Fever pitch at Ewood!

EAST Lancashire, alas, has had its dose of Cup fever for this year.

But even if the Rovers' run had lasted, could the excitement ever have matched that which gripped the whole region 47 years ago - when they and Burnley were drawn together just two games away from the final?

And when, on this day in 1952, a week before the clash, it produced some amazing events off the football field, including the staggering statistic of a 20,000 crowd at a reserve match - many of whom didn't want to watch?

It was a phenomenon fired by the immutable laws of supply and demand. For even the then gate limit of 53,000 at Ewood Park could not accommodate the clamour for tickets. Officials estimated that three times as many people in 200 square miles of East Lancashire wanted to be at the game.

Both clubs had already cashed in by raising admission prices for their fifth round games, but even though they were raised yet again for the big Cup derby that was next on the bill at Ewood, fans were not put off - although several complained about the hike in letters to the Northern Daily Telegraph.

Normally, it cost it cost 1s 6d (7p) - equivalent to £1.23 today - to watch a first-team match from the terraces at the Rovers' ground.

But for this all-ticket attraction, the price - for all but the then-uncovered Blackburn End - had rocketed to half a crown (12p), the same as £2.05 now.

Seats in the A Stand, the preserve of those who could afford five bob in 1952, had doubled to ten shillings (50p), equal to £8.22 today. The increases may have been outright opportunism, but added to the value of the tickets was not just the special magic of the Cup contest and the nearness for both sides of its Wembley climax, but also the rarity of a Rovers v Burnley tie.

It was almost 40 years since they had met in the Cup - back in 1913 when, before a then-record gate of 50,000 at Ewood, the Clarets had gone by the only goal to the semi-final for the first time in their history.

Moreover, it was the first time since 1939 that the Rovers had reached the sixth round. Above all, in the deep-dyed rivalry of the two tribes on the terraces, it was a test of who was "best."

Rovers, down at 15th in the old Second Division after a bad start to the season, were the underdogs - a whole division behind Burnley who were 14th in the First.

The stage was set for a thriller, but it was the build-up that produced the drama in the scramble for tickets.

The cue for chaos was Burnley only getting a quarter of the tickets. Even though this was the maximum the club could claim and meant there were 1,500 stands seats and 1,500 places in the enclosure and 10,000 on the ground for Clarets' fans, it was nowhere near enough.

The real trouble lay in the nearness of the two clubs. Inevitably, it meant that many could and would travel from Burnley to Blackburn, whose bigger share promised a better chance of acquiring a precious ticket.

And the size of the 'away' fans' advance invasion was boosted by the ground tickets going on sale at Ewood two days before Burnley's allocation was for sale at Turf Moor.

But what the real recipe for a shambles was the decision to sell Rovers' share of ground tickets to fans going through their turnstiles for the Central League match between Rovers Reserves and Manchester United Reserves on the Saturday before the big Cup game. The upshot was a record attendance for a reserve game at Ewood, but the antics this involved on the day induced a lot of anger - as well as disappointment for many who didn't get a ticket - though, it retrospect, they look like farce.

The events were clearly billed in advance. Normally, as the Northern Daily Telegraph reported, the only motor coach at Ewood Park for a Central League game was the one bringing the visiting team.

But two days before the reserve-match-cum-ticket-sale, it told how told how every coach company in the area was being bombarded by both sets of fans with inquiries about "Ticket Specials" to the ground - and that many of the Clarets' followers were planning to dash back to Turf Moor for Burnley's clash that day with Arsenal.

Rail and bus officials predicted that traffic to be almost as heavy as it has been for the Rovers' fifth-round tie with West Brom at Ewood the Saturday before. It turned out to be even greater.

Trains heading to Blackburn from as far as Todmorden were packed. Scores of coaches headed for Ewood - six were even from Liverpool. Thousands swarmed on the Cattle Market at Burnley for buses.

Full ones ploughed past hundreds left forlorn at bus stops between Ightenhill and Padiham. Another 500 queued in vain at Clayton-le-Moors for buses that didn't stop.

Many of the passengers from Burnley's territory were the wives and children on a ticket errand for men who wanted to be sure of seeing the Arsenal match at the Turf. At Ewood, they found themselves in queues stretching a quarter of a mile for a treasured ticket, but also for admission to a reserve match hundreds did not want to see.

"As soon as they were on the ground, many people immediately tried to get out again," said the NDT. "Faces began to appear over the tops of the walls between the Blackburn End and Riverside entrances."

And, in the itch to escape, lots took the plunge into the River Darwen running behind Ewood Park.

"Many found a way out through wading through the river," added the NDT. "Some had gumboots. Others took off their shoes and socks. One man was cheered when he carried a woman across in his arms."

The amazing break-out escalated. "Soon the mass exodus over the river became highly organised," the report continued.

"A group of men made a made a makeshift bridge by putting old wooden planks on rocks. Hundreds of people continued to swarm out and the riverbank was covered with people drying their feet."

By two o'clock, an hour before the kick-off, some 10,000 had been admitted to the ground, but twice as many were still queuing outside. Ten minutes later, the tickets were sold out. Thousands were turned away disappointed. Hundreds of luckier ones were in new queues - inside the ground with their backs to the Central League action on the pitch and, as extra police were switched to the riverbank to deal with the crowds of waders, hundreds of fans still arriving at Ewood were met by hundreds more departing without tickets.

No official count of the gate seems to have been made - probably because so many came and went.

But the NDT's Last Sports was in no doubt that night that it was a Central League record at Ewood, way beyond average reserve gate that season of about 2,500. "There were well over 20,000 spectators quite a time before the start of play and though some left the ground when the turnstiles were opened, the vast majority stayed on," it said. The game ended a 2-2 draw.

But that was not the end of the ticket scramble. The following Monday when tickets were sold at Turf Moor, there was a stampede in the huge queue of 12,000 to 15,000 when a rumour broke out among those at the back that the tickets were running out.

The police swiftly ordered the gates to be shut and order was quickly restored - but not before the front of the queue was forced by the surge into a "tangled mess".

On the big day itself, Burnley lost 3-1. But after East Lancashire had gone mad for the tickets, incredibly, spivs who had been getting a phenomenal 30 shillings for them actually had some left on their hands and half-an-hour before the kick-off were actually giving them away!

Rovers were knocked out in next round, losing 1-2 in a semi-final replay with . . . Newcastle United.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.