We use necessary cookies to make our site work. But all the people being treated, we formed a family, a bond.". Fans in the next stand (the "Bradford End") pulled down the fence separating them from the pitch. The man in charge of investigating the fire, Detective Superintendent Kevin Cooper was at the game. Police had an official photographer at the game, watching for crowd disturbance. 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.. "I walked past a public telephone outside the ground and there were queues of people waiting to ring home to say: 'I'm OK'. Football architect Archibald Leitch was commissioned to carry out the work. The book also raises concerns about the speed of the inquiry and the fact that it commenced a few weeks after the fire and lasted for only a few days, whereas other inquiries into similar incidents, pre and post the Bradford fire, have taken years to come to fruition and months to be heard. One retired mill worker made his way to the pitch, but was walking about on fire from head to foot. He had to undergo counselling and was unable to go to another game for several years. There was hardly anything left of him.'. Copyright , Fire Brigades Union, 2023. [13], The match kicked off at 3:04pm and after forty minutes of the first half, the score remained 00,[14] in what was described as a drab affair with neither team threatening to score. Speculation an Australian man started the Bradford City stadium fire in 1985 IT killed 56 people and destroyed an entire stadium. "We had already won the league, all the hard work had been done. 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. There were queues of people outside houses, which obviously wouldn't happen nowadays. In March 1985 the club's plans became more apparent when it took delivery of steel for a new roof. England won the re-match 64. 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. I have never had to deal with such a situation before, and this has put the city on its heels.'. "It is unbelievable how quickly the fire took hold. 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. Come celebrate the beastly realm and our place in it and with it, an even more radically inclusive and sustainable city and global community in 2023: ANIMALIA! ", There has always been a close bond between the club and its supporters since the fire, he adds. 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. There is no evidence in the book, he is just pointing out there are some coincidences. [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. "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. [10] The call was timed at 3:43pm. "When I got to one of the final walls, there was an eight-foot drop at the other side, concrete at the bottom. More than 250 others were injured in one of the biggest disasters at a British football ground. ", Hendrie: "We stayed in the pub for hours. 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. Mr Antony Burrows said: 'One man was stood near me with his hair on fire. It was an awful thing to watch.". It's a nice little business and it's something positive that came out of a tragedy. Read about our approach to external linking. Today, locals continue to raise money for the Plastic Surgery and Burns Research Unit in memory of the victims of the fire. The Popplewell Inquiry found that the club had been warned about the fire risk that the rubbish accumulating under the stand had posed. "[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]. The Bradford way was keep it to ourselves - it worked collectively that we did that. Smoke was seen coming from the third row in the section but people are apparently used to seeing smoke flares on the Bradford ground. Pendleton: "Many people still don't want to talk about the disaster. "The referee blew his whistle to stop the game and told us to get back to the dressing room.". The heat was so intense it caused car windows to shatter in the street. Those are the words of David Pendleton, a survivor of the Bradford City fire disaster, which happened 30 years ago. [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. The stand had already been condemned, and the demolition teams were due to start work two days later. 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. [46], In 2014, the theatre company Funny You Should Ask (FYSA) premiered their heartfelt tribute to the 56 people who died at the fire. Eighty names were unaccounted for and there were no positive indications about the cause of the fire. [17], One witness saw paper or debris on fire, about nine inches (230mm) below the floor boards. We were given the trophy before the game in front of the supporters and had to do a lap of honour. Instead it turned into a day of appalling tragedy. Those are the words of David Pendleton, a survivor of the Bradford City fire disaster, which happened 30 years ago. It occurred during a league match in front of record numbers of spectators, on Saturday, 11 May 1985, killing 56 and injuring at least 265. The stadium was known for its antiquated design and facilities, which included the wooden roof of the main stand. 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 was there in hospital for eight weeks - it felt like a lifetime. 