A coroner has ruled that a Blackburn Rovers fan who died at an away match at Stoke City after being hit over the head with a bin died due to misadventure. John Taylor, 30, of Avallon Way in Darwen, Lancashire, collapsed in the South Stand of the Britannia Stadium on 6 February last year.
The father-of-one died from head injuries the following day, reports BBC News.
A 25-year-old man, from Preston, was arrested at the time but no further action was taken against him.
The three-day inquest was heard at Hanley Town Hall last month. Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire coroner Ian Smith gave his verdict on Thursday.
Stoke City's chief executive Tony Scholes said: "The death of John Taylor was a terrible tragedy and our thoughts remain with his family.
"This was an unforeseen and unprecedented incident, the like of which has certainly never been seen in Stoke before.
"We have an excellent safety record in line with all clubs in the Premier League, one which is closely regulated by the authorities and one constantly under review to ensure that we provide the safest possible environment for visitors.
"Despite all of that, it is extremely difficult to legislate for all circumstances.
"What we must all do, however, is use the knowledge of what happened in this instance to try to prevent an incident like this ever happening again."
