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It felt as if Liverpool had let English football down, when for 20 years they had been its finest ambassador

Phil Neal can recall arriving at the Heysel stadium 25 years ago tomorrow and being distinctly underwhelmed by its appearance. “My first thought was that it barely stood comparison with Wembley or Rome or other grounds where Liverpool had won the European Cup,” he says. “The game would have sold out any stadium in Europe, yet instead of Barcelona or Madrid we got Heysel with its frail-looking fence. I would still like to know who made that decision and on what grounds, because the tragedy could have been avoided.”

By the close of the 1980s English football was well versed in tragedy, yet there was a recurring theme to the grim progression that began with the Bradford City fire a couple of weeks before Liverpool’s 1985 European Cup final against Juventus and ended with the Hillsborough disaster four years later. While the causes may have been different, in every case the loss of life was avoidable.

The problem at Valley Parade had been the entirely predictable consequences, at least from a modern safety perspective, of a discarded cigarette, a wooden stand and a shameful build-up of combustible rubbish below. The blame at Heysel was laid squarely at the door of Liverpool supporters by Uefa the day after 39 people died. By charging at their Italian counterparts the English contingent had to bear direct responsibility for the panic and crush that followed, even the collapse of an inadequate dividing wall that increased the death toll. “Only the English fans were responsible,” Uefa’s official observer, Gunter Schneider, said at the time. “Of that there is no doubt.”

While that may be the case in terms of strict cause and effect, Uefa managed to get off lightly. Without an official inquiry into the disaster, the controlling body for European football never had to defend its decision to stage a showpiece game at an obviously dilapidated venue. The stadium authorities and Belgian police were never questioned either. Heysel was demolished and rebuilt in 1994, without hosting another major game in the interim.

The Liverpool fans had found it ridiculously easy to break through the flimsy wire fence that separated them from the Juventus supporters, and while that does not make them any less culpable, the confrontation began with both sets of fans throwing stones at each other across the barriers. Stones they found lying on the floor, inside the stadium, either hard-core from underneath the terracing or bits of crumbling steps. Heysel had struck Arsenal fans who had visited a few years earlier as a “dump”. It was a far from ideal venue for a major European final.

There was nothing particularly wrong, by the standards of the day, with Hillsborough in 1989. The reason 96 lives were lost was because we had become careless about the way we watched football. Careless enough to accept pens and cages as the only alternative to hooliganism and pitch invasions. Careless enough not to think about the crush consequences of letting a crowd build up then releasing it into a confined space.

Even as the disaster was unfolding in Liverpool’s FA Cup semi-final with Nottingham Forest people formed the natural conclusion that some sort of disturbance was taking place, and assumed the supporters trying to scale the barriers – poignantly the ones who had arrived at the ground early to secure a place at the front – were seeking to run on to the pitch or fight with neighbours. Only in the horrific aftermath of Hillsborough were lessons properly learned, with the Taylor Report paving the way for all-seat stadiums, CCTV, adequate stewarding and meaningful safety certificates.

Back in 1985, preparing for the biggest game of his life, Neal innocently imagined he would be following a glorious Liverpool tradition, rather than leading the club into its darkest period. The only player to appear in all four of Liverpool’s European Cup victories between 1977 and 1984, Neal was captain by the time of their fifth final, with every expectation of rounding off his Anfield years on a personal high. “I anticipated lifting the silverware,” he says. “It was going to be another glory night and I would go up the steps first.

“Looking back now means looking across Hillsborough, which involved an even greater loss of life, but in 1985 Heysel was the worst thing imaginable. It felt as if Liverpool had let English football down, when for 20 years they had been its finest ambassador. That’s what really turned our stomachs, the feeling that the club’s impeccable record over two decades in Europe had ended in something so horrific.”

Kenny Dalglish, who would take over as manager when Joe Fagan stepped down after an uneasy couple of years, makes the same point. “Liverpool made it public in advance that they were concerned about the state of the stadium,” he says. “Uefa said they must continue. Liverpool did all the warning, Liverpool made every effort to prevent trouble between fans, and when the worst happened Liverpool received all the blame.”

English clubs were banned from Europe for five years as a result of Heysel, and needed at least that long again to catch up when they were allowed back. Some Everton fans have never forgiven Liverpool for preventing them entering the European Cup as English champions that year, arguing that a potentially great team had to be disbanded instead of getting the chance to grow with European experience. And on an unreal, unnatural, unforgiveable night in Brussels, Liverpool lost a European Cup final for the first time.

