Hillsborough: 20 Years Later

We're about to celebrate JILL'S BIRTHDAY, but I am also recalling this date 20 years ago, and the horror that altered my favorite sport.
April 15 marks the 20th anniversary of the HILLSBOROUGH DISASTER, a deadly crush of football fans at Hillsborough, home stadium for my favorite club, Sheffield Wednesday.
The crush claimed the lives of 96 people -- all of them fans of LIVERPOOL. The Merseysiders were due to face NOTTINGHAM FOREST in an FA Cup semifinal. Hillsborough served as the neutral site for the match.
South Yorkshire Police, the authorities overseeing the event, opened a large exit gate which forced too many Liverpool fans into the standing-room, Leppings Lane end of the stadium, leaving fans inside trapped between people entering the stadium and metal fences separating the stands from the field.
The investigation into the disaster, the TAYLOR REPORT, ultimately resulted into the conversion of most British football stadiums into all-seated facilities.
Today, thousands will pay their respects to the innocent lives lost in the name of that progress.