English football clubs banned from Europe | June 2, 1985 | HISTORY (2024)

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English football clubs banned from Europe | June 2, 1985 | HISTORY? ›

On June 2, 1985, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) bans English football (soccer) clubs from competing in Europe. The ban followed the death of 39 football fans, most of them Italian, at Brussels' Heysel Stadium in a riot caused by English football hooligans at that year's European Cup final.

The horrific scenes at the Heysel stadium unfurled shortly before the European Cup final when Liverpool fans charged towards Juventus supporters, causing a dividing wall to collapse and crushing fans to death. The final death toll was 39 - most of the victims were Italians. The ban was lifted in 1990.

The stadium was poorly maintained and in desperate need of repair and had failed inspections prior to the disaster, resulting in the collapse of the wall. Thirty-nine people—mostly Italians and Juventus fans—were killed and 600 were injured in the confrontation.

English teams have participated in UEFA competitions every year save for 1955–56 and the years between 1985 and 1990, when in the aftermath of the Heysel Stadium disaster all English clubs were banned from Europe by UEFA; Liverpool, who had been playing at the Heysel Stadium against Juventus, were banned for six years, ...

Blame for the tragedy was partly attributed to Heysel Stadium, which was more than 50 years old. It had failed inspections, and the threat of closure meant that little was spent on maintenance. Another contributing factor was a decision by local police to get unruly fans into the stadium early, rather than arrest them.

Hillsborough was a tragedy for Liverpool FC. Yet, they previously did the same thing to Juventus fans at Heysel, and to this day have not apologised.

BBC ON THIS DAY | 2 | 1985: Uefa bans English clubs from Europe. European football's governing body Uefa has banned English clubs from playing in Europe indefinitely, following the riot at Brussels' Heysel stadium four days ago in which 39 people died.

Out of those convicted, 14 Liverpool fans were given three-year sentences for manslaughter, half of which were suspended. Three Belgians were also charged: the head of the Belgian football association, as well as the two chiefs in charge of policing and crowd control on the night, which was largely seen as inadequate.

Juventus F.C.

1985 European Cup Final / Champion

When was football illegal in England? ›

King Edward II of England was the first to ban mob football in the year 1314, not so much out of sporting principle; he probably didn't care, but to stop, or at least slow down, the rising tide of urban chaos the game created.

On May 29, 1985, 39 supporters – mostly Juventus fans – were killed when a wall at the Heysel Stadium collapsed. The Bianconeri fans were trying to escape a group of Liverpool fans who had breached a fence which separated the two groups from a neutral area in the stadium.

Complaints by London merchants led King Edward II of England to issue a proclamation banning football in London on 13 April 1314 because "there is great noise in the city caused by hustling over large balls from which many evils may arise which God forbid; we command and forbid, on behalf of the King, on pain of ...

Supporters of the Merseyside club have a tradition of disrespecting 'God Save the King', dating back to the 1980s when it was widely believed that the city of Liverpool had been abandoned by the British establishment. Those feelings were hardened by the reaction to the Hillsborough tragedy in 1989.

English teams were finally readmitted to the UEFA after the 1990 World Cup. Fifteen years later, on April 5, 2005, Liverpool beat Juventus 2-1 in the first leg of the European Champions League quarterfinals. It was the first match the two clubs had played since the Heysel Stadium disaster.

fa*gan retired after the 1984–85 season and was succeeded by Dalglish, who took over as player-manager. The ban on English clubs in European competitions ultimately lasted for five years, and even when the ban was lifted in 1990, Liverpool were not re-admitted; they had to serve an extra year.

Juventus, the defending champions, were eliminated by Barcelona in the quarter-finals. No clubs from England were entered into the competition during this year, owing to a ban from European competition in light of the Heysel Stadium disaster. Had the ban not been imposed, Everton would have represented England.

One of the primary reasons for these prohibitions was the perceived threat that football posed to public order and safety. The game, often played in villages and town streets, was notoriously violent and unruly, leading to injuries and sometimes even deaths.

Mass or mob football was popular in medieval and early modern Europe. It involved an unlimited number of players and very few rules; the game often caused damage to people and property and was seen as a distraction from more desirable work which led to many attempts at banning the game in Britain and France.