Hillsborough, Stuart, Susan and Melbourne

As we approached the 2014-15 season senses heightened from finishing second last season there was a little bit of trepidation following the transfer of Luis Suarez.  Ian Ayre and the Liverpool transfer committee have worked assiduously in bringing in new blood and the club finally received permission to increase the capacity at Anfield.

And then as there always has been over the last 25 years the spectre of the Hillsborough disaster hanging over the club.

I've expounded previously I was not there, but like every Liverpool fan knows that the fight for justice goes on.   I am obviously not a survivor, but as a lifelong supporter it's impossible to separate oneself away from it.  Watching a recording of the BBC's excellent Alan Hansen tribute programme, he spoke movingly about the traumatic effect the tragedy had on his life and the club.  For me it was a jolt to remind me that I hadn't looked at the reports from the inquest in Warrington in a while.

Then I read an article by the Liverpool Echo's Amy Browne entitled "Former police officer accused of being a witness to the 'whole Hillsborough lie'."  The article looks at the role of former police officer Michael Ryan who worked in the police control box on the day and whether he witnessed a cover up.  Ryan vehemently denies any involvement in a cover-up which allegedly stemmed from inside a room where he failed to notice any of the luminaries around him such as then head of the FA Graham Kelly, but yet referenced anti-social behaviour by Liverpool supporters.

Justice for the 96 and the survivors and their families is why the Liverpool family will never give up and why we come together when we can as a reminder to keep the eternal flame of the 96 in the memory of others.

With that in mind, I conversed recently with Susan Kershaw, partner of Stuart Littlewood the Hillsborough survivor  now living in Melbourne, Australia, both of whom I wrote about meeting earlier this year following the Anfield Celebration of the 96 in April.

Susan explained that Stuart had recently hosted a fund-raising night for the Hillsborough Justice Campaign (HJC) in Melbourne and raised a fantastic $1500 which as she says is an outstanding effort considering the event was attended by friends and family.  Then again in a city where 95,446 saw Liverpool v Melbourne Victory last year anything is possible, especially when one considers that this is a country where football is not even in the top three sports it's a great achievement by Stuart (as unassuming an individual as you could wish to meet).

95,446 sing YNWA in Melbourne in 2013

 
Susan says they were taken a back because the tragedy has never been considered news worthy in Australia over the years and hence why she believes there is a lack of understanding about what the fight for justice is about down under.

Personally, I think the strength of this club knows no bounds and even if some fans don't know everything about that faithful day on 15 April 1989, I tend to think or am arrogant enough to feel that most of our fans in Melbourne do know about Hillsborough.  Being apart of the Liverpool Football Club family and immersed in its ethos of You'll Never Walk Alone means that fans react appropriately when required.

There are fans who truly love their football club around the world and are not lucky enough to ever attend a Premier League match - remembering Zaiful and his girlfriend, fans from Malaysia getting tickets to watch Liverpool at Anfield, albeit in the Sunderland end (still be overjoyed at the experience) or Sam from the US coming over and making friends with us on the train and swapping his ticket to experience the Kop at full tilt.

Every fan will say this about their club, but I truly believe that You'll Never Walk Alone as a Liverpool supporter epitomises us and it's why Stuart Littlewood and Susan Kershaw are not alone as survivors of Hillsborough.