Echo exhibition of Hillsborough coverage unveiled

An exhibition charting the Echo's coverage of the Hillsborough Disaster will be unveiled to mark the 21st anniversary of the tragedy.

The atrium of the ECHO's Old Hall Street offices has become a gallery for a week to showcase the 96 most crucial stories published in our pages in the days, months and years that followed April 15, 1989.

Margaret Aspinall of Hillsborough Family Support Group said that after 21 years the old news cuttings still have an important message.

She said: "I think it's still educating people.

"There are a lot of people, especially younger ones, who don't understand.

"I think it's important for people to be aware, as well, of each stage we've been through to get to today."

The exhibition will feature the emergency Sunday Echo that was published on April 16, 1989 - the starting point for our coverage and fight for justice that has continued right through to the recent appointment of a panel to finally review the Hillsborough files.

Sheila Coleman from the Hillsborough Justice Campaign added: "In the 21st year after Hillsborough, this exhibition is a fitting tribute not only to the 96 people who were killed but also to the ongoing fight for justice."

Long-serving ECHO features writer Paddy Shennan was a 24-year-old district reporter in Knowsley in 1989.

He said: "Starting from the Monday the list of names of those that had died was released and the news desk had the job of ringing all the district reporters with the names and addresses.

"That was Monday afternoon knocking on door after door, it was heart-breaking and relentless.

"It's the most unpleasant part of a reporter's job, but it's usual to knock on one person's door if their son has been killed - but not doing it more than 10 times in one afternoon.

"It was extremely sad. I remember Alf Green (a senior news editor at that time) saying it was a tragedy which stopped the city in its tracks."

A ticket only memorial service will be held at Anfield on Thursday, April 15 at 2.45pm. The ECHO's free exhibition in Old Hall Street runs until April 16.

This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.