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A Belgian sports journalist who claimed fans caused the Hillsborough disaster today stood by his ignorant remarks - and told the ECHO he had nothing to say to supporters.

Hans Vandeweghe wrote a column in Belgian paper De Morgen last week in which he claimed fan behaviour contributed to the crush, in which 96 Liverpool fans died.

His column, which was written in Dutch but which the ECHO has seen an English translation of, said: “At Hillsborough everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong.

“In the late eighties it was not uncommon for large hordes of football fans to travel to away grounds without tickets, hoping for some steward or police officer to open the gates to avoid crowd trouble.

Read More: Hillsborough survivor says lies after tragedy damaged all football fans

“The Sheffield police couldn’t control the situation any longer, they opened the gates and the supporters (some with, many without tickets) flooded onto the small dilapidated stands.

“A stupid police error, the kind they make sometimes. What do normal people do when they see there’s no way getting through? They turn back.”

He went on to write: “It is remarkable that, this week, events dating from 1989 were judged from today’s point of view by a jury presided over by a woman who broke out crying as she read out the answers.

“Hillsborough was a low, and this verdict is no exception. Once again civilisation finds it difficult to come up with an appropriate response to barbarity.”

The ECHO contacted newspaper De Morgen to ask why the decision was made to publish the column, but was referred to Mr Vandeweghe.

Reporter Eleanor Barlow spoke to Mr Vandeweghe over the phone. This is what he had to say

HV: When we look now at events in 1989 we should not forget we were in an age of violence in terms of supporters and fans in English football.

EB: But the jury found fans were behaving at Hillsborough.

HV: Supporters were not behaving, You don’t push to get in somewhere.

EB: Are you saying the jury is wrong?

HV: This little part of the jury is wrong. That’s the way we look at it today. Authorities were under a lot of pressure and there was a lot of violence. There were fans without tickets.

EB: But that’s wrong. There weren’t ticketless fans.

HV: You can prove anything after 27 years.

(EB explains that the numbers show there were no more fans in the stadium than had been sold tickets)

HV: There were four parties who made mistakes - the police made mistakes, the Football Association made mistakes, the fourth is the stadium and of course the public. If you can’t get in somewhere you don’t push.

Everybody who was killed was innocent, obviously.

EB: How can you make the distinction between those 96 being innocent and all of the other fans being guilty?

HV: I am not making that distinction. Of course four years before there had been Heysel.

EB: They are two completely separate incidents aren’t they?

HV: No, they aren’t. Football supporters didn’t behave in England. That’s the culture at the time.

EB: What would you say to the fans who have been blamed for 27 years and will be upset by what you’ve written?

HV: Nothing. I don’t have anything to say to them. I have an opinion and I’m entitled to it. Football supporters didn’t know how to behave. If that was a rugby match it wouldn’t have happened.