The
1988–89 season was the 109th season of competitive
football in
England.
Overview
Hillsborough disaster
On 15 April, a crowd crush at the
FA Cup semi-final between
Liverpool and
Nottingham Forest at
Hillsborough killed 94 people and injured more than 300. A 95th Liverpool supporter died in hospital shortly after. The final death toll became 96 in March 1993, when Tony Bland died after being in a coma for nearly four years. A subsequent inquiry into the
tragedy led to the
Taylor Report, in which Lord Justice Taylor of Gosforth ordered that all top division clubs should have all-seater stadiums from the 1994–95 season onwards.
Changes to Football on Television
One of the biggest changes in the history of football on television began in this season, as
ITV gained exclusive rights to show
Football League matches, both in live and highlights form. Most of their coverage was of live matches on Sunday afternoons of top-flight games. They would hold the exclusive rights until 1992, when they lost coverage of the newly formed
Premier League to
Sky Television.
It ended a long-term partnership with the
BBC, who in turn struck up a partnership with the
FA for exclusive coverage of the
FA Cup. The BBC did not show another live English league match until 2009.
Scunthorpe's new stadium
Scunthorpe United relocated from the
Old Showground to
Glanford Park in the first relocation of a
Football League team since
Southend United moved to
Roots Hall in...
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