Hillsborough survivor speaks out on dedicating his life to ending tragedy chanting
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Hillsborough survivor and football coach Scott Hartley is campaigning to end tragedy chanting
A Liverpool fan who survived the Hillsborough disaster said twhen rival fans mock the 1989 tragedy it "makes him sick and takes him back" to that awful day.
Scott Hartley is 51 and originally from Garston. He was only 15-years-old when he went to watch Liverpool play against Nottingham Forest in an FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield. Scott's entire life has been affected by the horror that he witnessed on that day which claimed the lives of 97 football fans in the worst stadium disaster this country has ever seen.
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The trauma Scott faced in the years after Hillsborough led him to self-medicate and consider taking his life as he struggled to deal with his experience. He left Liverpool and moved to various places before settling in Cardiff 20 years ago. Scott is now campaigning to end tragedy chanting - where fans sing or chant about tragic events - in all formats in football.
Speaking about his experiences on that day of the disaster on April 15 1989, Scott told the ECHO: "For me it was the contrast. It was a glorious morning, absolutely baking. I was taken there by my teacher who was taking me there as a reward for playing rugby and doing quite well.
"When we got there I bumped into my mates and I managed to blag my way to jumping in with them because one of them had a spare ticket for the Leppings Lane. I ended up in pen 2.
"Before kick off I noticed some things weren't right, then the crowd surged forward and it was like an avalanche - it all happened so quickly. One minute I was singing, getting ready for the match and the next I was pinned and I couldn't move. I can still remember now the moment when I thought if I breathe out, I'm f****, because I didn't think I would be able to breathe in again."
Scott added: "I managed to get up and make my way over the fence and onto the pitch. I can remember seeing a Nottingham Forest fan, I will never forget the look on her face, it was complete desperation and helplessness because they weren't allowed to move or leave - they had to sit down and watch what was going on. I think that was the moment my brain shut down."
Scott, who was brought up largely in care, said in the years that followed the disaster, he received no help to process what he had been through. "It was just never mentioned," he added: "I wasn't even asked if I was ok, it was put aside. What we went through and what we saw at the age of 15 and trying to deal with that, I wasn't equipped to deal with that.
"I think I was basically in shock for the next 34 years. It was only two years ago that I admitted to my family how this disaster had affected me. I self medicated for the best part of 30 years. How I am still here I don't know."
One thing scott says saved him was contacting the Hillsborough Survivors Support Alliance which provides support to anyone affected by the disaster. "That literally saved my life," added Scott, who has now turned his efforts to ending tragedy chanting and coaching junior footballers.
Hillsborough survivor and football coach Scott Hartley is campaigning to end tragedy chanting
Scott describes how he feels when he hears rival fans singing mocking chants about the Hillsborough disaster or posting horrific comments on social media. He said: "It makes me sick. It sends me back to that day. My bones start hurting, I feel like I am being crushed and I can't breathe. Panic sets in, terror sets in. It can come up at any moment. But the ones that affect me the most is when it is directly aimed at me as a survivor."
Scott says his campaign has two aims. One is to to lobby football teams, the Premier League and social media companies to take stronger action against those involved in tragedy chanting or tragedy posting.
Scott said: "At some point people have to be held responsible. We have an idea of the amount of survivors from Hillsborough, but what we don't know is the number of people being affected by the day, who never dealt with it and have taken their own lives, affected by tragedy chanting at a game. We need to make the clubs stand up and take responsibility.
"But this isn't just a campaign about Liverpool, I want this campaign to be about everyone. I need all football fans across the football family to feel safe going to a ground. I have not gone to a game since the 89/90 season. I've not been inside a football ground since because it fills me with dread. I would love to go and cheer the boys on again but it is very traumatic for me."
The second pillar of Scott's campaign is to teach children from a young age about the real history of Hillsborough and about the importance of not tolerating tragedy chanting in any form. Scott is well placed to start this process as he now coaches an under-14s club in Cardiff and is launching a new team called Survivors
He said: "Someone said my life has been changed by two games of football. One was in April 1989 and the other was when I got invited to see a friend of mine's son play. They weren't the best team, I started giving the goalie some help and the defence. The next weekend I got a message saying the coaches wanted me to come down and take part. That was September last year and its gone from me watching some kids play a game to me giving everything I have in life to this team."
The team he coaches will carry the End Tragedy Chanting banner on their shirts next year. Scott added: "The thinking of launching the campaign at both grass roots level and targeted at the top of the Premier League is to get the clubs and the fans to take accountability but to also try and educate the boys who are going to be standing on the terraces in 20 years with their kids - we need to get to them now and tell them the truth."
To find out more about Scott's campaign visit: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/12KbuAfNZ2U
For more information on the HSA visit https://www.hsa-us.co.uk
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To donate or buy a kit you can contact Scott directly here: scotthartley093@gmail.com