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In the last few weeks, many welcome advances have been made in finally proving the truth of what happened at Hillsborough.

Even though they were not in power at the time, our current government has picked up the baton and handled the issue superbly.

What I want to know now is when is the FA going to face up to its responsibilities, too?

I’m not talking about the apology it made last month - an apology that was a long time coming and which took them two attempts to produce properly.

I’m talking about issues like why we have never had a full explanation of why the FA insisted the game should be played at Hillsborough.

They knew there had been problems there in the past, but still they insisted on their semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest being staged there that year.

They knew that Old Trafford was available, but they would not consent to the game being played there instead.

And they knew that Hillsborough did not have a safety certificate and yet they were still adamant the game had to be played at the stadium.

If they had not insisted that the game was played there, who knows what would have happened?

Well, the fans that died would still be alive for one thing.

That’s why I find it strange that there has not been any talk of the FA being liable to pay some form of financial penalty to the families of the dead.

And that’s why I find it strange that there has been no talk of the FA being punished for its actions.

I am not talking about punishing the people in power at the moment.

But surely, as the game’s governing body, they have to take responsibility for the way their organisation acted in the past.

It has taken a long, long time for a lot of organisations to face up to what they did in 1989 and now it’s the FA’s turn as well.

What has happened to Graham Kelly, for instance? Is there no one who can go and talk to him about why the FA acted as they did?

Kelly had become chief ­executive of the FA in 1989. It would be helpful to hear his ­explanations for the organisation’s actions.

There has, quite rightly, been a lot of talk about the accountability of the police over the tragedy. Why has nobody really mentioned the FA?

It would be very interesting for someone to sit down with Mr Kelly and make sure the FA are not involved in a big cover-up here as well. Once again, they have to face up to their responsibilities for taking the decision they took.

An apology is a beginning but the way they have behaved, they appear to think that is enough.

It isn’t.

Maybe a proper inquiry into the actions of the FA would exonerate them from blame.

Maybe it wouldn’t.

But it’s important for people to know why the FA insisted on playing an FA Cup semi-final at a stadium that did not have a safety certificate.

I believe that there will be a House of Commons debate about Hillsborough on Monday.

I am told that the role of the FA will be under scrutiny.

It is only right that it should be.

Avoiding injury ISN'T diving

(Image: PA)

Now that the Premier League is back, the debate over diving will probably resume.

There’s a big difference between avoiding a tackle and trying to feign injury, or winning a penalty with a dive.

If a guy’s chucking himself at you with a tackle, you tend to get out of the way.

Part of the problem is the inconsistency of the FA over its interpretation of various events.

Some of it is a failure to communicate.

If a referee chooses not to punish somebody when it’s obvious they should have been punished, tell us why.

No way back for Rio and Terry

(Image: Getty)

Some people said England missed John Terry and Rio Ferdinand in Warsaw on Wednesday.

My answer to that is: Don’t worry about what you don’t have. Players who aren’t there can’t help you.

A 1-1 draw in Poland isn’t a bad result, but when it’s perceived as a bad result, the players who didn’t play always look better.

Roy Hodgson is fortunate that he has Phil Jagielka and Joleon Lescott, as well as Gary Cahill, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Martin Kelly.

They are all very capable centre-backs.

There is no point pining for Terry and Ferdinand to return because it won’t happen.

Look forward instead.

We didn't sleepwalk to glory

(Image: Daily Mirror)

We didn’t have Pro Plus in my playing days, but I always used to have a can of Irn-Bru and a bar of Dairy Milk chocolate before I went to bed the night before a game.

Other people had a couple of cups of coffee.

When I played for Liverpool, I’d usually take a sleeping pill, too, particularly when we had an away game and we were staying at a hotel.

They were not given out willy-nilly by the club doctor but if you wanted one, you could get one.

So I really don’t see it’s an issue that some of the England players took sleeping tablets the night before the rearranged game against Poland in Warsaw.

I’m certain that taking the odd sleeping tablet never affected me, nor any of my team-mates when we were at Liverpool.

Unless the tablets had me hallucinating, we all seemed to do pretty well.

Kenny Dalglish writes for the Daily Mirror in association with The Football Pools. Founded in Liverpool in 1923, The Football Pools is celebrating its 90th anniversary this season.

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