Everton mark 37th anniversary of Hillsborough with tribute to 97 at Hill Dickinson Stadium

Everton have marked the 37th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster by unveiling a permanent tribute at Hill Dickinson Stadium to the 97 Liverpool supporters who were unlawfully killed.

Representatives of the Hillsborough families and Liverpool FC were invited to a ceremony at Everton’s new stadium on Wednesday to pay respects to the 97 and unveil a plaque outside the South Stand.

Sir Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool’s manager when the disaster occurred at the FA Cup semi-final in 1989, and Ian Rush laid floral tributes on behalf of the club. Stephen Kelly, a Hillsborough campaigner and Evertonian who lost his older brother Michael in the disaster, was among those who laid a wreath at the memorial.

The Everton legend Graeme Sharp, club ambassadors Ian Snodin and Graham Stuart, and chief executive, Angus Kinnear, plus his Liverpool counterpart, Billy Hogan, were also in attendance at the ceremony. The local rivals play each other in the first Merseyside derby to be staged at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Sunday.

Liverpool players, staff and the head coach, Arne Slot, observed a period of silence beside the Hillsborough memorial at the club’s training ground on Wednesday. The entire club held a period of silence at 3.06pm, the time at which the match against Nottingham Forest was stopped on 15 April 1989, and 97 balloons were later released from the centre circle inside Anfield.