New Headline: Shocking Collapse: Dealmaker's Big Idea Kills Lives

Two young women were passed over the crowd to avoid the crush at Burnden Park [Getty Images] After living through World War Two, Richard Roby was desperate for a chance to see one of England's greatest footballers and persuaded his father to join him at a match that ultimately cost their lives. Richard, 37, had promised his dad Thomas, 67, he would offer him a hand on his allotment if they could go watch Stanley Matthews play for Stoke on 9 March 1946 against Bolton Wanderers at Burnden Park. But the agreement proved fatal, as the father and son from Billinge in St Helens, were among 33 people killed and 400 injured in the crush at the FA Cup tie.

More than 85,000 people are thought to have poured into the 20,000 capacity ground for the FA Cup tie and a chance to see the star winger before disaster struck. Richard Roby persuaded his father to go to the ground to watch Stanley Matthews [Susan Basnett] Richard's granddaughter Susan Basnett said their deaths were "devastating and the family never got over it", with Thomas's widow dying two years later with "a broken heart". "It was ironic because they weren't going to go to the match - my great granddad Thomas was busy working in his allotment.

"My granddad Richard was really keen to see Stanley Matthews play. So I think they made a deal that if they went together, Richard would help Thomas on his allotment the next day. " Basnett said her mum, who was eight at the time, told her the family had waited for hours hoping they would be on the next bus to return from the ground.

"And of course, they didn't get off. Mum and my grandma stood there till it went dark and still no sign. " Both her mother and grandmother suffered from dementia in later life but could always speak about the tragedy that blighted their lives.