Fearing further crowd problems if the match was abandoned, the game took place after an interminable delay. Both sides played as if in shock. Juventus won through a Michel Platini penalty. Neal does not remember kicking a ball. “I have absolutely no recollection of the match,” he says. “The delay in the dressing rooms was bad enough, but as soon as we heard people had died we lost all interest in the match. The difference between then and now is that now we know watching football can be a matter of life and death. At Heysel we still had it all to find out.”

LiverpoolFootball violenceUefaPaul Wilsonguardian.co.uk

• Serie A club dismiss claims they have contacted Benitez
• Jose Mourinho expected to quit for Real Madrid in summer

Inter Milan have denied reports they have approached Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez about the possibility of replacing Jose Mourinho.

Mourinho has been linked with a summer move to Real Madrid, should the Spanish club part company with Manuel Pellegrini, and will make a decision on his future after Saturday’s Champions League final against Bayern Munich.

He told Marca: “My only options are Madrid or Inter. To get me to leave this club after two years of incredible work, only Real Madrid could achieve that. If I go, I will move with a clear conscience having changed the club.”

Asked about Benitez, Inter sporting director Marco Branca told Sky Italia: “We absolutely have had no contact with Benitez. Our coach is Jose Mourinho.”

Benitez has also been linked with the Juventus job in recent months but the Turin giants are set to appoint former Sampdoria coach Luigi Del Neri this week.

LiverpoolInternazionalePremier LeagueSerie Aguardian.co.uk

• Benítez may stay if new Liverpool ownership structure emerges
• Spaniard says fans were the only reason he stayed last season

Rafael Benítez remains torn over whether to end his six-year reign at Liverpool despite increasing confidence at Juventus that he will become their coach at the end of this season. The Liverpool manager’s dilemma was illustrated yesterday with an admission that he would have left Anfield last year but for his relationship with the club’s supporters.

Benítez again refused to commit his future to Liverpool following Thursday’s Europa League semi-final exit against Atlético Madrid and sources close to the new Juventus president, Andrea Agnelli, claim a deal to take the Spaniard to Turin is almost complete. Agnelli is pressing Benítez for an answer as he prepares to launch his ambitious project for the club and the prolonged wait for investment at Anfield is pushing his preferred candidate towards Italy.

Benítez would prefer to remain on Merseyside under a new ownership structure but has yet to see firm evidence that Tom Hicks and George Gillett, the Anfield co-owners, have found a buyer willing to meet their asking price. Benítez said this week he had received no direct assurances over his future from the Anfield hierarchy, who would avoid having to find a £16m payoff should their manager accept the offer from Juventus. But he refused to give any assurances of his own to the supporters who chanted his name during the exit on away goals to Atlético.

“If I am here it is because of those fans,” he said, when pressed to give supporters clarification on his future. “I have had massive offers over the last year and I decided to stay because of the fans. It’s been a very disappointing season because we couldn’t achieve what we were expected to, and still I’m here and I will do my best until the end.”

He added: “The fans are the main thing, the best thing, that the club has. For one year, I have been working very hard, trying to do my best, and we will see what happens in the future because [the game against] Chelsea is the future now.”

The Aston Villa manager, Martin O’Neill, would be a strong contender to replace Benítez, who in recent weeks has not disguised the fact that he has lost patience with the Liverpool regime. Without a sudden development in the takeover search, it is likely tomorrow’s league game with Chelsea will be his last as Liverpool manager at Anfield.

Benítez’s reticence on his future was evident in his exchanges with reporters:

Q You said you wanted assurances. Do the fans not deserve clarification the same as you?

A At the moment I cannot talk about the future long term because I think we have to focus on the games we have left.

Q Is that because you don’t know what the future is for you?

A I know the future very well and it is Chelsea, that’s it.

Q Do you want to be here next season?

A I want to win against Chelsea and then Hull, that’s it.

Q In an ideal world where would you find yourself next season?

A I will not talk too much about an ideal world. The situation is the situation that we have and Chelsea is the target.

Q Juventus are saying you will be there next season. Are they wrong?

A I am here now and hopefully I will be here on Sunday against Chelsea.

Carlo Ancelotti, the former Juventus coach now in charge of Chelsea, said Benítez would be tailor-made for Italian football: “I’m sure he would be a success. Tactically, he has fantastic experience. His teams are tactically very, very good and so, in Italy, he would not have a problem. Benítez is one of the most important coaches and maybe Juventus will think to bring him to Turin but I don’t know what will happen.”

Rafael BenítezLiverpoolPremier LeagueJuventusCarlo AncelottiAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk