Blackburn supporter dies at the Stoke match

Subject: Blackburn supporter dies at the Stoke match Mon Feb 08, 2010 12:27 am

A man who was injured during a Premier League football match at Stoke City has died in hospital.

Police were alerted to an incident in a concourse of the Britannia Stadium's south stand which housed Blackburn fans just after 1600 GMT on Saturday.

The 30-year-old fan, who was thought to have been hit on the head with a bin, was found unconscious. He was taken to hospital where he later died.

A 25-year-old man from Preston has been arrested over the incident.

'Deepest sympathies'

Staffordshire Police said the injured man was initially treated at the scene for a head injury and cardiac arrest by staff from West Midlands Ambulance Service and St John Ambulance.

The fan was resuscitated at the scene and then taken to hospital.

A police spokesman said: "A 30-year-old man was pronounced dead at 1.55am this morning at University Hospital North Staffordshire.

"The circumstances are being fully investigated and a 25-year-old man remains in custody and is helping police with their inquiries."

Ch Insp Adrian Roberts, match commander at the game which saw Stoke beat Blackburn Rovers 3-0, said there were just over 1,300 Blackburn fans at the game, and no Stoke fans were involved in the incident.

A police spokesman said the family of the victim were aware of the man's death.

He said: "Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the family at this time."

The spokesman said formal identification was yet to take place.

'Terrible tragedy'

Martin Smith, editor of The Oatcake, a Stoke City fanzine, said: "All football fans... are a fellowship, you know a brotherhood. We all go through the same things.

"We all attend the match to watch our team, support our team, and when something like this happens, we all feel it.

"Rivalry goes out of the window completely and we see ourselves as what we are, football supporters, and it's a terrible tragedy."

Malcolm Clarke, chair of the Football Supporters' Federation, said: "It clearly wasn't in any way related to violence or anything like that between home and away supporters.

"It just sounds like a terrible tragedy, the circumstances of which we don't know."

Stoke City reported information from the Staffordshire force on its website but said on Sunday it would make no further comment at this moment in time as the matter was being investigated by police.

BBC

Blackburn supporter from a forum wrote:: You'd think no matter how bad it gets and 3-0 at Stoke is pretty damn bad, you still wouldn't be fighting with your own fans.

If anyone saw the news of a man in a critical condition in our away end at the game today, he didn't collapse or die of old age or anything. From half time on in that concourse at Stoke there was essentially a riot, a huge fight between our own fans.

Anyone who has been to Stoke knows how small the concourse is down there, and with hundreds crammed in there at half time, with the bar shut and the team shit, tempers were a bit frayed to begin with.

No idea how it started, don't really want to know to be honest. First it was just bottles and anything anyone could find being thrown around, with people trying to get back to seats but hardly being able to move.

Then.. well, some utter moron, who I hope is found, took one of the big metal bins and simply started throwing it.

The man in a critcal conidtion was hit in the head with it. He was pretty much dead on the ground, they've brought him round in hospital, just about.

We were kept on the ground, and they ended up letting us off via the pitch.

Apparently, it would seem this is what happens when us and Burnley get in the same division. Its sickening. Our away attendances, and trouble away from home, have both gone up this year, coming to the fore front today. Why? Becuase these idiots just want Burnley tickets to go and do the same there.

I honestly can't see myself travelling away with Blackburn again, having been able to count on one hand the games ive missed over the last few years.

Another Blackburn supporter wrote:: tragic. apparently, well not apparently as several fans have video evidence, the idiots amongst our supporters thought it would be a good idea to throw full bottles around, which was then followed by trashing the whole concourse. from here, they ripped bins from the wall, threw them up in the air and some guy has taken a full bin to the face, fallen, cracked his head and hit the floor. he apparently died in the concourse, but some fan managed to revive him with cpr, and then the whole concourse was sealed off whilst he was taken to hospital. if any fans needed the toilet, they had to get an escort from our section to the nearest stoke section. we then had to leave by walking pitchside, premusably so they can preserve what could become a crime scene.

today was horrible in terms of our supporters. two guys behind me repeatedly called any black player 'jungle boy', 'elephant washer' or 'soap dodger', swore at 60+ old men who asked them to sit down, and then began to snap their seats.

Fucking shite that. No supporter should die just for following their team. And to be killed by fellow fans though accidentally is just really gutting.

What nutheads the few Blackburn supporters who started throwing bottles and bins. Stupid fuckers always looking for some kind of trouble or fight.

Hope the fuckers who were responsible for all this get punished.

I read somewhere that a guy got arrested in this case.

Fucking hell.
Where the fuck is all the humanity? mad2

Humanity has got nothing to do with it. It's just some crackheads looking for some cheap thrills at other peoples expense

No sense these fuckers have.
War is on every ones mind.