You could hardly breathe. Since 1903, when the club was formed, Bradford City Association Football Club had played their home games at the ground. Hundreds more telephoned the police to try to trace relatives. I've never seen anything like it. [27], Explaining his decision, Sir Joseph Cantley stated: "As I have already stated, the primary duty was on the Club and the functions of the County Council were supervisory and its liability is for negligent breach of a common law duty arising out of the way in which they dealt with or ignored their statutory powers. People had walked through turnstiles and along a wooden corridor before descending the steps into their seats. Interviews conducted by BBC Radio Leeds' Tim Daley. ', Sports reporters covering the game also spoke of the disaster. [10] One eyewitness, Geoffrey Mitchell, told the BBC: "It spread like a flash. The stories of escapes are legion. [19] One fan put his jumper over a fellow supporter's head to extinguish flames. Television cameras spotted the outbreak of fire in Valley Parade's main stand at 15:40 BST. The main stand at Valley Parade burned down after what was thought to be a dropped cigarette led to flames which engulfed the entire wooden structure. The smoke was choking. [47] Scriptwriters of the play spent hours with the survivors and victims families. The Man burns on September 02, 2023. 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. 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. I saw one man lying on the ground, burning from head to foot. It wasn't just something that happened in the past.". "Then we ran out in our tracksuits each holding a massive card with a letter. 'They did not have a chance. Bradford fan Matthew Wildman, who was aged 17 and using crutches because of rheumatoid arthritis: "When I got to one of the final walls, there was an eight-foot drop at the other side, concrete at the bottom. Listen to Valley Parade: Bradford City Fire Remembered on BBC Radio Leeds (18:00 BST) and BBC Radio 5 live (21:00 BST). [8][10] Three men smashed down one door and at least one exit was opened by people outside, which again helped prevent further deaths. He was asked if precautions would have been adequate had the club been in the Second Division. We use necessary cookies to make our site work. "I looked up and saw the flames. The Bradford City stadium fire was the worst fire disaster in the history of football.. The horrific scenes of people burning alive seemed to live on in an eerie silence as daylight broke over the remains of Bradford City Football Club's ground yesterday. He was actually one of the detectives involved in one of the gravest miscarriages of justices in the country, the murder of Carol Wilkinson in Bradford, where someone was locked up for 20 years for a murder he didn't commit."[60]. "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. It slipped through a hole in the floorboard. The horrific scenes of people burning alive seemed to live on in an eerie silence as daylight broke over the remains of Bradford City Football Club's ground yesterday. But looking back and seeing how much it really affected my dad makes me realise what we went through." [10][11], Bradford's Telegraph & Argus newspaper published a souvenir issue for 11 May, entitled, "Spit and Polish for the Parade Ground". Fire on Upper Castle Street, Bradford Yorkshire Evening Post On This Day 1985: The Bradford City Fire 0:15 Bradford Mill fire 24:43 The Bradford Fire 0:26 Large fire in Bradford Yorkshire Evening Post Bradford Mill fire 0:34 Bradford Great Horton Mill fire 0:10 Fire at Bradford school (video: Glynn Beck) 4:05 bradford city fc fire 1985 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. Those who rescued people were themselves burned in the process. 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. 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. From 50 to 60 yards away, it was burning our faces it was unbearable. People were falling on to each other and screaming. The fact is that no one person was concerned with the safety of the premises. "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. 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. So I decided to give it that next push. Footage of the accident at this point shows levels of confusion among the spectatorswhile many were trying to escape or to cross the pitch to the relative safety of the neighbouring stands, other spectators were observed cheering or waving to the still-rolling pitchside cameras. But all the people being treated, we formed a family, a bond.". Burning Man is an event focused on community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance held annually in the western United States. [30], The outcome of the test case resulted in over 154 claims being addressed (110 civilians and 44 police officers)[31] by the injured or bereaved. ", "If the inquiry is opened again, we will await to see what evidence there is to prove is wasn't an accident," he says. The mood before the match on the 11 May 1985 against Lincoln City was one of jubilation. Today marks the 35th anniversary of one of the worst disasters in the history of British football. "It is hard to imagine how Martin and his mother have managed to cope over the last 30 years and we have always respected him," Harrison says. [4], Although there had been some changes to other parts of the ground, the main stand remained unaltered by 1985. Bradford fire: the horrors and the silence that had to be broken Daniel Taylor The policewoman assigned to the grieving Fletchers gets goosebumps when she looks back to 30 years ago. Eighty names were unaccounted for and there were no positive indications about the cause of the fire. "Until I arrived home my mum and my brother had no idea whether I was alive or dead. [11] Those who escaped were taken out of the ground to neighbouring homes and a pub, where a television screened World of Sport, which broadcast video recorded of the fire just an hour after it was filmed. "For the first minute people were laughing and joking, it wasn't anything serious. "Since then I have thought of everything we could have done, but we didn't have the presence of mind to run across the pitch and tell people to get out. Bits of my arms, bits of my legs, part of my face, part of my scalp. Exactly 79 years to the day after the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, another tragic fire occurred in New York City. Recommended The untold stories of the 1985 fire Fifty-six people were killed, 265 were injured and thousands bore witness to the worst fire disaster in the history of English football. 