Football can be a tough sport. Players will dive, argue with referees, and sometimes floor an opponent with a nasty challenge. But all that pales in comparison to the tragedy that occurred at the Hillsborough stadium in 1989. 97 football fans, many of them children, lost their lives in a stampede during a game between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. It was a devastating moment, and even now the wounds have not fully healed.

It’s hard to imagine what it must have been like to be at that game, but one Forest fan, Martin, remembers it vividly. He was just a boy at the time, but he was already a football fanatic. He had grown up idolizing Ian Rush and Kenny Dalglish and supported Liverpool – much to the chagrin of his Forest-supporting friends. Martin tells the story of how he went to a game with his Liverpool-supporting friends and witnessed something that he would never forget. It was a moment that would change football forever.

Nearly 25 years later, Forest and Liverpool will finally meet again in a game that is sure to be emotional. Forest fans have created a 30-foot banner that reads “Respect the 97” to commemorate the victims. The banner’s message is clear: tragedies like Hillsborough should never be fodder for chants and insults. The banner represents a message of solidarity between two football clubs that have experienced a complicated relationship.

But, as much as Forest fans respect Liverpool and the tragedy that occurred that day, they are still going to sing their traditional chants. They will cheer when their team scores a goal and jeer when Liverpool makes a mistake. It’s all part of the fun, right? As one fan tells it: “I hate sanitised football. I want football to be edgy. That is part of the fun rather than it being a sport where everyone is eating cucumber sandwiches with a rug over their knees.”

Football might be a game, but it’s also serious business. And, for Forest fans, it’s a sport that holds a special place in their hearts. They’ll always support their team, no matter what. But on this day, they’ll also remember the tragedy that occurred so long ago. They’ll stand together with Liverpool fans and mourn the loss of those 97 lives.

Football might be a tribal sport, but events like Hillsborough remind us that we’re all human beings at the end of the day. We all love the game, but we also need to remember that it’s just a game. We need to put aside our petty rivalries and remember the things that truly matter. And, who knows? Maybe one day we’ll

Serious News: nytimes