[Essay Today] Heyjel Disaster

Soccer appears in Act 1, Scene 4 of William Shakespeare's play King Lear. "You base football player!" is what the loyal Earl of Kent says to the rude servant Oswald. It is usually translated as "You lowly fellow who plays soccer!" Some argue that this reflects the violence of soccer at the time and the lowly social class of those who played it. The origin myth that "the skull of an enemy soldier dug up from a grave was kicked" seems to hint that the essence of soccer lies in violence. However, soccer has been refined by cutting down violence and adding rules and etiquette, reborn as a modern sport. Still, unfortunate incidents sometimes occur on the soccer field.

There is a 90-year-old stadium located at 135 Mahatong Street in Brussels, Belgium. Opened on August 23, 1930, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Belgium's founding, this stadium was initially called the Jubilee Stadium. From 1946 to 1995, it was known as the Heysel Stadium. Now, it is called Stade Roi Baudouin (King Baudouin Stadium). The beautiful Laeken Park is nearby. The pitch is covered with natural grass and surrounded by an athletics track. Most matches of the Belgian national soccer and rugby teams are held here. It can accommodate up to 50,093 spectators.

This venue was mainly used as a soccer stadium and enjoyed its heyday as Heysel Stadium. The European Cup soccer finals were held here in 1958, 1966, 1974, and 1985. The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup finals were also held here in 1964, 1976, and 1980. On March 6, 1963, a match between RSC Anderlecht and Dundee FC drew 64,073 spectators, setting the record for the highest attendance. However, this stadium is remembered not only in world soccer history but also in sports history as the site of a tragic disaster.

On May 29, 1985, England's Liverpool and Italy's Juventus met in the European Cup final. Each team's away supporters numbered over 25,000. The fans of the two clubs had fought the previous year, and tensions remained unresolved. They took their places behind each goalpost. These were all standing terraces. The organizers allocated one section behind the Liverpool goal to local Belgian fans and left a buffer zone between the two sections as a neutral area. Police were also deployed there. However, Juventus fans mixed into this neutral zone.

The distance between Liverpool fans and Juventus fans in the neutral zone was short. A chain-linked barrier separated them. Fans on both sides began throwing stones across the barrier. This happened even before the kickoff. As kickoff approached, the clashes intensified. Liverpool fans crossed the barrier, broke through the police line, and charged at Juventus fans. The stands turned into chaos. Juventus fans trying to escape and local spectators crowded to one side, causing the outer wall of the neutral zone to collapse from the bottom up.

Thirty-nine people died in this incident. More than 600 were injured. The match was played amid this hellish scene, with Juventus winning 1-0. It is a victory that soccer fans do not remember. Immediately after the Heysel disaster, UEFA banned English soccer clubs from international competitions for five years and Liverpool for seven years. At Anfield, Liverpool's home stadium, a memorial plaque was hung to honor the victims of the Heysel disaster. The Heysel Stadium was used only for athletics for the next ten years. It was renovated and reopened in 1995 under a new name.

Heo Jin-seok, poet and professor at Korea National Sport University