Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard and his Everton counterpart Phil Jagielka released 96 red balloons during a memorial service on Wednesday to mark the 26th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.
Thousands of supporters joined the families of the tragedy's victims at the service, which took place at Anfield.
Current and former Liverpool players also attended, along with manager Brendan Rodgers and Everton boss Roberto Martinez.
They were there to pay tribute to the 96 Liverpool fans who died at an FA Cup semifinal against Nottingham Forest, at Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough stadium, on April 15, 1989.
Gerrard's cousin Jon-Paul Gilhooley was the youngest person to die in the disaster, aged 10.
Those at the service observed a minute's silence at 3.06 p.m., the time at which the match was abandoned 26 years ago.
Former striker John Aldridge, who was in Liverpool's team on the day of the disaster, gave one of two Bible readings, with the other given by ex-Everton midfielder Graham Stuart, now a club ambassador at Goodison Park.
In the city centre, bells tolled 96 times after the minute's silence began, while flags on local civic buildings flew at half-mast as a mark of respect.
Joe Anderson, Liverpool's Mayor, said: "We will never forget those who died at Hillsborough, and this is a day for us to unite as a city and remember each one and also their families and friends left behind."
The service took place just over a year after the start of fresh inquests to determine how the 96 victims died.
Those legal proceedings, which began on March 31, 2014, were ordered after original inquest verdicts of accidental death, recorded in 1991, were quashed by the High Court in December 2012.
The inquests will resume after an Easter break on April 20, and are expected to continue into 2016.