West Bromwich Albion 'send love' to Mark Townsends family and 'urges swift action' as inquest concludes
West Bromwich Albion have urged for swift action to be taken and sent well-wishes to the family of Mark Townsend after an inquest into his death concluded today.
Mark Townsend, 57, died after he collapsed among fellow West Bromwich Albion supporters at Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough Stadium on September 28, 2024.
Today (October 10), an inquest into his death ruled that he died of 'natural causes'.
His beloved club responded to the news sending love to his family and urging swift action on the concerns raised during the inquest.
A spokesperson for West Bromwich Albion said: "West Bromwich Albion Football Club notes the findings of an inquest into the tragic death of Mark Townsend, who passed away following a medical emergency at Hillsborough Stadium on September 28, 2024.
"The club continues to provide the Townsend family with its love and support as they grieve Mark’s loss.
"The club welcomes the coroner’s decision to issue a Prevention of Future Deaths report and urges all associated parties to swiftly act on the concerns raised."
Sheffield’s senior coroner Tanyka Rawden said she accepted there had been confusion between the paramedics from the private medical team contracted by Sheffield Wednesday, who were the first to get to Mr Townsend, and those who arrived later from Yorkshire Ambulance Service.
But Mrs Rawden said she did not believe this “caused or contributed” to Mr Townsend’s death.
The coroner said the decision not to ventilate Mr Townsend in the Leppings Lane stand, before he was moved to the concourse behind, “is likely to have contributed to, but not directly caused, Mark’s death”.
And she said the same about a decision not give Mr Townsend drugs through a cannula while he was in the stand, but she thought this was “reasonable” in the circumstances.
The family of a football fan who died after he collapsed with a cardiac arrest during a Championship match have said they were hoping for stronger recommendations from the coroner.
The coroner declined to write a prevention of future deaths report about the way the teams from the private ambulance firm Lambda Medical and the public ambulance service work together, after hearing about ongoing co-operation work, including a major exercise simulation at Hillsborough earlier this year.
But she said it was “disappointing” this work was only just getting under way more than a year since Mr Townsend’s death.
Mrs Rawden said she had looked in detail at the time it took for Mr Townsend to received medical treatment, based largely on the CCTV footage of the incident.
She said first defibrillator shock was given five minutes and 51 seconds after a West Bromwich fan first raised the alarm, which she said was “comparable with the level of treatment expected in a hospital setting”.
The coroner also said she believed a decision not to stop the match was reasonable, as it would have caused crowd movement which may have hindered the emergency response.
Mrs Rawden said she will be writing a prevention of future deaths report to Sheffield Wednesday after voicing concerns about the location of stewards with radios and other stewards knowing how to find them.
The coroner praised the efforts of off-duty West Midlands paramedic Chelsea Jones, who was at the match as an away-fan and was one of the first give Mr Townsend, from Oldbury, West Midlands, CPR in the stand.
