FOOTBALL GROUND ACCIDENT.

Timaru Herald, Volume C, Issue 15307, 28 March 1914, Page 6

FOOTBALL GROUND ACCIDENT.

COLLAPSE OF A WALL. Eighty people were injured recently many seriously, by the collapse of a. brick wall owing to tlie pressure oi' the crowd 011 the ground 01 the Sheffield Wednesday Football Club at Hillsborough. After ;neceiving attention, at the infirmary aud the Hospital, all except about fifteen were able to go to the.:r homes. Ol those detained, it was feared that three might not recover. •Some oi" the injured have many ribs brokenothers have fractured legs and arms. Ihe c.: !, M . f 1, ... of an hour before the finish of. the Association Cup replay between ShefWednesday and "Wolverhampton Wanderers. There 40.000 spectators, and the gate money, £1669, was a record for the ground. The wall was of brick, Ift high on the one side and 3ft 6111. on the other, surmounted by a St< i, ne , c °P m -- r : Its purpose was to retain a bank on higher ground and to form a barrier between that bank and the tcirraemg which is built up to it from the lower ground. .The first try of disaster was from ? ■noman—"Oh, it's gone!"—uttered at an exciting moment when all the crowd was straining to see the play. Bricks.' coping stone, and.men fell over to the crowd below. The game was forgotten. The ground became b.Vick with hurrying figures. Poilce officers and ambulance men struggJed to reach the injured. Some of the players joined in the work of rescue, othens- helped to keep the lines clear as the injured were carried across the field. A woman was borne into the old stand, and others of the less seriously injured followed. The more seriows cases were taken to the main stand, whither one by one 30 men and boys were carried. 'Here the players' dressing rooms were converted into casuality wards. Bones were set. injuries were dressed, and the sufferers were removed to the infirmary in taxicabs, privata motorcars and a motor omnibus. Describing the accident, an injured youth said: "We were standing under the wall, packed like herrings in a. barrel. when I heard a.crack. I looked up and saw the wall coming down. In a moment I was in darkness, and remem. her no more until I was pulled out fiv-3. minutes after." A lad of about fifteen was brought later to a stand injured in the head. _■ His first question on recovering consciousness was: "Is it over yet—-has Wednesday won?" On being assured had. he larv back with the remark:- "That's all right then." With difficulty the ground was cleared, and the disheartened teams struggled through the final quarter of an hour's play. No one paid much attention to the game, and there was no scoring