LONDON , England ( CNN ) -- They left home with hope in their hearts , thousands of fans true to the Liverpool anthem , dreaming of reaching another Wembley FA Cup Final . The disaster at Hillsborough football stadium in 1989 resulted in the deaths of 96 football supporters . But what began as a day out in the spring sunshine 20 years ago ended as the darkest hour in the history of British football . I had settled into Row B Seat 2 of the press box in the south stand at Hillsborough , home to Sheffield Wednesday and neutral venue for the game . From there I would have had an uninterrupted view of the semifinal showdown between Liverpool and Brian Clough 's Nottingham Forest . Clough , one of the legends of the British game , had been denied an FA Cup Final with Forest a year earlier , when his side lost to Liverpool at the same stage of the competition and at the same venue . The atmosphere in the ground for the 1989 semifinal exploded as the teams emerged onto the pitch . But none of us was prepared for what was to follow . The match action lasted less than six minutes . I ca n't remember a single kick . What I do recall quite vividly are the scenes of distress , desperation and death at the Liverpool end that destroyed so many families and shocked the world . Looking to my left and behind Liverpool keeper Bruce Grobbelaar 's goal , I was drawn to a huge mushroom-like effect among the crowd in the central standing enclosures around kick-off time . See Liverpool players and fans paying tribute to victims of Hillsborough disaster » . The match had not long started when the first signs of a major problem surfaced . Fans began frantically attempting to climb over the perimeter fence to escape the crush at the Leppings Lane end of the ground . I did n't know it at the time , but the swell was the exit point of a tunnel that ran under the stand . Through it hundreds of Liverpool fans had attempted to make their way without realizing the two caged pens it led to were already overcrowded . Many had the life squeezed out of them in that tunnel . Others were trampled or crushed to death on the terraces . The lucky ones clambered to safety , many collapsing on the pitch . Some fans were hoisted up into the stand above by fellow supporters , but the main escape route was over the high perimeter fence and later through a small gate that was forced open as police -- who initially thought they were dealing with a pitch invasion -- recognized the true scale of the problem . Advertising boards were used as makeshift stretchers and some of those being carried away had their heads covered by coats . The Sheffield Wednesday gymnasium became a mortuary . The Liverpool end of the pitch resembled a casualty station with frantic efforts being made to treat the injured and save lives while others wandered aimlessly around the pitch in a daze . I will always remember the bid to revive one young fan in front of the main stand . Those efforts seemed to go on forever before finally hundreds of spectators let out a huge cheer as the lad at last showed some sign of life . I still wonder to this day whether or not he made it . Meanwhile I had an open phoneline to a copytaker at The Press Association and described those shocking events unfolding in front of me , including news of the first fatalities . For the second time in four years I had gone to cover a football match and ended up filing a disaster report . In 1985 I had been in Brussels with Liverpool to cover their European Cup final against Juventus , when 39 fans , mainly Italian , were killed at the Heysel stadium as a wall collapsed after trouble on the terraces . That match eventually went ahead after a delay of 85 minutes . Within hours of returning from Belgium , I was among a small group of football writers summoned to No . 10 Downing Street for a meeting with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher . Mrs Thatcher planned draconian measures to combat what became known as the English disease , but it was the appalling events at Sheffield that finally became the catalyst for change . The Hillsborough tragedy was played out in full view of 53,000 spectators and TV cameras . People who came to watch a football match went home haunted by scenes of carnage and chaos that will stay with them for the rest of their lives . Later , in an area beneath the empty south stand , FA chief executive Graham Kelly faced media at an impromptu press conference and expressed his shock , sadness and sorrow . Understandably , he did n't have all the answers as questions were fired his way . What led to the disaster is well documented . Lord Justice Taylor , a High Court judge commissioned by the government to produce a report , concluded that police operational errors were largely to blame for allowing the gates to be opened to relieve congestion outside the ground . Many questioned why the kickoff to the game had not been delayed . English football was quick to react with perimeter fences pulled , followed by the phased-in arrival of all-seater stadia . In the aftermath grieving fans turned Liverpool 's Kop stand and the Anfield pitch into a shrine draped with thousands of scarves , flags and flowers . A permanent memorial to the victims was later erected adjacent to the Shankly Gates -- named after the club 's most famous manager -- and which bear the title of the Reds ' anthem : You 'll Never Walk Alone . The oldest victim at Hillsborough was 67 , the youngest 10-year-old Jon-Paul Gilhooley , a cousin of current Liverpool captain and England international Steven Gerrard . Gerrard was six weeks away from his ninth birthday at the time of tragedy . There is nothing Liverpool would want more than to mark the 20th anniversary season with at least one gleaming trophy . They did it in 1989 , beating Forest when the semifinal was later replayed , then going on to defeat city rivals Everton after extra time at Wembley . On that occasion they returned home with hope in their hearts .
96 Liverpool fans died as a result of the Hillsborough disaster on April 15 , 1989 . Fans were crushed against stadium fencing during an FA Cup semifinal . Liverpool fans say there are still unanswered questions regarding the disaster . Comment: