The 96 Hillsborough victims will be honoured with the freedom of the city of Liverpool in a ceremony on Thursday evening.

The posthumous awards will be collected by families of the Liverpool fans who died in the disaster on 15 April 1989.

Kenny Dalglish, the Liverpool manager on the day of the tragedy, and his wife, Marina, will also be awarded the freedom of the city in the ceremony at St George’s Hall in Liverpool.

Prof Phil Scraton, the primary author of the Hillsborough Independent Panel’s report on the disaster, and the Right Rev James Jones, former bishop of Liverpool who chaired the Hillsborough Independent Panel, will receive the same honour.

A scroll made out to Jon-Paul Gilhooley, who aged 10 was the youngest victim at Hillsborough. Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images

Five months ago the jury at a landmark inquest found that the 96 victims were unlawfully killed and that a catalogue of police failings contributed to their death.

The verdict vindicated the bereaved families, who campaigned tirelessly against the police’s efforts to blame supporters for the tragedy, which occurred during the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at the stadium in Sheffield.



Specially designed scrolls and medals have been made for those receiving the honour and have been on display in Liverpool town hall.

The artwork on the scrolls was created by Esther Lazenby, Liverpool city council’s graphic designer, and features the words “justice” and “truth” as well as images of Liverpool town hall and St George’s Hall.

The city’s lord mayor, Roz Gladden, will present families with the scrolls and medals alongside the mayor, Joe Anderson.

Gladden said: “We’ve had a long campaign, 27 years, for the truth and justice and after the inquest verdicts we’ve got the truth, now we’re still waiting for the justice.

“But we wanted to honour the people who at the end of the day just went away to a football match and never came home again.”

The families of the victims were awarded the freedom of the city in 2009.