"We went out on to the pitch and I could see so many happy faces. There were no extinguishers in the stand's passageway for fear of vandalism, and one spectator ran to the clubhouse to find one but was overcome by smoke and impeded by others trying to escape. Those with longer memories will also think of the Ibrox disaster of . We couldn't breathe. Bradford City Stadium Fire - 36 years ago today | RedCafe.net The extinguishers were put there so that they would be out of the way of fans who could use them as missiles, which apparently had happened previously. "That was the moment that I realised not everybody was going to get out. Bradford fire: the horrors and the silence that had to be broken Just look at how many people were standing around just 50-60 meters away from the blazing inferno. In the last few years, the BCFC kit-man John Duckworth did a sponsored 73-mile walk between Lincoln's Sincil Bank stadium and Valley Parade, joined by Bradford fans along the way. Recommended The untold stories of the 1985 fire 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. [6] 1908 - Parker Building, New York City, January 10. Speculation an Australian man started the Bradford City stadium fire in 1985 IT killed 56 people and destroyed an entire stadium. He saw smoke coming from a small area of the stand and thought that someone had let off a flare. It slipped through a hole in the floorboard. Hendrie: "Several minutes before half-time I saw there was a wee bit of bother. But I've never spoken to anyone who thought the fire wasn't anything other than a tragic accident. A police officer shouted to a colleague for an extinguisher, but his call was misheard and instead the fire brigade were radioed. Surviving supporters, former Bradford players, the sole television commentator at the stadium and the judge who led the government inquiry tell the BBC about that fateful afternoon and its aftermath. "We stayed in the pub for hours. "As well as those who lost their lives or were injured, there are the relatives and friends, the others who were at the game, and those who would normally have gone to the match but decided not to that day. [48] Profits from the play's run at The Edinburgh Fringe were donated to the Bradford Burns Unit. The local council was deemed to be one third responsible. It was unprecedented.". BBC News - Bradford fire 'will live with me forever' Fifty-six people died. The 1985 Bradford City Stadium fire remembered - IFSEC Global We had not been told anything.". The next day work began on clearing the burnt out shell of the stand, and Justice Popplewell released his findings into the disaster. Tarpaulin fell on them and stuck to their clothes and then ignited. Valley Parade in Bradford, West Yorkshire, was built in 1886 and was initially the home ground of Manningham Rugby Football Club. At 3.40pm, television commentator John Helm remarked upon a small fire in the main stand; in less than four minutes, with the windy conditions, the fire had engulfed the whole stand, trapping some people in their seats. It has a black marble fascia on which the names and ages of those that died are inscribed in gold, and a black marble platform on which people can leave flowers and mementos. Forty-two minutes into the first half of the game, he looked to his left to see smoke and flames rising from the old wooden seats. "It wasn't covering anything up, it wasn't avoiding the truth of what happened, everyone knows what happened, everyone knows it shouldn't have happened. Fletcher has taken facts and presented them in such a way that it should make it moralistically impossible for this incident not to be looked at again. [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. I ran to the stand and tried to help people escape. "[28], West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council was found to have failed in its duty under the Fire Precautions Act 1971. Videos, gifs, or aftermath photos of machinery, structures, or devices Previous warnings had also been given about a major build-up of litter in the cavity below the seats in the stand. In those days there was a lot of hooliganism and violence, so my initial thought was: 'I hope it has not kicked off - that's the last thing we need'. [46], In 2014, the theatre company Funny You Should Ask (FYSA) premiered their heartfelt tribute to the 56 people who died at the fire. Each year Lincoln send representatives to the annual memorial service in Bradford city centre and between 2007 and 2009, were managed by Bradford's captain that day, Peter Jackson. So I threw myself over the wall and luckily someone dived in to catch me before I hit the floor.". But all the people being treated, we formed a family, a bond.". Those are the words of David Pendleton, a survivor of the Bradford City fire disaster, which happened 30 years ago. The Great Fire of London, 1212 | Sky HISTORY TV Channel Some of the dead were found at the bottom of these steps. "I parked my van outside because I started making enough money painting as I was in construction. "Until I arrived home my mum and my brother had no idea whether I was alive or dead. "[27], After controversial comments made by Popplewell about the Hillsborough Disaster, Fletcher raised further concerns about the events following the fire saying that "I have many unanswered questions still about the fire in which four of my family died, as does my mother. [11], The fire escalated very rapidly, and flames became visible; police started to evacuate the stand. The Bradford City stadium fire occurred during a Football League Third Division match on Saturday, 11 May 1985 at the Valley Parade stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, killing 56 spectators and injuring at least 265. 