More poor judgement from the FA

I’ve commented before on the FA and how it doesn’t adequately represent English fans. But the recent report about the 1989 Hillsborough disaster from the Independent Panel has exposed more poor  judgement from the organisation that represents English Football.

It turns out that they selected the ground for that fateful day despite the fact it had no safety certificate. And I didn’t realise that there had also been a crush outside the ground the previous year and a more serious one in 1981.

According to the report, Lord Justice Taylor wrote: “In selecting Hillsborough as the venue for the cup semi-final, the Football Association did not consider in any depth whether it was suitable for a high-risk match with an attendance of 54,000 requiring to be segregated, all of whom were, in effect, away supporters lacking week in, week out knowledge of the ground.

“No special inspection was made; no consultation with Sheffield Wednesday or the local authority took place.

“I have little doubt that, if the disaster scenario had been described to the management at Hillsborough prior to 15 April 1989, they would have said: ‘Of course, it couldn’t happen here.’ Yet something like it had happened at Hillsborough in 1981, albeit with less dire results.”

Tellingly, the report mentions a fan writing to the FA to forewarn them of the problems the previous year at the Leppings Lane end. Not suprisingly, given the FA’s orientation, this was ignored.

Failure to listen to the market you serve is a recipe for disaster. In this case, it literally was. Unfortunately, the FA has shown once again how out of touch it is with one of its key stakeholders. And since the report came out, continues to show its lack of appreciation of its true responsibility. Otherwise, their response to the report and their management of the publicity surrounding it would have shown a lot more commitment to the fans they should be serving.

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