About 25,000 fans for each team were at the Hysel Stadium an hour before kick-off when violence erupted. The retaining wall separating the supporters collapsed. This was described as “the darkest hour in the history of the UEFA competitions.”
As a result of the tragedy, UEFA banned English clubs from engaging in European competitions for 5 years. An Italian reporter from Gazzetta dello Sport who was there on May 29, 1985 describes the Belgian police units as completely useless. It became very clear with 15 – 20 minutes before that a …