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. I'd seen the film on the Saturday but the bleakness of the stadium burnt out, and the gloom that afflicted everybody, was dreadful. Helm: "The scene became progressively horrendous, grotesque, and I was having to describe things you couldn't possibly imagine.". 'I think that is unlikely,' he said. As we move ahead on the 2030 Sustainability Roadmap, sustainability projects are taking center stage. "I feel such information should be made public and people should look at those facts, then make their mind up on those facts. Football architect Archibald Leitch was commissioned to carry out the work. This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 13:41. Bradford City stadium fire disaster remembered - BBC Sport "The fire still has a big impact on people," Parker says. Of the 56people who died in the fire,[2] 54 were Bradford supporters and two supported Lincoln. Bradford City were supposed to be celebrating on 11 May 1985. My hands suffered the most because they were exposed the most. The stand had no perimeter fencing to keep fans from accessing the pitch, thus averting an instance of crush asphyxia as in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster. The fire at a Brooklyn lumber storage building sent plumes of smoke over Williamsburg on Tuesday. The fact the inquiry also embraced the investigation into another incident which happened on the same day, a riot in which a young boy died at Birmingham City, makes it seem more frivolous. I had no idea. Smoke was seen coming from the third row in the section but people are apparently used to seeing smoke flares on the Bradford ground. Fire disaster at football match (Bradford City stadium fire) - YouTube Sign in to confirm your age 0:00 / 5:23 Sign in to confirm your age This video may be inappropriate for some users.. Representatives from the fire brigade were due to go to the club tomorrow to inspect it and see whether regulations were being observed. ', Sports reporters covering the game also spoke of the disaster. "[37], Fletcher subsequently published a book in 2015, Fifty-Six: The Story of the Bradford Fire which revealed a history of fires at businesses owned by the Bradford City chairman Stafford Heginbotham. That's when everybody else had the same thought. [10][16] More than 265 supporters were injured. The Bradford way was keep it to ourselves - it worked collectively that we did that. It was to be our day,' he said. I hope you enjoy some of the fascinating stories we have here.#History #Disasters There were many cases of heroism, with more than 50 people later receiving police awards or commendations for bravery. The Documentary highlighted the 'poison pen letters' and graffiti targeted at the then club chairman Stafford Heginbotham over accusations that he was in some way personally responsible for the deaths of the 56 people who died at the fire.[54]. "But the feeling here is that it is hard to believe that someone would purposefully start a fire. The team was presented with the Division Three championship trophy - their first trophy in 56 years - in front of 11,000 jubilant fans before the start of their match against Lincoln City. 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. All that was left of the main stand were rows of bare steel and stone, with blackened timbers hanging from the few remaining roof supports. Warning: Some readers may find parts of this content distressing. Spreading with almost unbelievable speed, a small fire under a wooden bench consumed the entire stand in under four minutes.Original TV footage: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x31qcmtIf you would like to support this channel - https://buymeacoffee.com/TheRavensEyeAlthough focused primarily on disasters, this channel is all about the interesting, the strange, the unsolved, the tragic. The scene in there was one of silence and shock. [56], On 17 April 2015, retired Detective Inspector Raymond Falconer, in a report by the Bradford Telegraph and Argus, said the police were aware of an Australian man who admitted to starting the fire. People pushed him to the ground and tried to smother the flames. Pendleton: "Many people still don't want to talk about the disaster. Copyright , Fire Brigades Union, 2023. [38], The tragedy received immense media attention and drew support from around the world, with those offering their sympathy including Queen Elizabeth II, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II. More than 3,500 people were crammed into the main stand area and this prevented people from moving away from the blaze quickly. ", There has always