Fan who died after falling ill at Hillsborough was planning move to Glenfin

A football fan who tragically died after falling ill during a match in England was planning to retire to live in Glenfin.

Mark Townsend, a West Bromwich Albion supporter, suffered a medical emergency while watching his team play against Sheffield Wednesday in the EFL Championship on September 28.

Mr Townsend was taken to hospital, but died a short time later and there have been calls for an inquest into the response of medial staff at Hillsborough stadium, the home of Sheffield Wednesday.

An engine builder at BMW’s Hams Hall plant near Birmingham, Mr Townsend was married to Marion, nee Doherty and a native of Cloghan.

They couple had been in the process of building a house in the Letterbrick area.

Aiming to move to An Gaeltacht Lar by next year, Mark was still planning to travel once a month to support his believed West Bromwich Albion.

The 57-year-old was a season ticket holder at the club.

He collapsed in the away end, the Leppings Lane End, at Hillsborough and members of his family have been critical of the response.

Steve Townsend said: “But whether a swifter response would have changed anything, I would have loved to have thought it would have done and my brother would still be here. It shouldn’t have happened, and I want a full inquest into the failings.”

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There have been claims that there were issues with the defibrillator brought to treat Mr Townsend while the narrow passages at Hillsborough made transporting the patient “extremely difficult”. Some say there was as much as 20 minutes between Mr Townsend collapsing an oxygen being administered.

The Leppings Lane end of Hillsborough was the site of the 1989 disaster which saw 97 Liverpool supporters killed in a crush during an FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest.