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4. EVIDENCE OF TOE BEHAVIOUR OF FANS AT THE SEMI FINAL MATCH BETWEEN
NORWICH AND EVERTON PLAYED AT VILLA PARK ON 15TH APRIL 1989
4.1 A statement from Chief Superintendent Mellor, the Match Commander
at the Sard Final match played the same day between Norwich City
and Everton at Villa Park, showing the behaviour of the fans,
especially those supporting Everton, together with two of his
Mounted Officers is attached.
4.2 Whilst the evidence does not have any bearing on the match played
between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough, or the
fans who attended the match, the Everton supporters behaviour
at Villa Park shows a remarkable coincidence with the Liverpool
supporters at Hillsborough which may indicate some Liverpool
characteris t ic.
4.3 Statements from the three Police Officers are attached and have
been listed under Appendix 'D'.
5. OBSERVATIONS AND COMMENTS
5.1 It does appear that there is a nucleus of Liverpool supporters
(unidentified) who do travel to matches played away from Liverpool
without tickets and cause severe policing problems. At the end
of the day, rather than soak up Police manpower, it is felt better
to allow them into the ground, impossible, rather than them cause
havoc in the town, their team is playing. Whilst there is no
direct evidence to support this, the fans do appear to know this.
In the case at Watford where numerous ticketless fans arrived
they did irrply that if they were not granted admission to the
ground they would go into Watford and cause havoc.
5.2 The evidence in the attached reports etc., has been gathered from
material in possession of the South Yorkshire Police. Given the
opportunity to read and study the many civilian statements taken
by the West Midlands Investigation Team, it may be that the
evidence to hand could be enhanced further.
5.3 Since the 1 January, 1989, the F.A. Cup match played at Hull and
the F.A. Cup Final played at Wembley both show a similarity in
crowd behaviour to that displayed on the date this disaster occurred.
Detective Inspector.