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. 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. 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. 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. The heat inside the stand literally ignited people where they stood. 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. The Bradford way was keep it to ourselves - it worked collectively that we did that. Most recognizably, tens of thousands of Burners gather annually to build Black Rock City, a participative temporary metropolis . In the panic that ensued, fleeing crowds escaped on to the pitch but others at the back of the stand tried to break down locked exit doors to escape. We had not been told anything.". 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. [39], The club's chairman, Stafford Heginbotham, said: "It was to be our day". 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. "It made me realise life is too short." "I got stuck against the wall with the weight of people behind me trying to get over. The heat was so intense it caused car windows to shatter in the street. "We wouldn't normally have covered that game - no question about it. Yet many of those with terrible memories of the tragedy also take heart in the compassion born out of the devastation. The wooden roof that burned was scheduled to be replaced by a steel roof later that same . [10][16] Geoffrey Mitchell said: "There was panic as fans stampeded to an exit which was padlocked. The fire destroyed the main stand completely and left only burned seats, lamps and metal fences remaining. [46], In 2014, the theatre company Funny You Should Ask (FYSA) premiered their heartfelt tribute to the 56 people who died at the fire. [29] The Health and Safety Executive who were also part of the legal action were found to be non-liable. Smoke was seen coming from the third row in the section but people are apparently used to seeing smoke flares on the Bradford ground. [10] The stand seats did not have risers; this had allowed a large accumulation of rubbish and paper waste in the cavity space under the stand, which had not been cleared for many months. 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. 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. 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. 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. [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. Sign up and stay up to date with our daily newsletter. 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. More than 3,500 people were crammed into the main stand area and this prevented people from moving away from the blaze quickly. Samuel Firth, a founder of the supporters' club, was the oldest victim at 86; four 11-year-old boys were the youngest. 1985: Fans killed in Bradford stadium fire. I had no idea. [22], Immediately after the fire, Sharpe planned and treated the injuries of over 200 individuals, with many experimental treatments being used. We wanted to record the trophy presentation. Police had an official photographer at the game, watching for crowd disturbance. 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. We went there to win the last game in front of a home crowd. His most recent painting is a powerful image; two fans in Bradford and Lincoln City kits, surrounded by 54 other figures. They stood outside the headquarters, staring at nothing in particular. 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. 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. 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. I have never had to deal with such a situation before, and this has put the city on its heels.'. An ancient wooden spectator stand and a dropped cigarette - the ingredients for one of Britain's deadliest soccer tragedies. It was later established that the blaze was caused by a fan who went to put his cigarette out but dropped it between the floorboards onto a pile of rubbish that had been building up below. Bradford, playing into a strong wind, were struggling to break down a Lincoln side already safe from relegation. It was to be our day,' he said. Although there was no perimeter fencing, such as led to the devastating crush at Hillsborough, locked turnstiles meant that many fans who tried to escape by that means were killed or seriously injured. I saw a group of people around the smoke laughing. 1.7M subscribers in the CatastrophicFailure community. The inquiry had found that the club had been warned that the accumulation of rubbish beneath the stands was a fire risk. He is quoted as saying: "I don't believe the statement of retired Detective Inspector Raymond Falconer at all. 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. There was a bit of paper on fire, but it was so small.". [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. Town began to paint two years ago, first of the old Bradford Park Avenue ground, before moving onto other stadiums. On Saturday 11 May 2002, the 17th anniversary of the disaster, a memorial with the names of those who lost their lives was dedicated at the new entrance to the redeveloped Sunwin stand. One man in tears said: 'He looked as if he was just going for a stroll. England won the re-match 64. An ancient wooden spectator stand and a dropped cigarette - the ingredients for one of Britain's deadliest soccer tragedies. The other, situated by the main entrance, was donated by the club after its 7.5million (13million today) rebuilding of the original main stand in 2002. At the final home match against Barnsley at the end of April, Bradford City fans collected more than 8,000 in a bucket collection. [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.
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