Hillsborough inquests: Fan tells of 'near miss' at Wolves game eight years earlier

Spurs fan Professor Norman Fenton said he witnessed 'enormous congestion' at the stadium in 1981 as 'far too many' fans were admitted to the Leppings Lane end leading to a huge crush.

He is legally able to speak about the day's events following last month's inquest verdict into the 1989 semi final at Hillsborough which ruled that 96 Liverpool supporters were unlawfully killed.

Prof Fenton, a director at the school of electronic engineering and computer science at Queen Mary University of London, said the circumstances of the two incidents were 'essentially identical'.

In 1981 he was secretary of the Sheffield Spurs Supporters Society, which had complained prior to the match that the Londoners had been allocated the smaller Leppings Lane end of the the ground.

Wolves' fans were housed in the larger Spion Kop end of the ground, just as Nottingham Forest fans were in 1989.

Before kick off thousands of fans gathered outside the Leppings Lane turnstile, said Prof Fenton, who had arrived at the stadium at around 1.30pm.

In June 2014 he told an inquest jury in Warrington: "There was an enormous number of people trying to get into what seemed to be a fairly short space.

"There was an enormous congestion. I was watching the people trying to get in through the turnstiles with their tickets.

"There was an enormous crushing of people going in there."

Prof Fenton said he managed to make it to his seat in the North Stand by 2.10pm.

He added: "I had a perfect, uninterrupted view. There was crushing even at that time, which was 50 minutes before kick off.

"There were people being clearly, sort of carried out and were more than distressed."

No one was killed at Hillsborough in 1981, although 38 people were injured, some with broken bones.

Prof Fenton says he had a clear view of events from his position on the North Terrace. He saw police and stewards started to let people out of the terracing and onto the pitch up to half an hour before kick-off.

Shortly after the start of the game Spurs fans spilled on to the perimeter track at the Leppings Lane end of the ground and others began climbing fences.

"Because of the quick thinking of a steward who was able to open a gate onto the pitch nobody died on that occasion - although there were many injuries," he added.

His society wrote to the Football Association, Sheffield Wednesday and South Yorkshire police after the match.

He said he only remembered receiving one reply, from the police.

They told him Spurs had been allocated the Leppings Lane end because of the way their fans would travel in to Sheffield on the day.

Prof Fenton said he also wrote to the Football Association after the 1989 disaster. Although he was interviewed at that time by the police, he says his evidence was never used.

He said of the 1989 disaster: "It seemed to me that the same mistake had been made."

"It was almost a perfect analogy in terms of the level of support Liverpool/Nottingham Forest, Spurs/Wolves.

"Again, Liverpool probably two or three times as many supporters going, something like that."

The jury at the Hillsborough inquests heard two years worth of evidence before finding the then match commander, Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield, was 'responsible for manslaughter by gross negligence' due to a breach of his duty of care.

The 96 who were killed on the day included Sarah and Vicki Hicks, the teenage daughters of Kingswinford businessman Trevor Hicks, and West Bromwich-born David Birtle, aged 22, who lived in Cannock.

A criminal investigation into the disaster, Operation Resolve, is ongoing and being led by Assistant Commissioner Jon Stoddart.