Thirty-three people were crushed to death at Bolton Wanderers' Burnden Park on March 9, 1946; Bolton mark the anniversary with a series of tributes before Tuesday's League Two game against Cambridge United
Tuesday 9 March 2021 20:40, UK
Bolton Wanderers commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Burnden Park disaster before Tuesday's League Two home match with Cambridge United.
Captains of both clubs laid a wreath at the University of Bolton Stadium as players held a minute's silence and wore black armbands in memory of the 33 people who were killed at Bolton's FA Cup quarter-final second leg against Stoke City on March 9, 1946.
On this day 75 years ago, Bolton took a 2-0 lead from the first leg back to Burnden Park where it was estimated that 85,000 spectators attended - 15,000 over the capacity.
As the Railway End of the ground filled, a decision was taken at approximately 2.40pm to close the turnstiles. However, the pressure inside the stand caused a crush.
Among the club tributes, Bolton Wanderers Remembrance Group displayed their special flag in the stands and club chaplain Phil Mason retold the story of the tragedy.
Meanwhile, Bolton manager Ian Evatt and the players read out the names of the victims with flags to be flown at half-mast.
The disaster led to changes and, in the aftermath of the crush, the Moelwyn Hughes report was published recommending tighter controls of crowd capacities.
A conference on the licensing and regulation of sports grounds also recommended that, as a voluntary code, local authorities should inspect grounds with a capacity of 10,000 or more spectators and agreed safety limits should be in place for grounds of more than 25,000.
It also stipulated turnstiles should mechanically record the numbers of fans who pass through and grounds should have telephones.
