With the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy coming up this weekend, the Premier League, Football League, Football Conference and FA Cup games will all kick off seven minutes late as a mark of respect.
The move to remember the 96 Liverpool fans who perished at Hillsborough Stadium 25-years ago was announced by the Premier League last month as England’s top-flight said the following in a statement on their website.
“As a mark of respect and remembrance for those who lost their lives as a result of the Hillsborough stadium disaster in April 1989, all Premier League, Football League, Football Conference and FA Cup matches taking place on the weekend of 11-14 April will kick off seven minutes later than originally scheduled.”
The disaster took place at 3:06 p.m. on April 15, 1989 as 96 fans were killed during Liverpool’s FA Cup semifinal with Nottingham Forest. The game was ended after six minutes following fans being crushed in the Liverpool end of Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough Stadium, which was acting as a neutral venue.
Now all PL matches that were originally meant to kick off at 10 a.m. ET on Saturday 12 April will now start at 10:07 a.m. ET, with a period of silence observed at all stadiums from 3:06-3:07 p.m. GMT. Apart from the Saturday games, ties taking place on Friday 11, Saturday 12, Sunday 13 and Monday 14 April will also observe start seven minutes later than originally scheduled.
Liverpool’s huge title clash against Manchester City take place on Sunday April 13, and will now kick off at 8:37 a.m. ET as an emotional atmosphere is sure to be in place at Anfield. A moving gesture from the entire English soccer community will make the weekend of April 11-14 a reflective and emotional one, as those fans lost 25 years ago will be remembered across England.