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. However, when Bradford City won promotion to the highest level of English football, Division One, in 1908, club officials sanctioned an upgrade programme. There is a twin memorial sculpture, unveiled on 11 May 1986, which has the names of the dead inscribed on it. At 3.40pm, five minutes before half-time, a glowing light was spotted three rows from the back of block G. "We were stood in line with the 18-yard, the penalty area, when we saw some smoke and a bit of fire diagonally from where we were. [4], Although there had been some changes to other parts of the ground, the main stand remained unaltered by 1985. "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. Your brain tells you, you are not going anywhere. They were hampered further by the fact that doors at the back of the stand were locked to try to stop people coming in without paying. The whole fire seemed to erupt in seconds,' he said. "One of my most haunting images was being on the bus home after dark and going past Valley Parade. Listen to Valley Parade: Bradford City Fire Remembered on BBC Radio Leeds (18:00 BST) and BBC Radio 5 live (21:00 BST). Someone came in and shouted: 'Get out, get out there's a fire'. At the time of the disaster, many stadiums had perimeter fencing between the stands and the pitch to prevent incidents of football hooliganism particularly pitch invasions which were rife during the 1980s. "I saw people die in the stand - but it was only until then that I realised the scale of it.". 'It is the worst day in my life. People ran onto the pitch with their clothes on fire while others were trapped at the back of the stand where they had gone to try to escape through the turnstiles. Mr Stefan Krolak, a survivor from Bradford , said he saw the smoke start a few seats away from him 'The smoke seemed suddenly to set on fire. Helm: "There was a throw-in in front of the stand where the fire started - something caught my eye. Edited by BBC Sport's Jonathan Jurejko. People pushed him to the ground and tried to smother the flames. 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. His face was burned and his car, which he had parked outside the ground, was destroyed. Some of those who died were still sitting upright in their seats, covered by remnants of tarpaulin that had fallen from the roof. We, and the world, need Burning Man and Black Rock City more than ever. [15], At 3:44pm, five minutes before half-time, the first sign of a firea glowing lightwas noticed three rows from the back of block G,[10][16] as reported by television commentator John Helm. So I threw myself over the wall and luckily someone dived in to catch me before I hit the floor.". The club's success had swollen the crowd to 10,000 and arguments will rage about fire precautions at the ground. 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'. [14] It took less than four minutes for the entire stand to be engulfed in flames.[11]. Those with longer memories will also think of the Ibrox disaster of . As he received the injured at Bradford Royal Infirmary he was able to call upon 10% of the UK's population of plastic surgeons. Luckily, his father arrived home shortly after he did, but 30 years on, he still remembers the young woman who served him a Mars Bar and his father a coffee, who never made it out of the stadium. The scene in there was one of silence and shock. "I was in the main stand when the fire happened," he says. 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. More than 200 people were taken to hospital, many with terrible injuries. We sat in the main stand the week before, but we had decided to move on that day," he says. "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.". The scene in there was one of silence and shock. Police worked until 4am the next morning, under lighting, to remove all the bodies. The stand had been officially condemned and was due to be replaced with a steel structure after the season ended. Christmas Day is supposed to be happy and pleasant, a time to gather with loved ones for a chill and relaxing celebration. Funnily enough I was thinking 'I'm going to miss the second half at this rate'. Previous warnings had also been given about a major build-up of litter in the cavity below the seats in the stand. "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. "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. Lincoln City suffered two successive relegations, first to the Fourth Division in 1986, and again in 1987, becoming the first team to be automatically relegated from the Football League itself. Part of the Appeal funds were raised by a recording of "You'll Never Walk Alone"[42] from Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical Carousel by The Crowd (including Gerry Marsden of Gerry and the Pacemakers, who had recorded the 1963 version that led to Liverpool adopting it as their motto and team song), which reached number one in the UK Singles chart. 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. 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". After Hillsborough, the Bradford City FC stadium fire was the second worst sporting tragedy in England, leaving 56 dead and at least 265 injured. The inquiry into the disaster, chaired by Sir Oliver Popplewell and known as the Popplewell Inquiry,[25] led to the introduction of new legislation to improve safety at the UK's football grounds. We wanted to record the trophy presentation. Treatment of casualties and Burns Research Unit, Dramatisations, documentaries and published works, West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council, Learn how and when to remove this template message, List of accidents and disasters by death toll, List of United Kingdom disasters by death toll, "Hideous images linger after carnage of 'celebration' day", "Caught in Time: Bradford City win the Third Division, 1985", "EXCLUSIVE: Bradford's Valley Parade fire must be remembered like Hillsborough", "History of The Bradford Sling The Bradford Sling", "Bradford City football stadium blaze surgeon honoured", "Research centre to be living memorial to Bradford City FC fire disaster", "The Papers of the Popplewell Inquiry into Crowd Safety at Sports Grounds", "Popplewell Inquiry Bradford City Fire", "Bradford remembered: The unheeded warnings that led to tragedy", Joseph Canley summing up statement from test case court transcripts, Newspaper report from Sport and the Law April 21st 1989, "The Glasgow Herald Google News Archive Search", Los Angeles Times report on Bradford City test case findings, Court transcript from the test case brought by Susan Fletcher and Others against Bradford City and Others, "Bradford fire survivor attacks judge over Hillsborough comments", "The Story of the Bradford Fire: 'could any man really be as unlucky as Stafford Heginbotham? By the time the fire brigade arrived they were faced with huge flames and dense smoke. Among the main outcomes of the inquiry were the banning of new wooden grandstands at all UK sports grounds, the immediate closure of other wooden stands deemed unsafe and the banning of smoking in other wooden stands. 