been a close bond between the club and its supporters since the fire, he adds. "It is the little things that show how much people are still involved the fire still has a big impact on people. There was a bit of paper on fire, but it was so small.". "The one thing I remember at the time is we were grateful that we got an answer quickly after the inquiry. The 1984-85 season had been one of the most successful in Bradford City's 82-year history. The team's coach, Mr Terry Yorath, ran on to the pitch to try to help people away from the stand. [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. Mr Tony Delahunte, who was presenting a programme from the ground for Pennine Radio, said 'The fire seemed to me to start with a smoke bomb. Bits of my arms, bits of my legs, part of my face, part of my scalp. 1.7M subscribers in the CatastrophicFailure community. Listen to Valley Parade: Bradford City Fire Remembered on BBC Radio Leeds (18:00 BST) and BBC Radio 5 live (21:00 BST). "As I ran away I remember turning around and looking and just seeing this wall of grey smoke pouring out and pushing thousands of people in front of it. As a result, Bradford-born captain Peter Jackson was presented with the league trophy before the final game of the season with mid-table Lincoln City at Valley Parade on 11 May 1985. One, now re-situated to that end of the stand where the fire began, is a sculpture donated on the initial re-opening of Valley Parade in December 1986 by Sylvia Graucob, a then Jersey-based former West Yorkshire woman. "I saw people die in the stand - but it was only until then that I realised the scale of it.". [39], The club's chairman, Stafford Heginbotham, said: "It was to be our day". ", ITV football commentator John Helm, who provided live commentary of the unfolding disaster across the nation: "We wouldn't normally have covered that game - no question about it. He started to walk home, unsure of what had happened to his father. [58] Following this report, Leslie Brownlie, who was the nephew in question, is reported to have said that his uncle never made such an admission of starting the fire. The Bradford City disaster took place on Saturday May 11, 1985 when a flash fire occurred at the Valley Parade stadium in Bradford, England. Fire kills 50 at soccer stadium - HISTORY "We couldn't help because there were so many people streaming towards us, to our side of the pitch, to get away from the heat. Loading. People had walked through turnstiles and along a wooden corridor before descending the steps into their seats. One man in tears said: 'He looked as if he was just going for a stroll. It is a simple account laid out for all to see. ", "If the inquiry is opened again, we will await to see what evidence there is to prove is wasn't an accident," he says. I'd seen the film on the Saturday but the bleakness of the stadium burnt out, and the gloom that afflicted everybody, was dreadful. Wildman: "I was dragged on to the pitch and into a line of people, who couldn't do much for themselves and were lying there. "[16] At the front of the stand, men threw children over the wall to help them escape. Bradford City Fire disaster: 36 years on the city's pioneering burns The fire at Bradford City's Valley Parade stadium in which 56 people died and more than 270 were injured is remembered 25 years on. His father Tony went back the following day and said: "I wondered how anybody had got out alive, but I also began to feel guilty that I had got out when so many hadn't." "I was operated on every other day because I had so many burns and so many areas to work on. The entrances to the stand were all at the rear and were higher than the rest of the ground. A Bradford Disaster Appeal Fund raised 3.5m for the victims and their families. Read about our approach to external linking. Two or three burly men put their weight against it and smashed the gate open. [8][9] In the crowd were local dignitaries and guests from three of Bradford's twin townsVerviers in Belgium, and Mnchengladbach and Hamm in West Germany. Mr Delahunte was screaming into his microphone describing the scene until it became impossible to continue broadcasting. The match, Bradford against Lincoln, was to have been a joyous climax to the club winning the Third Division championship and being promoted to the Second Division. 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. Martin Fletcher was talking to BBC Look North. [34], During the case, Sir Joseph Cantley stated that: "It is only right that I should say that I think it would be unfair to conclude that Heginbotham, Tordoff, the Board of Directors, or any of them, were intentionally and callously indifferent to the safety of spectators using the stand. "Us players must have been in the tunnel for seconds - and I mean seconds. [2] The main stand was described as a "mammoth structure", but was unusual for its time because of its place on the side of a hill. > Contacts> Join us> Circulars> Training courses> Sign up to Rollcall. "It made me realise life is too short." [14] It took less than four minutes for the entire stand to be engulfed in flames.