The match, an FA Cup Sixth Round second-leg tie between Bolton and Stoke City, was allowed to continue, with the game ending goalless.

[3][full citation needed] Although there was room towards the Burnden side of the ground, part of the stand had been requisitioned by the Ministry of Supply following the War and had not yet been returned to normal use.

[4] The game was restarted but was quickly halted again when a Bolton Borough Police officer came onto the pitch to speak to the referee, George Dutton, to inform him there had been a fatality.

The referee called together the two captains, Bolton's Harry Hubbick and Stoke's Neil Franklin, to inform them of the problem, and the players left the pitch.

[citation needed] The dead and injured were taken from the Railway End terrace, with those who had died laid along the touchline and covered in coats.

In 2000, following the move by Bolton Wanderers to a new ground, the plaque was relocated to the wall of the supermarket which now occupies the site of the tragedy.