining in Brussels that day. And as it was leaving its last rays on the field, the unthinkable happened… in the stands, before the start of the Champions League final between Juve and Liverpool. A tragedy took place.
“It all happened in a few moments: the stampede, the race to escape, the wall that collapsed… And the panic. Thirty-nine people were taken that night in Brussels, almost all of them Italian, with the youngest of them being only 10 years old.
“It is in their memory, that today, as every day, we dedicate our remembrance and our pain. And while the years may go by, that word continues to evoke in us the same, unchanged feeling: pain. Heysel.”
The club tweeted about the tragedy, as well. Meanwhile, the Reds (Liverpool) have placed a floral wreath next to their memorial outside Anfield this morning, and are flying half-mast flags all day long. Torino also showed solidarity with their city rivals, posting a tweet that read: “United in prayers and remembrance.”
Juventus also said, “Thirty-five years have passed, but the memory of who were there, of those who watched from television at home, and also of those who had not yet been born, but know the facts through history, is something that awakens an emotion amongst everyone.”
