Home
Fans of Bolton Wanderers and other clubs have slammed The Sun after the national tabloid published a 'distasteful' headline on the abandoned match vs Cheltenham Town.
The paper printed the headline ‘Footie binned…over ill fan’ on page 10 of the paper, after Iain Purslow collapsed during Saturday's game against Cheltenham Town, and later died.
The 71-year-old was given more than 20 minutes of CPR in the stands after falling ill during the first half of the match.
He was rushed to Royal Bolton Hospital at just after 4pm but later died with his family at his side.
The match was called off after a 33-minute stoppage in agreement with referee Sunny Singh Gill and both teams around half an hour after the players were taken off the pitch when the incident first occurred.
Bolton Wanderers released a statement which mentioned that Iain had attended the game supporting the Whites with his son Stuart.
It added: "Iain will be remembered at Wanderers’ FA Cup third-round replay at home to Luton Town on Tuesday night.
"Saturday’s League One fixture against Cheltenham Town will be re-arranged in due course.”
The Sun has faced vast criticism on social media with people taking to X (formerly known as Twitter) demanding the paper apologise.
Fan page Football Away Days tweeted: "How distasteful is this headline from The Sun, reporting why Bolton’s game was abandoned yesterday."
Luton Town - Wanderer's FA Cup replay opponents - fan page #InTomLockyerWeTrust tweeted: "The Sun will always be a disgusting rag. Rest in peace to the Bolton supporter Iain who sadly passed away after this incident."
Luton captain Tom Lockyer collapsed on the pitch last month during a game.
Sanny Rudravajhala, a presenter for Sky Sports and BBC Sport, said: "What a truly disgusting headline from The Sun.
"A poor soul at Bolton has a CARDIAC ARREST and CPR in the stands for 20 minutes before being taken to an ambulance.
"An awful experience for all present. Yet this what they come up with. Reprehensible."
Bolton fan Lee Durkin tweeted: "Boycott the Sun newspaper utter shameful and disgusting."
Hilary added: "I'm a Bolton fan living in Staffordshire , I will NEVER by the Sun newspaper again."
Sheffield United fan Mark Howsham added: "My Bolton mate was close by the incident yesterday. Awful news. And the sun ought to be ashamed."
Other fans on X described the headline as "ghoulish", "sick", "disgraceful" and "vile".
Source
