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People gather at St George\'s Place to attend a vigil in memory of the 96 victims of the Hillsborough stadium disaster in Liverpool, England, Sept. 12, 2012. British police and medics whose failures contributed to the deaths of 96 soccer fans in the country\'s worst sports disaster unfairly blamed the dead for the 1989 tragedy and sought to cover up their actions, newly disclosed documents revealed Wednesday. (AP Photo/PA, Peter Byrne) UNITED KINGDOM OUT, NO SALES, NO ARCHIVE

English Football Association offers full apology for its part in Hillsborough disaster in 1989

LONDON – The English Football Association has offered a “full and unreserved apology” to the city of Liverpool and the families of 96 of the club’s fans who died in the Hillsborough stadium tragedy in 1989, Britain’s worst sports disaster.

FA chairman David Bernstein says he is “deeply sorry” that the incident happened in a cup semifinal run by English football’s governing body and at a ground that didn’t have a valid safety certificate.

Bernstein, who wasn’t in the FA post at the time, said in a statement Thursday that “nobody should lose their lives when setting out to attend a football match.”

Secret papers disclosed on Wednesday from an independent panel said crowd-safety dangers were well known at Hillsborough before Sheffield Wednesday’s ground staged the match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

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