However, when Bradford City won promotion to the highest level of English football, Division One, in 1908, club officials sanctioned an upgrade programme. Only one person had been positively identified by police by early last night. "The fire still has a big impact on people," Parker says. Christopher Hammond, who was 12 on the day, said on the 20th anniversary of the fire: "As a 12-year-old, it was easy to move on I didn't realise how serious it was until I looked at the press coverage over the next few days. Edited by BBC Sport's Jonathan Jurejko. People who had escaped the fire then tried to assist their fellow supporters. "For the first minute people were laughing and joking, it wasn't anything serious. Then the flames and smoke were all over the place.'. When cross examined by QC Robert Smith, then Chairman Stafford Heginbotham said he knew about the fire risk at the ground. The game was irrelevant.". There was a bit of paper on fire, but it was so small.". On the recording are Dene Michael (Black Lace), The Chuckle Brothers, Clive Jackson of Dr & The Medics, Owen Paul, Billy Pearce, Billy Shears, Flint Bedrock, Danny Tetley and Rick Wild of The Overlanders. So I decided to give it that next push. They were at fault, but the fault was that no-one in authority seems ever to have properly appreciated the real gravity of this fire hazard and consequently no-one gave it the attention it certainly ought to have received. Ironically, off-duty firemen were at the ground selling raffle tickets for a charity football match which should have been held yesterday. ", IBT UK Morning Brief - Let the best of International News come to you. The worst fire disaster in English football history played out on live television on May 11, after Valley Parade's main stand caught fire during a match between Bradford City and Lincoln City on . [15] They included three who tried to escape through the toilets, 27 who were found by exit K and turnstiles 6 to 9 at the rear centre of the stand, and two elderly people who had died in their seats. It is repeated across the country on BBC Two at 23:20 BST on Wednesday, 13 May. Stadium disasters have blighted the world of sport throughout modern history. Listen to Valley Parade: Bradford City Fire Remembered on BBC Radio Leeds (18:00 BST) and BBC Radio 5 live (21:00 BST). He was completely on fire and it looked as though he simply did not know what had happened to him.'. The blaze quickly engulfed the stand as Bradford played Lincoln City and claimed the lives of 59 people on May 11, 1985. The only fire extinguishers in the ground were in the clubroom, which is also in the main stand. 1908 - Rhoads Opera House fire, Boyertown, Pennsylvania, killed 170. Bradford City were supposed to be celebrating on 11 May 1985. I remember trying to make sense of what was going on. Most of the exits at the back were locked or shut and there were no stewards present to open them, but seven were forced open or found open. Of the 56 people who died in the fire,[2] 54 were Bradford supporters and two supported Lincoln. The stadium was known for its antiquated design and facilities, which included the wooden roof of the main stand. While Valley Parade was re-developed, Bradford City played games at various neighbouring grounds: Elland Road, Leeds; Leeds Road, Huddersfield; and Odsal Stadium, Bradford. He asks the reader to make their mind up about whether these fires were a coincidence or not.". Yet many of those with terrible memories of the tragedy also take heart in the compassion born out of the devastation. Popplewell's report was nowhere close to the quality of Lord Justice Taylor's report after Hillsborough, and since reading it as an adult I have always been very disappointed in it and considered it a poor piece of work. [32] Speaking at the close of the case, the Judge said "They (the club) were at fault, no one in authority seemed to have appreciated the fire hazard. Hundreds more telephoned the police to try to trace relatives. Since then, it has been further re-developed and, today, Valley Parade is a modern 25,136 all-seater stadium, which is virtually unrecognisable from how it was at the time of the disaster, save for the original clubhouse that still stands beside the main stand, and the flank support wall that runs down the Hollywell Ash Lane at the "Bradford End". It wasn't until later on when assistant manager Terry Yorath came in and said: 'It's not good.'". Funnily enough I was thinking 'I'm going to miss the second half at this rate'. [7] As it was the first piece of league silverware that the club had captured since they won the Division Three (North) title 56years earlier, 11,076supporters were in the ground. However as the game against Lincoln progressed, a fire began just before half-time in the stand that ran alongside the pitch. On 11 May 1985 a blaze ripped through Bradford City stadium's wooden structure in minutes as the club played Lincoln City in an end of season match. Fifty-six people died. Club coach Terry Yorath incurred minor injuries while taking part in the rescue. It was appalling that public money was given to the club while it was still owned by the same shareholders under whose direction the fire had happened. [52], On 1 May 2010, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the fire the football TV show Football Focus was hosted from Valley Parade by Dan Walker, the show included interviews with Terry Yorath and John Hendrie. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Like all areas of forensic investigations, it has come on leaps and bounds. The government inquiry into the disaster concluded the fire spread "faster than a man could run". 