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Hillsborough. 96 people crushed due to overcrowding. It was something Liverpool could not forget. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t.
It was the FA cup semi-final between him and Nottingham Forest. He remembered the amount of people there. He remembered the panic-stricken faces of the people in the front. He remembered how the match stopped after six minutes, the pitch was filled with Liverpool supporters. He wanted to help, but he was forced to go off the pitch.
Liverpool glanced at the clock, it was 2 pm. He grabbed his scarf and the bouquet of flowers he had prepared earlier and headed out of his house to Anfield.
Once there, he saw that some supporters were already there. Not only from Liverpool’s side, but also from Everton’s; despite the two clubs being rivals. This made Liverpool smile.
A hand was placed on Liverpool’s shoulder. When he turned around, he saw Arsenal who was carrying his team scarf. Behind him were other clubs that had come along to show their respects. Arsenal smiled lightly and said, “Hey, I remember what happened.”
“We remember.” Said the Manchester brothers in unison, both of them were carrying a bouquet of flowers each; Manchester United had red ones while Manchester City had blue ones.
“Don’t think I forgot. Stamford remembers too! Well… I can’t really bring him here… but this is close enough, right?” Chelsea said. He had arrived with a random person dressing up as Stamford the Lion.
“If I had known Stamford was coming, I would have asked Gunnersaurus to come.” Arsenal said.
“HOLD YOUR HORSES! I AM NOT LATE!” Tottenham yelled as he ran towards Liverpool, he skids to a stop and panted. He took off the scarf that was tied around his arm and draped it over his shoulders.
Southampton and Swansea arrived together, both carrying their own team scarves and a bouquet of white roses.
“I remember what happened.” Said Southampton. She gave Liverpool a sympathetic smile and hands the bouquet to him.
“I remember, too!” Said Swansea.
Liverpool smiled at the other clubs, he was actually tearing up seeing how the other clubs paid their respects. Some supporters of these clubs came as well with scarves and flowers.
Liverpool felt another hand on his shoulder, this hand felt firm to him. It was Everton. “Don’t think you’re the only one deeply affected by this.” He said.
“Everton?” Liverpool turned around, a little surprised to see the older Merryside club.
Everton said nothing and responded with a nod. Liverpool was unable to hold back the tears in his eyes, right then and there, he bursts into tears. Everton stepped closer to pull his brother into a hug. Soon enough, the other clubs put down their bouquets and joined the hug as well, even the person dressed up as Stamford joined in.
After a while, the clubs let go of the hug and picked up their respective bouquets. Together they walked to the temporary memorial. The clubs placed their scarves and flowers in front of the memorial alongside the fans.
“Should we go in now? The service is starting at 2:45 pm, right?” Arsenal asked.
“It’s 2:30 now, so… yeah. Let’s go.” Tottenham said. He was the first to head off to the main entrance, the other clubs followed soon after, but Everton stayed behind.
“Thank you, everyone.” Liverpool muttered under his breath, “Especially to you, Everton.”
Everton heard Liverpool’s words and pulls a thin smile, “I’m with you in this.”