Rochdale Tragedy: 1939

Hillsborough in 1989, Burnden Park in 1948 and Valley Parade in 1985. These are just three memorable stadium disasters that tragically killed dozens of spectators at a football match. Here, we look into a less known disaster that involved the Wigan Rugby club and the events of the Challenge Cup semi final at Rochdale on April 1, 1939.

The game was between Jim Sullivan's Wigan and Gus Risman's Salford for a place in the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley. It was due to be played at Rochdale's Athletic Grounds with a replay pencilled in for Station Road, Swinton, if the game ended in a tie. Salford were the current Cup holders and league leaders, and led by former Wigan great Lance Todd. Wigan were going into the match as underdogs, despite beating Salford to the Lancashire Cup a few months earlier, Lance Todd's men were strong favourites.

On the day, all roads into Rochdale were choked. You couldn't park anywhere close to the Athletic Grounds with almost all roads leading from Salford and Wigan acting as car parks. The conditions were far from ideal. Half an hour before the match was due to start, the Spion Kop embankment was already packed to the brim with thousands still piling into the ground. At that moment, there was a great rush and fencing was broken down which meant that thousands of spectators, estimated to be 5,000 or so, got into the ground for free. The police officer had no chance of keeping order.