Wales ready to dominate Romania & John Francis Hill remembered Saturday, 6th Jun 2026 13:46 by Swansea Independent Wales play their second friendly of the week in Bucharest, Romania this evening (6:45pm) Memories of Gheorghe Hagi and that game when Romania defeated Wales to get to the USA World Cup in 1994. With Romania 1-0 up through Hagi, Dean Saunders equalised for Wales back in November 93โ With Wales pressing for the win they gained a penalty with around twenty five minutes to go. Paul Bodin took it and hit the crossbar. That would have seen Wales through to the World Cup finals. However they conceded late on to lose the game 2-1. Tonight is a friendly but there is a big support for Cymru at this game. Below are some of the Indy Jacks with Cardiff fans enjoying the Bucharest hospitality - and of course being together following their national side. ![]() Craig Bellamy has stated this is a game for his side to dominate the ball. We shouldnโt forget that an incident that night in November 1993 led to the death of sixty seven year old John Francis Hill from Merthyr. He was hit by a marine distress flare from the opposite side of the stadium. It hit him and despite attempts to save his life he died. Two Wrexham men were jailed for three years each, they were convicted of manslaughter. Years later his son, also named John spoke to the BBC for the first time on his recollections of that night. "I can only describe what I thought was an aeroplane about to hit the stadium. I could hear this huge rushing noise and I remember looking round and I couldn't see anything - and the next thing I was aware of, my dad fell forwards I didn't put the two events together - the noise and my dad falling forwards. I thought my dad had simply had a heart attack or had fallen. So I leaned forward to try and pick my dad up and when I stepped back, I realised I couldn't lift him on my own. I looked, and both my hands were covered in blood. I remember knocking on the door and my mum opened the door and saw the two policemen. Mr Hill said it was "deeply distressing" to see a flare once again causing injury at a football game. She had obviously heard that someone had been killed in the stadium and she just pointed her finger and said, 'That man who was killed was your father. She just collapsed. We had a doctor waiting because my mum wasn't a well lady at the time and there were concerns whether she would be able to sustain the shock." Mrs Hill died in 2005, she never got over this tragic incident. John Francis Hill, Wales football fan and Grandfather. May you rest in peace sir. We will carry more news on the game later. Coverage is on BBC Wales. ![]() ![]() We always credit our sources. ![]() Photographs : BBC, Hill family, JOHN Francis Hill : 181193 - Wales Football tragedy - COLLECT PIC Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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