[11]. Heginbotham died in 1995, aged 61, and was never prosecuted for the stadium fire, despite the coroner later saying he had given serious consideration to bringing a charge of manslaughter as the club had failed to act on three separate warnings about a potential fire risk. One elderly man started to walk across the pitch with his clothes and face ablaze. [8], The Bradford City matchday squad of players and staff consisted of Terry Yorath, Trevor Cherry, Chris Withe, Don Goodman, Eric McManus, Tony Clegg, John Hawley, Dave Evans, Bryan Edwards, John Hendrie, Mark Ellis, Stuart McCall, Peter Jackson, Bobby Campbell, Martin Singleton and Greg Abbott. 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. "[55], Adams also went on to state that "I have read in some newspapers that he is being berated for his campaign to have a new inquiry. The intensity of the blaze which spread 'quicker than people could walk' destroyed the main stand area, leaving a skeleton of burned seats, lamps and fences. It detailed the safety work which would be carried out at Valley Parade as a result of the club's promotion, admitting the ground was "inadequate in so many ways for modern requirements". Mike Harrison, the editor of the Bradford City Football Club fanzine The City Gent, was there on the day. Burning timber and molten material began to fall onto the seating below and black smoke enveloped the passageway behind, where fans were trying to escape. 'The smoke was very, very dense. Warnings had been issued over the ground's antiquated wooden structure, which had been condemned and was due to be pulled down and replaced with steel and concrete. Uncensored coverage of the fire was transmitted minutes after the event on World of Sport and the BBC's Grandstand after the video cassette was physically driven to Yorkshire Television. ", IBT UK Morning Brief - Let the best of International News come to you. Earlier this year, Town gave up working in construction to pursue painting full-time through his business Stadium Portraits. BBC ON THIS DAY | 11 | 1985: Fans killed in Bradford stadium fire "All I could see was eerie white lights that the fire brigade had set up and the smoke still in the sky. I remember trying to make sense of what was going on. On 11 May 1985 a fire erupted in the midst of a third-division tie between Bradford City and Lincoln City at Valley Parade, killing 54 home supporters and two Lincoln fans. 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". Our world has a varied history full of terrible tragedies, bizarre tales, unexplained events, and extravagant people. I dread to imagine how many more could have died if the wind had been blowing in the direction of the pitch, instead of away from it. "We wouldn't normally have covered that game - no question about it. Guided by the values expressed by the 10 Principles, Burning Man is a global ecosystem of artists, makers, and community organizers who co-create art, events, and local initiatives around the world. After Hillsborough, the Bradford City FC stadium fire was the second worst sporting tragedy in England, leaving 56 dead and at least 265 injured. There were queues of people outside houses, which obviously wouldn't happen nowadays. 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 was in the stand opposite when the fire broke out. Saturday began for the fans in a carnival atmosphere at Bradford 's Valley Parade ground a short walk from the city centre. It was clear from what the Chief Fire Officer for West Yorkshire, Mr Graham Karran, said yesterday that the ground was far from safe. What Is Burning Man? [11], The disaster also had a long-lasting effect on the fans. Many who had walked out of the fire stood on the pitch looking back in horror as the flames destroyed the stand. Town began to paint two years ago, first of the old Bradford Park Avenue ground, before moving onto other stadiums. "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. He agreed that the inquiry into Bradford, led by the judge Oliver Popplewell, was inadequate and that there are many unanswered questions. However as the game against Lincoln progressed, a fire began just before half-time in the stand that ran alongside the pitch. I looked down and I saw my hands melting. he asks. It was the brainchild of Bradford City fan Lloyd Spencer with all profits going to the Bradford Royal Infirmary Burns Unit.[43]. 1908 - Rhoads Opera House fire, Boyertown, Pennsylvania, killed 170. Everybody in the city was devastated, but there was an amazing number of volunteers. So I decided to give it that next push. "Me and my dad eventually got out safely but it was a bit of a struggle at one point because the walls getting down to the pitch level were quite high I didn't get a growth spurt until I was 16 or 17.". 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. Cigarette smoking was also banned at all grounds with wooden stands. The Man burns on September 02, 2023. We went there to win the last game in front of a home crowd. That duty was not a duty to the Club but a duty to the spectators and other persons in the stand. I asked the director to get the camera to go a little closer. All that was left of. My hands suffered the most because they were exposed the most. The smoke was choking. 