Football grounds in England fell silent at 3.06pm yesterday afternoon to mark the approaching 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.

The tragedy on April 15, 1989, saw 96 Liverpool fans die as a result of a crush at the Leppings Lane end of Sheffield Wednesday's stadium.

The FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest was halted in the sixth minute as fans climbed over barriers from the terrace to reach safety on the pitch.

Twelve of those who died were from Wirral.

For their Championship match against Blackburn, Wednesday replaced 96 blue seats with white seats bearing red roses at the end of the stadium where the Liverpool fans died.

Liverpool are facing Manchester City at Anfield this afternoon, when another silence will be held. All matches in the Premier League, Football League, Football Conference and FA Cup began seven minutes later than originally scheduled this weekend to allow for the silence.