The Bolton V Stoke FA Cup tragedy

[daverichards]

so we don't get too side tracked on that other thread , thought i'd post some info for those that have asked

Posted by wanderlust on 08 Feb 2008 14:08 Complain | Reply
re: re: re: Lets not forget 9th march ...
Bolton 1946
On 9 March 1946 Bolton Wanderers were hosting Stoke City in the second-leg of a Football Association Cup Sixth Round tie. Shortly before the 3.00pm kick-off, a section of the densely packed crowd on the terraces in the north west corner of Burnden Park swayed uncontrollably, two crush barriers collapsed and many spectators fell forward on top of those in front of them. Under the pile of humanity, thirty three people asphyxiated and around them hundreds of others were injured.

After enquiries and hostile media reports the fans got blamed, particularly as many had gained entry illegaly. However...

The stadium had been requisitioned by the Ministry of Supply during the war the Burnden Stand as storage space during the War and the facility had not yet been returned to its normal usage. The Stand with its 2,789 seats was not available for spectators. Secondly the turnstiles at the east end of the Railway Embankment which adjoined that stand had been closed since 1940. Thus all the 28,000+ Embankment spectators had to enter from the Manchester Road (west) end. Thirdly, the 9,000 who held tickets to the paddock in front of the Burnden Stand had to be admitted through the entrances to the Main Stand paddock and then escorted by police around the north end of the playing surface to their assigned area. They were thus using entrances immediately adjacent to the turnstiles admitting the Embankment spectators. The combination of a bigger than expected crowd, and the numbers obliged to come in at the north-west corner led to acute congestion inside the ground and outside where much of the space between the turnstiles and the main road was used as a car park. Ultimately, the turnstiles in this area were closed. Subsequent to that action, an undetermined number of spectators gained improper entry by one of three means. Some simply climbed over the turnstiles, others climbed up onto the railway line atop the embankment and broke into the ground by removing sections of fencing, and yet others entered by way of an exit gate opened from the inside by a spectator seeking escape for himself and his son from the intensifying crush.

The authorities hadn't been prepared, despite the post war boom interest in football. On 13 February a record crowd of 51,612 included "hundreds sitting on the roof of a shelter behind one of the goals" at Burnden Park. Add to this the fact that this was a FA cup quarter final and the fact that a certain Stanley Mathews was playing for Stoke should have led to better preparation from the authorities... it didn't.

boards.footymad.net/mboard/fmb.php?tno=80&fid=54&sty=2&act=1&mid=2130610358

[daverichards]

www.merseysidepotters.com/Burnden.htm

[lordb]

dont think any Stokies died that day - not that it matters particularly -

cant believe they played the game

[lawrieleslie]

38 killed and over 500 injured. Strange and contravertial decision by the ref, Mr Dutton, to allow game to be continued after the bodies of the victims had been laid out in one corner of the stand away from the pitch. Terrible disaster.