Today, he told the inquests into the deaths of 96 Liverpool supporters that asking for the 3pm kick-off to be put back was an option open to him.

He said: "I could certainly have requested a delay of kick-off.

"I can tell you that it was one of the most profound regrets of my experience at Leppings Lane on the 15th of April that I did not do so."

Christina Lambert QC, counsel for the inquests in Warrington, asked him: "In what circumstances do you understand you could request a delay in kick-off?"

Mr Marshall replied: "Mr Duckenfield's (match commander David Duckenfield) policy was that if there had been fog on the Pennines or there had been a serious accident on the motorway which would have resulted in very, very large numbers of people being delayed, then for that reason kick-off would be delayed.

"I think it would have been possible for me to seek a delay in the kick-off given the numbers that were besieging the turnstiles."

Exit Gate C was opened at 2.52pm on the orders of Mr Duckenfield, with the jury hearing that an estimated 2,000 Liverpool fans came through and "a significant number" headed for a central tunnel leading to the terraces of pens three and four behind the goal.

The inquest has heard evidence that the central tunnel was unmanned by police or stewards, with no one directing supporters to the flanking tunnels, and that pens three and four were the scene of the fatal crush at the match between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool.

In a timeline of events presented to the jury of seven women and four men at the beginning of the inquests, Mr Marshall asked for the road near Leppings Lane, Sheffield, to be closed to traffic at 2.17pm, which it was at 2.30pm.

At 2.40pm Mr Marshall climbed on to the parapet of a nearby bridge over the River Don to get a better view of the scene. A large crowd had built up in the area immediately outside the turnstiles.

Two minutes later he called up reinforcements and asked for a Land Rover with a portable public address system to broadcast a request to stop pushing. The crowd remained tightly packed.

At 2.47pm Mr Marshall radioed the police control room and asked for permission to open the exit gates A, B and C to permit people to come in to ease the pressure and prevent injury. Mr Marshall made a second request for the gates to be opened. He repeated his request a third time, saying that somebody would be "killed if the gates weren't opened".

The Hillsborough inquests began at Birchwood Park, Warrington, on March 31 and are due to conclude next July.

The evidence of Mr Marshall, who was the most senior officer outside the ground on the day, is expected to last two days.

Working through the events of the day, Mr Marshall said he had patrolled the area around the stadium for more than two hours before returning to the Leppings Lane area from 2pm.

Miss Lambert asked him what he observed of the behaviour of fans during his patrol.

He said: "It was a lovely day, The atmosphere was carnival. A tremendous amount of drinking going on here, there and everywhere.

"Lots of people milling around, just as you would expect on a semi-final day."

Asked he if had expected to see the level of drinking he described, Mr Marshall said: "In certain areas I was a little bit saddened really that people had to drink so much so early in the day to come to a football match. I mean this was sort of half-past 11ish. I encountered people walking around with four-packs of lager and bottles of cider."

But the retired superintendent agreed that there was nothing during his patrol which caused him particular concern or he thought might lead to problems,

Back at Leppings Lane he said he was "surprised" to see some fans walking past the turnstiles rather than going into the ground.

He added that during his time on duty he had roughly estimated that between 200 and 250 people had been asking for spare tickets.

Mr Marshall said there was a "steady flow" of people going into the ground and by 2.15pm he had no concerns at that stage.

Miss Lambert asked: "Were you aware there was a club system whereby those in the club office can pretty quickly indicate how many fans were yet to go through the turnstiles?"

He said: "I don't think I was aware of that. Not until after the disaster. I'm not sure about that."

Miss Lambert continued: "If you had been aware at 2.15pm that actually there was about 6,900 fans yet to go through turnstiles A to G for taking up their position on the terraces, would you have been concerned?"

Mr Marshall said: "I think it probably would have rung an alarm bell, yes."

CCTV footage of the area in front of turnstiles A to G at 2.15pm was played to the court, and Mr Marshall was asked about his opinion on the degree of congestion.

He said: "I think there is still a lot of people in there, obviously, but there still a reasonable amount of free movement of people."

Miss Lambert said: "It may be suggested to you by others, Mr Marshall, that what we see here is representative of a fairly solid congestion of people in front of those turnstiles. Would you agree with that?"

Mr Marshall said: "Not necessarily. It's busy but before the camera ... before the film actually stopped you see people moving around reasonably freely. I mean at that stage you cannot see anybody actually pushing and shoving.

"There is free movement to the left. There is a line of police officers controlling things on the left. There are metal barriers out in the roadway. It is what I would have expected on a semi-final day."

Miss Lambert said: "Do you think it would have been appropriate at that point to have taken steps to manage the crowd?"

The witness said: "Well, that's a difficult question. Because, with hindsight, looking at the film I think that's quite a reasonable suggestion but at that time I was on foot in the crowd."

Miss Lambert asked him if it would have been helpful for him to instructed officers, mounted or on foot, to create some sort of barrier to prevent fans coming down Leppings Lane to join the back of the crowd.

Mr Marshall said that came down to "the key question of resources" as he had the use of 10 men, one sergeant, one inspector and mounted officers, but at that time did not have a full complement of mounted officers.

He did have access to reserve officers but his opinion was that it would have been "difficult" to form a cordon at that time, he said.

He added: "While the film does give a graphic indication, it does not reflect the mood of people."

The barrister asked him why he did not think of taking up an elevated position at the time to view the crowd.

Mr Marshall replied: "That, again, is entirely hindsight. At the time I was in the middle of the crowd. I was concerned about people spilling on to the roadway. I didn't want anybody to get knocked over."

His request to close Leppings Lane traffic was logged on police calls at 2.17pm, the jury heard.

Miss Lambert went on: "Did you recognise at that stage that control of the crowd up to 2.30 would or might be lost if steps were not taken to manage the crowd?"

"No," he said.

Miss Lambert asked: "Being aware, as you were, that you did not have access to the club data at 2.30pm, if you had known that there were 5,700 fans yet to enter via seven turnstiles, would you have been concerned?"

Mr Marshall replied: "Yes, I think I would."