Legendary football commentator Clive Tyldesley shared his personal experiences of both the Hillsborough and Heysel disasters when he joined Nathan and Kevin on Off The Ball.
Tyldesley was not present at the Hillsborough disaster but he did commentate on the 1985 European Cup final between Juventus and Liverpool.
“I was in Brussels but I wasn’t at Sheffield,” Tyldesley told Off The Ball.
“Strangely, Everton played a semi-final the same day at Villa Park. I wasn’t at Hillsborough but I was very heavily involved in the aftermath of Hillsborough and I’m still very emotionally involved in the Hillsborough disaster.
“Because I met two people who lost their lives that day. So everything involved with that is very close to my heart. I struggle to talk about it without showing the emotion.
“Heysel is a bit different because it was the first and only time I have seen dead bodies in my life, and seen them piled on top of one another.
“I went to cover a football match. Those images do stay with you and it may sound a little bit trite, but I never use the words disaster, tragedy or catastrophe in football commentary.
“Calamity seems to be ok. Calamity is almost like a clown dropping a custard pie, I always think.
“Those are three big words which are used far too lightly when a ball goes between a goalkeeper’s legs. People die in disasters and tragedies – nobody dies on a football field.”
Tyldesley also touched on the almost surreal nature of having to fulfil his duties for the 1985 European Cup final despite the chaos ensuing at the Belgian arena.
“Heysel was a hugely traumatic experience but weirdly –and I’m almost embarrassed to say it – I did commentate on a football match as if it mattered,” Tyldesley added.
“I didn’t just toss it away. The players came out to play and I commentated on a European Cup final. It was probably only the next day when you started to reflect on everything you’d seen and started to put it in the context that it deserved.”
Listen to the full Football Show podcast on Off The Ball below:
Written by James Hopper
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