Liverpool Nottingham Forest 1989: What was the main cause of the Hillsborough disaster?

An FA Cup semi-final match was scheduled between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest on April 15, 1989, at Hillsborough, a neutral venue. The sold-out game was expected to draw more than 53,000 fans.

To prevent hooliganism, fans for the two teams were directed to enter from different sides of the stadium. Liverpool supporters with tickets for the standing terraces were to enter along Leppings Lane.

Due to the limited number of turnstiles, a bottleneck formed as approximately 10,100 fans attempted to enter the stadium on the Leppings Lane side. By about 2:30 PM, some 30 minutes before kickoff, more than half of those fans were still outside.

Hoping to ease congestion, Yorkshire Police Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield, who had little experience policing soccer matches at Hillsborough, approved the opening of exit gate C at approximately 2:52 PM.

Some 2,000 fans entered through that gate, and although the side pens were relatively empty, the majority headed to the main tunnel and the already crowded pens 3 and 4. As fans rushed into those pens, a deadly crash resulted, with people frantically trying to escape.