Man hurt at Stoke City football match dies

Security staff guard an area cordoned off by police (pic:Dave Thompson/PA Wire)

Police were alerted to an incident in a concourse of the stadium's south stand

A 30-year-old man who was injured during a Premier League football match at Stoke City has died in hospital.

John Steven Taylor, of Avallon Way, Darwen, Lancashire, was taken to hospital after being found unconscious during Saturday's match.

Police were alerted to an incident in a concourse of the Britannia Stadium's south stand, being used by Blackburn fans, just after 1600 GMT.

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

Police said, following a Home Office post-mortem examination on Sunday, that the cause of death was due to a head injury.

Blackburn said it was "shocked and saddened" to learn of the death of a supporter.

In a statement on its website, the club said it "wishes to pass on sincere condolences to the man's family at this deeply distressing time".

'Deepest sympathies'

Mr Taylor was thought to have been hit on the head with a bin.

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."

'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.