HILLSBOROUGH ANNIVERSARY: LIVERPOOL FELL silent to mourn their dead, and then roared their anger and demanded "justice" for the 96 fans who did not return home from the Hillsborough disaster.

An astonishing attendance of 28,000 flocked to Anfield yesterday for the 20th Hillsborough memorial service.

The city observed a two-minute silence, public transport stopped and the bells of both Anglican and Catholic cathedrals peeled out across Merseyside.

Liverpool heroes from the past and present, including Kenny Dalglish – manager at the time of the 1989 FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest – Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and current boss Rafael Benitez were greeted with roars of approval as they took their seats for the service.

But anger, bitterness and frustration is never far from the surface in this city when Hillsborough is discussed.

And when Andy Burnham, MP for Leigh and Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport took to the stand to address the crowd, that fury all but enveloped him.

Burnham, whose speech was a late addition to the running order, started by saying he was representing the Prime Minister and the government, he talked of “96 fans who will never be forgotten” and of a “man-made disaster” and “the memory of loss of life not diminished by time”.

But he got no further. The crowd rose as one to chant “Justice for the 96”.

The Kop chant boomed around the stadium and Burnham, an Everton fan, was left in no doubt about the strength of feeling over the lack of accountability still from officialdom over the tragedy.

Eventually the noise subsided and Burnham continued his speech in which he paid tribute to past and present players for their efforts to aid the families of the victims. But such was the outpouring of anger from the fans, Trevor Hicks – president of the Hillsborough Family Support Group – felt the need to apologise to Burnham for his treatment.

The Kop applauded loudly at the end of Burnham’s speech, aware of his honest sentiments, but they made it clear the campaign for justice will never go away.

“If ever a government needed proof of the need for justice, they only have to look around this stadium today to learn,” said Hicks. “We have borne the loss of our fellow fans frequently in the glare of hostile publicity. We have felt the need to defend our city and our fans, but we are still together after 20 years. We are still determined, still with dignity and still resolved that the truth will defeat the lies and propaganda.”

His strongest condemnation was reserved for sections of the media who smeared Liverpool in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.

“We all know of the lies, people talking about things they know nothing about. I have heard that the chief constable of South Yorkshire Police has accepted responsibility this week for what happened, at least has the balls to stand up and be counted,” he said.

The club had initially planned to open the Kop and lower tier of the Centenary stand, but soon the main stand was full with the Anfield Road end filling rapidly.

The arrival of a contingent from Celtic, carrying two massive banners onto the pitch, was greeted with a standing ovation.

Huge roars also greeted Dalglish and the players. Dalglish read a lesson, as did Margaret Aspinall, vice-chairman of HFSG, while the Anglican Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Rev James Jones, revealed a message from the Queen expressing her good wishes for the families of the victims.

The Bishop talked of a disaster that “broke the hearts of a city but not its spirit”.

At the end of the service, Gerrard and Carragher presented the freedom of the city scroll to representatives of the victims’ families, and Benitez and the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Cllr Steve Rotheram, released 96 balloons on the pitch.

Fittingly, the ceremony was concluded with Gerry Marsden leading the fans in singing You'll Never Walk Alone.

There was little doubt the best-ever attendance at the memorial service in 20 years has reawoken awareness of the campaign for justice for the 96.