The first reports of an incident came shortly after the match had been stopped. Gerald Sinstadt, working at the ground for the BBC, told viewers of the TV show ‘Grandstand’ that some Liverpool supporters were on the pitch because there had been “too many spectators” at the Leppings Lane end. He noted that some supporters were receiving treatment from SJA.
At 3.25pm, also on ‘Grandstand’, commentator John Motson said: “I have to say that this what [was] not caused by as far as we know by misbehaviour, except the reason it happened was because one of the outside gates here was broken and non ticket holders forced their way in and overcrowded the section at the Leppings Lane end occupied by the genuine authentic ticket holders.”
In a later statement, he said that this was based on information he had been given by the BBC producer, who he believed had been told this by the police. The producer had no recollection of this.
At 3.40pm, in a live broadcast, BBC radio commentator Alan Green stated that there were unconfirmed reports that a door had been broken down at the Liverpool end of the stadium.
This was followed at 4.15pm by an initial media statement from SYP: “About five minutes after game started there was a serge [sic] of fans at the Leppings Lane end of the ground which was occupied by the Liverpool supporters. There was a spillage onto the ground and a number of people were injured.”
At 4.30pm, Mr Green reported on BBC radio that there had been a surge at the Leppings Lane end, “composed of about 500 Liverpool fans and the police say that a gate was forced and that led to a crush in the terracing area.”
At 4.49pm, FA Chief Executive Graham Kelly gave an interview to the BBC and stated that there were “two versions of what went wrong. The first is that a door or doors were forced down the second is that a door or doors was or were opened by someone in authority.”
Cumulatively, this amounted to a series of reports via a national broadcaster that indicated the disaster had been a result of supporters forcing their way into the stadium.
At 7.15pm, CC Wright addressed a press conference at SYP HQ. He informed journalists that 93 people had been confirmed dead (which was correct at the time he gave the information) and at least 200 had been injured. He also stated that a gate had been opened at the request of the police to relieve the crush outside the stadium, but said he was “not aware of any connection between the opening of the gate and the surge on the terrace.” As he left the press conference, he shouted words to the effect that his officers would be vindicated.
Though CC Wright was quite clear that a gate had not been forced, the damage had been done. The next day, some newspapers reported that the gate had been forced by supporters. This, and the initial broadcast media reports, were hugely influential in the growth of an enduring and widespread public perception that the supporters’ actions had caused the disaster.
A range of evidence supports that the most likely source of this story was Ch Supt Duckenfield—albeit indirectly. At 3.15pm, he spoke to Mr Kelly and the FA’s Head of External Affairs Glen Kirton and led them to understand that a gate had been forced by Liverpool supporters. Then at 3.35pm, he gave a similar impression to SWFC directors and others in the boardroom at the stadium.
The IOPC has not found any evidence to indicate that Ch Supt Duckenfield spoke directly to TV or radio broadcasters on the day of the disaster, or to any media in the days that followed. Despite this, the comments he made were widely reported in the media. Lord Justice Taylor confirmed this in his Interim Report, writing that Ch Supt Duckenfield “gave Mr Kelly and others to think that there had been an inrush due to Liverpool fans forcing open a gate. This was not only untruthful. It set off a widely reported allegation against the supporters which caused grave offence and distress.”
A transcript has been found of an interview Mr Green conducted with Mr Kelly, but the exact time is not confirmed on it. In this, Mr Kelly stated that he had “been in the Police Control Box and they tell me that a gate or gates was opened or broken and fans came in.” When Mr Green responded that they had heard reports that a gate was opened under police orders, Mr Kelly replied: “I’ve only spoken very briefly to the Police commander and that wasn’t the impression that I got.”
In his evidence to the Goldring Inquests in 2015, Ch Supt Duckenfield accepted that he had told Mr Kelly and others a lie and said he apologised unreservedly to the families of those who died for doing so.
He stated that immediately after speaking to Mr Kelly and Mr Kirton in the PCB, he realised the partial explanation he had given—that supporters had come through a gate—would be open to misinterpretation as he had not clarified that the gate had been opened on police authority.
If indeed he did realise this, it is notable that he did not seek to correct the impression he had given to Mr Kelly and Mr Kirton. Instead, he offered a very similar explanation shortly after in the SWFC boardroom.
This was a different account to the one he gave to the Taylor Inquiry. There, he accepted that he may have misled Mr Kelly and Mr Kirton, but suggested it was because he was in shock. He added under further cross-examination at the Inquiry that he had acted “in good faith”. He then claimed that he had not told them the police had opened the gate because he “was concerned about the crowd situation, and I didn't want the public at large, via the media or by casual conversation, to become aware… of the opening of the gates by police officers, and the disaster.”
In 2019, Ch Supt Duckenfield faced a retrial for manslaughter relating to the disaster. His barrister said that his client’s admission at the Goldring Inquests that he had lied had been taken out of context and had been made with the benefit of hindsight.
On 22 November 1989, WMP recorded a complaint that Ch Supt Duckenfield “was deceitful and intentionally misled senior police officers and members of the public regarding his command and control of police officers on the day.” Part of this related to the explanation he gave to the FA and SWFC officials.
WMP investigated the complaint and concluded “That Chief Superintendent Duckenfield misled Jackson, Kelly and Kirton seems clear, that he did it deliberately or deceitfully is not supported by the evidence available.”
The PCA, which was the national body that oversaw complaints against police officers at the time, disagreed with this opinion and recommended that SYP should bring disciplinary proceedings against Ch Supt Duckenfield for the lie. These proceedings never took place, as Ch Supt Duckenfield retired early from police duty due to ill health.
When the IOPC began its investigation in 2012, the complaint was reopened, using new powers that the IOPC had requested to allow it to reinvestigate matters that had been dealt with by its predecessors. Having reviewed the evidence, the IOPC found that Ch Supt Duckenfield would have faced a case to answer for gross misconduct, if he had still been serving. This was on the basis that he knowingly made false, misleading or inaccurate oral statements in the PCB and the SWFC boardroom by suggesting that Gate C had been forced open by supporters, when he knew that he gave the order for the gate to be opened.
