Hillsborough: Minute's applause for 97th victim

A minute's applause has been held at Liverpool's first home game this season for a man who became the 97th victim of the Hillsborough disaster.

Andrew Devine died aged 55 in July - 32 years after suffering life-changing injuries in the 1989 stadium crush.

A coroner recently ruled he was the 97th fatality due to the disaster at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

Fans at Saturday's game with Burnley chanted "Justice for the 97".

Mr Devine was 22 at the time of the disaster, when overcrowding occurred on the terraces of Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough stadium on 15 April 1989.

In 2016, inquests concluded that the 96 fans who had died had been unlawfully killed.

A senior coroner recently said Mr Devine, who died on 27 July, was the disaster's "97th fatality" and therefore the conclusion was the same.

He said the lifelong Liverpool fan had died from aspiration pneumonia, which had been caused by a brain injury due to oxygen deprivation and crush injuries.

Earlier this year, South Yorkshire Police offered an "unreserved apology" to those affected by the crush, admitting that "serious errors and mistakes were made" by its officers both during the disaster and in subsequent investigations.

The force, along with West Midlands Police, agreed to pay damages to more than 600 people following a cover-up in the aftermath.

Two retired police officers and an ex-solicitor who were accused of altering police statements after the disaster were acquitted in May at the end of the latest trial on the tragedy.

No-one has ever been convicted over police actions concerning the disaster in what a senior government minister described as "the greatest scandal of British policing of our lifetimes".

In his programme notes, Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson said the players knew Mr Devine from his visits to games and their training base.

"Andrew was an incredible person, someone who fought for 32 years against injuries that had been expected to end his life much sooner than they did," Henderson said.

"Knowing that people in this city and beyond are still suffering due to Hillsborough is heart-breaking, but all we can do is carry on being there for each other as best we can," he added.

Fans at Saturday's game, which Liverpool won 2-0, displayed a tribute mosaic featuring the number 97.

Outside of the stadium, the previously-named 96 Avenue walkway has been renamed 97 Avenue.

Arrangements have also begun for Mr Devine's name to be etched on Anfield's Hillsborough Memorial.

Liverpool FC said the club's playing shirts would be amended for the 2022-23 season, with the 97 emblem featuring on the nape of neck.

The minute's applause ahead of Saturday's game was also held in tribute to people who had died with coronavirus.

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