United in Justice

Liverpool artist Alan Wynne created this mosaic artwork to commemorate the public release of the report by the Hillsborough Independent Panel on 12 September 2012. The Panel's remit was to oversee the public disclosure of documents relating to the Hillsborough disaster in April 1989 which led to the deaths of 97 Liverpool FC supporters caused by overcrowding on the terraces at Hillsborough, Sheffield Wednesday's football ground. It was the neutral location for Liverpool's FA Cup match against Nottingham Forest. 95 Liverpool fans died on the day of the match and two men, Tony Bland and Andrew Devine, died in 1993 and 2021 respectively due to injuries sustained at Hillsborough. Hundreds of Liverpool fans were also injured in the disaster. The families of those killed and injured fought for decades to establish the truth of what happened that day in the face of lies and misinformation by some sections of the media, the police and other public authorities. In April 2016 the jury at the inquests into the supporters' deaths decided that the 96 men, women and children had been unlawfully killed. In July 2021 the coroner determined that Andrew Devine had also been unlawfully killed. The mosaic incorporates the iconic image of two child mascots at Everton's match against Newcastle United which was played days after the panel's report was released to the public in 2012. They are wearing the red and blue shirts of Liverpool and Everton football clubs which, although firm rivals on the pitch, showed tremendous solidarity at the time of the disaster and throughout the campaign for justice. The mosaic uses 96 tiles horizontally and vertically to reflect the death toll as it stood when the mosaic was created. The artist donated the work to the Hillsborough Family Support Group who then donated it to National Museums Liverpool as a thank you from them to the people of Liverpool for their help and support.