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 . Radiated heat from the burning roof of the stand set fire to the clothing of fans trapped underneath. The name of the event comes from its culminating ceremony: the symbolic burning of a large wooden effigy, referred to as the Man, that occurs on the penultimate night of Burning Man, which is the Saturday evening before Labor Day. "How quickly the fire spread is difficult to convey to people.". "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 City stadium fire - Wikipedia A discarded cigarette and a dilapidated wooden stand, which had survived because the club did not have the money to replace it, and accumulated paper litter, were considered to have conspired to cause the worst disaster in the history of the Football League. He photographed the blaze from start to finish and the police will use this as evidence when an inquest is held. But a minute or so later there was suddenly a bigger whoosh of smoke so they went to get a steward. "I'm taking the opportunity to lay out the facts that were not laid out in 1985 at the time of the inquiry or the inquests. Led by former England international Trevor Cherry, the Bantams won only their third divisional title and earned a return to the second tier of English football for the first time since 1937. Bradford City stadium fire | Football Wiki | Fandom "I want the truth to be out, the myths to be broken, so that I can get on with my life rather than knowing this information and having to live with this information. A few minutes later, he felt a thump on his back from his father, who told him to run. He lit a cigarette and when it was coming to an end he put it down on to the floorboard and tried to put his foot on it to put it out. Watch Missed Warnings on BBC One in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire at 22:45 BST on Tuesday, 12 May. Bradford City stadium fire: The untold stories of the 1985 fire [36], In 2010, Susan Fletcher's son and survivor of the Bradford City fire (and witness to the Hillsborough disaster), Martin Fletcher, openly criticised the club's hierarchy at the time of the fire and the subsequent investigation. [] I still have terrible memories of the day, but it is the humanity of those that helped us that I reflect on."[41]. I had no idea. Pendleton: "One of my most haunting images was being on the bus home after dark and going past Valley Parade. The fire happened during a football match. 1908 - Collinwood school fire, in Collinwood, Ohio (soon absorbed by Cleveland ), on March 4, killed 175. The mood before the match on the 11 May 1985 against Lincoln City was one of jubilation. 05/12/15 AT 9:58 AM BST Crowds on the pitch at the Valley Parade stadium after a stand caught fire Getty Images Police have revealed the identity of the man who they believe was responsible. I was there in hospital for eight weeks - it felt like a lifetime. Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Revealed: former Bradford chairman linked to at least eight fires before Valley Parade disaster, Martin Fletcher: Maybe the reason I am here is to finally reveal the truth, TheStory of the Bradford Fire: could any man really be as unlucky as Stafford Heginbotham?. They were immediately promoted back to the Football League in 1988, and survived for 23 years before being relegated again in 2011. A giant Christian cross, made up of two large charred wooden members[44] that had once been part of the stand, was constructed in front of the middle of the stand and behind the pitchside speaker's platform. [57] Following the 30th anniversary of the fire, a number of news organisations named this man as Eric Bennett who was visiting his nephew in Bradford from Australia and attended the game on the day. Grenfell among the UK's worst fire and tower tragedies We were given the trophy before the game in front of the supporters and had to do a lap of honour. The fundraising events included a reunion of the 1966 World Cup Final Starting XI that began with the original starting teams of both England and West Germany, and was held at Leeds United's stadium, Elland Road, in July 1985 to raise funds for the Appeal fund. [4], Although there had been some changes to other parts of the ground, the main stand remained unaltered by 1985. Martin Fletcher, whose brother, father, grandfather and uncle all died in the fire: "I'm taking the opportunity to lay out the facts that were not laid out in 1985 at the time of the inquiry or the inquests. "For the first minute people were laughing and joking, it wasn't anything serious. A bid of 350 has been made for the original painting and Town will sell 56 prints in memorial of those who lost their lives, with the aim of raising 3,000 for the Bradford Burns Unit. Together, flanked by undocumented supporters, they managed to clear all but one person who made it to the front of the stand. Yet many of those with terrible memories of the tragedy also take heart in the compassion born out of the devastation. It is not thought that there was any crowd trouble in this section but one theory the police are investigating is that a flare or smoke-bomb was thrown or was accidentally dropped.