'It’s something I’ll never forget': George Hamilton reflects on Hillsborough disaster

George Hamilton reflects on Hillsborough 35 years on from the disaster

In his forty-five-year-plus career as a sports commentator, George Hamilton has lived through some of football’s greatest moments. He was there when “Houghton!” stuck the ball in the English net, when “Whelan!” chanced it and got lucky with the spectacular against Russia and who can forget that penalty shootout against Romania? He guided us through those historic days, both a totem and witness to our growth as a nation. And yet he is also synonymous with a day when a city not so far from our shores seemed to crumble before our eyes.

Thirty-five years ago this week, hundreds of thousands of Irish football fans tuned into Sport Stadium to watch Liverpool take on Nottingham Forest in the 1989 FA Cup semi-final. The venue was Hillsborough.