An update has been issued on the two fans taken ill with West Brom v Bristol City being suspended twice on Saturday afternoon.
Kick off was initially delayed by 15 minutes after a Baggies supporter, collapsed in the West Stand, with paramedics and ambulance staff quickly on the scene.
They were treating the man before he was placed on a stretcher and taken to hospital, with West Brom tweeting to say the game had been delayed “owing to a medical emergency involving a fan inside the stadium”.
We are pleased to report the two supporters who were taken ill at today’s game are conscious in hospital, where they will receive further treatment. We wish them each a speedy recovery 💙❤️
We would also like to thank both sets of fans for their patience and understanding 🙌
— West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) October 23, 2021
“Our thought and prayers are with the supporter. We’re all with you,” the club added.
The second half of the Championship fixture was further delayed for 20 minutes when an away fan fell ill and was also hospitalised.
The match eventually resumed at around 4.30pm, with Sky Sports reporter Matt Murray left looking concerned for the spectators as he spoke to Jeff Stelling back in the studio.
Afterwards the Baggies confirmed that both fans were conscious.
“We are pleased to report the two supporters who were taken ill at today’s game are conscious in hospital, where they will receive further treatment. We wish them each a speedy recovery,” the club tweeted.
“We would also like to thank both sets of fans for their patience and understanding.”
A statement from City on Twitter read: “The start of the second half will be delayed due to an ongoing medical emergency in the Bristol City supporters’ end. Our thoughts are with those affected.”
The #BristolCity fan taken ill at half-time is conscious and being well cared for by medical staff.
Our thanks to the @WBA stewards and the medics who have taken care of him.
— Bristol City FC (@BristolCity) October 23, 2021
Albion dominated the opening half against the Robins, going into the break with a two goal lead.
Darnell Furlong set up Jordan Hugill for the opener following a fantastic team move, and Kyle Bartley doubled the lead just before half-time.
Furlong was once again involved as his long throw met the head of the centre-back, who nodded it home to make it 2-0.
A win would see West Brom reclaim second position in the Championship table for at least one day with Fulham due to face Nottingham Forest on Sunday afternoon.
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POST-MATCH CHAT FROM THE MANAGERS
Bristol City boss Nigel Pearson was asked: “How did you see it all, Nigel? Presumably all of the disruptions did not help you at all?
He replied: “That’s nothing to do with it at all. At the end of the day people’s health is a lot more important than starting a football match and whether there’s a 10 or 15 minute delay that isn’t relevant to it.
“It didn’t stop them from starting quickly and we knew what to expect and we didn’t deal with it and that’s the biggest disappointment.
“The goals that we conceded in the first-half were too soft, we were too passive, we couldn’t sort our feet out on the ball. It was a bad day for us and the defending collectively wasn’t good enough.
“But having said all of that it would be ungenerous of me not to compliment how West Brom played because they played with intensity, they’re a very good side, they’ve got a really good squad of players and they got at us and made life uncomfortable and unfortunately for us we were unable to deal with it and that’s the reality of the situation. They could have been out of sight.”
West Brom’s Valerien Ismael said: “First of all I’ve been told the two fans and the Bristol player are well, so from my side the best wishes and those of the staff and the club goes to them.
“It was a strange afternoon with the delays. But it was a great game and we played some great stuff at times.
“We should have scored more goals. We had 23 shots on goal and nine on target so we need to score more.”
Millwall, Derby and Birmingham are amongst the teams that Albion have struggled to break down at The Hawthorns in recent weeks.
But Ismael revealed his team changed their approach against Bristol City, with his side playing with more composure on the ball.
“It was clear against a back three that we wanted to do something to change the approach and it worked well at some times,” the boss continued.
“But again we made too many mistakes and we need to improve that.
“But three goals, a clean sheet and great stuff we played at times — I am delighted.”
The sad events at West Brom comes less than a week after a similar situation involving a Newcastle supporter during their 3-2 home Premier League defeat to Tottenham last Sunday.
talkSPORT reporter Geoff Peters was at the Hawthorns, and described the scenes before kick-off on air on Saturday afternoon.
“We did see some of the medical team down in this stand, there appeared to be a supporter carried away on a stretcher,” he said.
“We obviously don’t know the level of what the problem was there, but the person who was on the stretcher was applauding the West Brom fans, who were all applauding them.
“So it would perhaps appear not to be that serious.”
Geoff was joined by former Liverpool Women’s striker Courtney Sweetman-Kirk, who hopes the issue is not as serious as last week’s scenes at Newcastle.
“We hope that it’s nothing too serious,” said the striker, who now plays for Sheffield United in the FA Women’s Championship.
“We’ve seen over the last few weeks and that incident at Newcastle in terms of how serious it can be.
“But the medical staff appear to be there quickly, so hopefully that fan is being attended to.”
When the second-half was delayed, Peters added: “A supporter in the away end has also required some treatment and then there was an announcement.
“It seems like that medical issue has been resolved in some capacity, with the fan being led away on a seated stretcher.”
Twitter user SB_BCFC wrote: “Another thanks to @MattParsonsBCFC, @BristolCitySLO for coming and bringing us some things and making sure we are okay. And Richard Gould for coming down and staying with us till we left. Making sure anything thay we needed was there.
“He has been admitted to hospital overnight and my mom is staying us in a hotel near him. He is back to his cheery mood and chatting. Hopefully should be back home tomorrow [Sunday] hoping everything goes according to plan.
“@BristolCity@WBA would like to say thankyou to both clubs for helping me and my grandad out today. The stewards and paramedics were amazing up to us within minutes. Really well done. Always felt in the loop.”
Fans reacted as on an update with the two fans taken ill with West Brom v Bristol City suspended twice…
@lise_Jane77: Shout to the medics at the ground too today 👏 👏
@brian8471: The Albion fan collapsed very near to where I sit. The first aid team were really good as were the stewards.
@ftbl_mo: More important than the game, well done to the medical team on their speediness 💙💙💙
@sharniholwba: Shout out to the #medics @stjohnambulance at the hawthorns today! – super response and glad to hear both supporters are conscious. Wishing you both a speedy recovery 🔵⚪️🔵⚪️ #COYB #bristolcity #baggies #hawthorns.
@laedeejaedee: Well done to the medical staff who were on duty today 👏
@JonW1995: That’s great to hear! 👏🏼 No idea what happened to them but it’s good to know they’re both stable.
@nicola_cookson: Good news – hope they get well soon – from a Toon fan
@Duzc1972: That’s great news, well done to all who helped them.
@GanGaynor: Very strange afternoon there today, so pleased they are both ok and hopefully on the mend 🙏
@GraemeRchardson: Life and health is more important than football. Well done to the medical teams who attended and best wishes to the supporters from an @NUFC fan
@Millz_10: Glad to see your Grandad is feeling better. The best result of the day was seeing that he was stable. Can’t imagine what you went through, but great to see what a great group of guys we have at the football club
@NatJSummers: Glad he is doing well and well done to Jerry, Matt & Richard. This is exactly what our club is about.
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