1985 disaster in Valley Parade Stadium, Bradford, England. Twenty nine years ago on this date, 56 people tragically died when a fire erupted at Bradford City's Valley Parade ground The day was supposed to be one of celebration for Bradford who had just won the Third Division trophy. "A disaster is not black and white - it is a mass of factors.". Eight fires in the 18 years before the Bradford City fire were identified, many catastrophic and leading to large insurance payouts. Those are the words of David Pendleton, a survivor of the Bradford City fire disaster, which happened 30 years ago. "As a 15-year-old, you don't really know how much of an impact an event like that will have on your life," Town says. I saw a group of people around the smoke laughing. One woman was seen running around the ground with no skin on her arms and face. The firemen who arrived there were met by a wall of flame and dense black smoke. It wasn't until later on when assistant manager Terry Yorath came in and said: 'It's not good.'". Television cameras spotted the outbreak of fire in Valley Parade's main stand at 15:40 BST. And then suddenly, in the space of 120-odd seconds, it really kicked in. The local council was deemed to be one third responsible. "[23], On the 25th anniversary of the fire, the University of Bradford established the United Kingdom's largest academic research centre in skin sciences as an extension to its plastic surgery and burns research unit.[24]. Nigel Adams who worked for 12 years as a fire investigator with a British fire service was spurred on by the book to join the call for a fresh inquiry, stating that Fletcher's book was "one of the best accounts of a fire, as seen from a victim's point of view, and as a piece of investigative writing, I have ever read". I have never had to deal with such a situation before, and this has put the city on its heels.'. Burning Man is an event focused on community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance held annually in the western United States. Criticising Bradford City during the case, Mr. Michael Ogden QC, highlighted that the Club 'gave no or very little thought to fire precautions', despite repeated warnings. "I've always loved art but I owned businesses in construction so I've never had the time or a chance to follow it up," he says. Bradford council introduced its emergency plans procedure yesterday to give aid to many families affected by the disaster. He went on to state: "In 1985 fire investigation in Britain was in its infancy and some would say at that time most fire investigators were not much more than dust-kickers. At the time, however, Harrison says, Bradford just wanted to move on. ", "If the inquiry is opened again, we will await to see what evidence there is to prove is wasn't an accident," he says. Watch Missed Warnings on BBC One in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire at 22:45 BST on Tuesday, 12 May. Last edited: May 11, 2021 May 11, 2019 #2 JohnnyKills Full Member Joined Jan 8, 2016 Messages 6,902 Yeah footage is horrendous isn't it. "I saw people die in the stand - but it was only until then that I realised the scale of it.". It was unprecedented.". Part of the service was also held in Urdu and Punjabi as a sign of appreciation to the local ethnically Asian Subcontinental community in Manningham, Bradford and around Valley Parade who had opened their homes to Bradford City supporters to provide assistance in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. Fletcher said that "The club at the time took no actual responsibility for its actions and nobody has ever really been held accountable for the level of negligence which took place. We went over to the policeman stood at the corner flag and asked if it was being sorted out, and he said it was under control," Harrison says. However, the turnstiles were locked and none of the stadium staff were present to unlock them, leaving no escape through the normal entrances and exits. But a minute or so later there was suddenly a bigger whoosh of smoke so they went to get a steward. Helm later described the start of the fire in an interview to the Express newspaper: .mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}, [A] man over from Australia visiting his son got two tickets to the game. Four police officers, constables David Britton and John Richard Ingham and chief inspectors Charles Frederick Mawson and Terence Michael Slocombe, and two spectators, Richard Gough and David Hustler, were awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal for their actions. The blame was through neglect, they didn't have the money to maintain the stand. We didn't know how serious it was.". Saturday began for the fans in a carnival atmosphere at Bradford 's Valley Parade ground a short walk from the city centre. [19] One fan put his jumper over a fellow supporter's head to extinguish flames. [11], The disaster also had a long-lasting effect on the fans. The Chief Constable of West Yorkshire, Mr Colin Sampson, said yesterday that a team of doctors and pathologists had worked throughout the night trying to identify the dead. > Contacts> Join us> Circulars> Training courses> Sign up to Rollcall. 'I think that is unlikely,' he said. [10][16] More than 265 supporters were injured. 'I have to tell you that the fire was so intense that identifying people is going to be the great problem we have to face.'. Website by, Bradford City FC stadium fire | 11th May 1985, Fundraising for firefighters and their families. Steel was to be installed in the roof,[8] and the wooden terracing was to be replaced with concrete. We sat in the main stand the week before, but we had decided to move on that day," he says.
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