Juventus rejects English FA's Heysel tribute offer

The English Football Association will not be allowed to lay a wreath in Turin this week to mark the 30th anniversary of the Heysel disaster.

A commemoration book lies surrounded by wreaths on the 25th anniversary of the Heysel stadium disaster in Brussels on 29 May 2010 (Getty) Source: AFP

With England playing Italy at the Juventus Stadium on Wednesday morning (AEDT), the FA wanted to take the opportunity to commemorate the deaths of 39 supporters before the 1985 European Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus by laying a wreath at a memorial outside the ground in Turin.

The Italian club said it appreciated the gesture, but rejected the offer, claiming it did not want to detract from its own memorial in May.

The FA said it respected Juventus's wishes.

One of the worst disasters in football history left 39 Belgian and Italian fans dead after a wall collapsed as Liverpool fans tried to attack Juventus supporters in the stadium in Brussels.

As a result, English clubs were banned from European competition for five years, with Liverpool given an extra year's ban, as the world decided they had had enough of the hooliganism that had accompanied English football for a decade and a half.

The British Government started a process of bringing in new laws to try to prevent troublemakers from attending matches with legislation introduced in 1986, and then the Football (Offences) Act in 1991.

The Hillsborough disaster in 1989 was the real turning point for the game, despite the warnings of Heysel and the Bradford fire in the same year.