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". 56 dead and hundreds more injured. [45] PCs Peter Donald Barrett and David Charles Midgley, along with spectators Michael William Bland and Timothy Peter Leigh received the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct. A fire at a third division match between Bradford City and Lincoln City killed 56, including 11 children, and injured hundreds more. No fire extinguishers had been installed over fears of vandalism and less than four minutes after the fire was reported, the fire had engulfed the whole stand. The firemen who arrived there were met by a wall of flame and dense black smoke. Sign up and stay up to date with our daily newsletter. "[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. [47] Scriptwriters of the play spent hours with the survivors and victims families. The main stand at Bradford was not surrounded by fencing, and therefore most of the spectators in it could escape onto the pitch if they had been penned in then the death toll would inevitably have been in the hundreds if not the thousands. They wouldn't let us because then people would get in the way of fire engines, ambulances and police trying to get in. 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. Bradford City players line up to observe a minutes silence for the 25th anniversary of the 1985 Bradford stadium fire prior to the Coca Cola League. '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.'. Pendleton: "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. 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. The fire claimed young and old alike, with most fatalities occurring at the rear of the stand where people sought escape only to find turnstiles locked. "It made me realise life is too short." The stadium was known for its antiquated design and facilities, which included the wooden roof of the main stand. Some people seem to have run back up the slope, thinking that they could get back through the turnstiles, and were burned alive. BurningMan.NYC will announce the dates and process for the 2023 grant cycle on this site & all BurningMan.NYC social channels in early Spring. Yet many of those with terrible memories of the tragedy also take heart in the compassion born out of the devastation. Then flames licked the underside of the seats, which were a combination of wood and plastic. The match was recorded by Yorkshire Television for their regional edition of the ITV Sunday afternoon football show The Big Match. [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. Hillsborough looms the largest in our collective consciousness, but there were also the many deaths that occurred at Heysel Stadium in 1985, as well as the Bradford City stadium fire that same year. "I was supposed to meet my father at my grandfather's house, but I was a bit late so I went straight to the game so I didn't miss the festivities.". Bradford, playing into a strong wind, were struggling to break down a Lincoln side already safe from relegation. 1908 - Rhoads Opera House fire, Boyertown, Pennsylvania, killed 170. [6] 1908 - Parker Building, New York City, January 10. 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. Soon they were all running for their lives. However as the game against Lincoln progressed, a fire began just before half-time in the stand that ran alongside the pitch. "That's when I thought 'this is time to get out of here'. [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. His son Christopher normally watches from the stand but on Saturday he joined other fans elsewhere. "Many people still don't want to talk about the disaster. Valley Parade during the early 1990s, after it had been redeveloped following the fire. 56 people dead. The two sides met for the first time after the fire in April 1989, when they arranged a benefit match in aid of the Hillsborough disaster, at Valley Parade. "If we were fed a lie about it being an accident, then we will be educated. The sling is now used internationally in the treatment of burns. Steel was to be installed in the roof,[8] and the wooden terracing was to be replaced with concrete. An ancient wooden spectator stand and a dropped cigarette - the ingredients for one of Britain's deadliest soccer tragedies. The entrances to the stand were all at the rear and were higher than the rest of the ground. So I decided to give it that next push. 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. According to ABC News, though, several hundred people in the Chinese city of Luoyang decided to cut loose on Christmas night 2000 by heading to a nightclub housed on the fourth floor of a multi-use industrial building.A fire broke out in the basement of the structure . ", Popplewell: "I'm sorry to spoil what is obviously a very good story, but I'm afraid it is nonsense for many reasons.". Others ran forward to try to clamber over a fence and a small wall on to the pitch. 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. People smothered him to extinguish the flames, but he later died of his injuries in hospital.

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