If you know anything about Paddy Pimblett, it’s that he’s a hardcore fan of Liverpool FC. While most UFC athletes would pose with a national flag – Pimblett could more often be seen with a Liverpool football flag with the insignia 97.
This is of course a call back to “Justice for the 97” . Justice for the 97 relates to a stadium incident that happened back in 1989 – before Pimblett was even alive. During the tragedy, 96 Liverpool FC fans lost their life with the 97th succumbing to injuries in days following the event.
The police were quick to blame hooliganism and inebriation for the incident however it was confirmed in 2016 that the tragedy was caused by negligent failures by police and ambulance services to fulfil their duty of care.
This incident is why Pimblett often leads a singalong of the song “Justice for the 97” during his biggest triumphs – which is exactly what he did earlier this year during UFC London.
Now Pimblett finds himself on another side of history – because Liverpool FC is being blamed for scheduling a celebration parada for UEFA cup on the May 29th – a day of another prominent tragedy.
Heysel Stadium disaster took place in Belgium in 1985 during a match between Italian Juventus and Liverpool. Liverpool supporters charged at Juventus supporters and breached a fence that was separating them from a “neutral area”.
As per wikipedia:
“Juventus fans ran back on the terraces and away from the threat into a concrete wall. Fans already standing near the wall were crushed; eventually the wall collapsed, allowing others to escape”
Ultimately 39 people were killed – 32 Italian and presumably fans of Juventus.
Fast forward to 2022 – where the UEFA scheduled a celebration for the day.
https://twitter.com/theufcbaddy/status/1528298254806417408?s=20&t=XdVM8a8BGlYKvB5KiRXLNA
https://twitter.com/theufcbaddy/status/1528336077311852544?s=20&t=XdVM8a8BGlYKvB5KiRXLNA
https://twitter.com/theufcbaddy/status/1528339516901273606?s=20&t=XdVM8a8BGlYKvB5KiRXLNA
https://twitter.com/theufcbaddy/status/1528342933954494466?s=20&t=XdVM8a8BGlYKvB5KiRXLNA
This is just the latest case of Pimblett standing up for Liverpool FC and its fans. Previously Liverpool stadium attendants booed the national anthem and prince William due to the injustice in how the govt institutions treated the Liverpool stadium tragedy.