Burial of the Coffin

In a tradition going back to 1948, fans of Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End bury a coffin of relegation in the cellar of the Trades Halls club in Bamber Bridge.

The parade started in 1948 after a greengrocer in Bamber Bridge packed a coffin full of vegetables and buried it following Blackburn’s relegation to the old Division Two.

[1][2] The vegetables were supposed to represent the players in the team, although nowadays a dummy called Chucky lies in the coffin in the club kit.

After Blackburn's promotion back to the Premier League in 2000–01, the coffin was paraded down Station Road in a cortege of five carnival-type milk floats headed by bands, dancers, fire crews and people dressed as bishops and nuns.

[3] A burial was held ahead of the start of the 2011–12 campaign, on Sunday 24 July 2011, after Preston were relegated from the Football League Championship the previous season.