From 50 to 60 yards away, it was burning our faces it was unbearable. Representatives from the fire brigade were due to go to the club tomorrow to inspect it and see whether regulations were being observed. [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. Fletcher has been the only survivor to publicly challenge the inquiry's findings. At Valley Parade there are now two memorials. Cigarette smoking was also banned at all grounds with wooden stands. Our world has a varied history full of terrible tragedies, bizarre tales, unexplained events, and extravagant people. The Popplewell Inquiry found that the club had been warned about the fire risk that the rubbish accumulating under the stand had posed. [14] It took less than four minutes for the entire stand to be engulfed in flames.[11]. 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. Witnesses of the fire have come to terms with the tragedy in different ways. 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. Someone came in and shouted: 'Get out, get out there's a fire'. The Bradford way was keep it to ourselves - it worked collectively that we did that. 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. The match between Bradford City and Lincoln City, the final game of that season, had started in a celebratory atmosphere with the home team receiving the Third Division championship trophy. The entrances to the stand were all at the rear and were higher than the rest of the ground. [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. [48] Profits from the play's run at The Edinburgh Fringe were donated to the Bradford Burns Unit. 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. Someone came in and shouted: 'Get out, get out there's a fire'. He was completely on fire and it looked as though he simply did not know what had happened to him.'. So I threw myself over the wall and luckily someone dived in to catch me before I hit the floor.". 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 blaze, at the Happy Land Social Club in the Bronx, killed 87 people, the . So I decided to give it that next push. One man in tears said: 'He looked as if he was just going for a stroll. "[59], Raymond Falconer's reliability had previously been questioned by Daniel Taylor in The Guardian who stated that: "The Bradford Telegraph and Argus described him as a 'top detective'. 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. It was an awful thing to watch.". Most of those who escaped onto the pitch were saved.[10]. I've never seen anything like it. Fire kills 50 at soccer stadium - HISTORY My hands suffered the most because they were exposed the most. [51] Another book; 56: The Story of the Bradford Fire (2015) was written by Martin Fletcher to discuss how the disaster was caused, and follows his loss of his father, brother, uncle and grandfather. [1] When the association football club was formed, the ground was changed very little and had no covered accommodation. The mood before the match on the 11 May 1985 against Lincoln City was one of jubilation. 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. By the time they got back, the whole thing had taken off. People smothered him to extinguish the flames, but he later died of his injuries in hospital. The Popplewell Inquiry found that a discarded cigarette and an accumulation of litter beneath the stand were to blame. 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. Bradford fire: the horrors and the silence that had to be broken I don't know where Falconer is getting this cock-and-bull story from the inaccuracies in this report [documentary] are dumbfounding. Those are the words of David Pendleton, a survivor of the Bradford City fire disaster, which happened 30 years ago. You could hardly breathe. It's a nice little business and it's something positive that came out of a tragedy. He later said: "I have never known anything like it, either before, or since. "[16] At the front of the stand, men threw children over the wall to help them escape. By the time the fire brigade arrived they were faced with huge flames and dense smoke. Only then do you realise the huge network of people the fire involved. People were clambering over the wall on to the ground with their clothes and hair on fire. 24 Bradford City A.F.C. Recommended The untold stories of the 1985 fire Valley Parade re-opened on 14 December 1986, when Bradford City beat an England XI 21 in a friendly. Bradford City Fire disaster: 36 years on the city's pioneering burns 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. The Bradford City Stadium Fire 1985 - The Football Inferno The fire brigade arrived at the ground four minutes after they were initially alerted. 1985 disaster in Valley Parade Stadium, Bradford, England. We wanted to record the trophy presentation. Keep an eye out as you ride your bike through the city you will see a new solar-powered Man, fewer gas and . It was the brainchild of Bradford City fan Lloyd Spencer with all profits going to the Bradford Royal Infirmary Burns Unit.[43]. [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. People were wandering around outside the ground in disbelief, reminiscent of an air disaster, at what had happened the day before. Some people seem to have run back up the slope, thinking that they could get back through the turnstiles, and were burned alive. Interviews conducted by BBC Radio Leeds' Tim Daley. It was fairly clear that somebody had dropped a lighted match or cigarette between the floorboards.". 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. We had to run up the stairs, through the office doors and out on to the street. Fletcher, who was 12 at the time of the fire, does not make any direct allegations but he does believe Heginbotham's history with fires resulting in payouts of around 27m in today's terms warrants further investigation. There was a bit of paper on fire, but it was so small.". Fire disaster at football match (Bradford City stadium fire) Wealso use analytics cookies that don't track usersto help us improve it. The 4-alarm fire started in a one-story lumber storage building and spread to an adjacent building . Pendleton: "I walked past a public telephone outside the ground and there were queues of people waiting to ring home to say: 'I'm OK'. Martin Fletcher was talking to BBC Look North. Last updated on 10 May 201510 May 2015.From the section Football, "People didn't die because of fires at football grounds. "When I got to one of the final walls, there was an eight-foot drop at the other side, concrete at the bottom. "One of my most haunting images was being on the bus home after dark and going past Valley Parade. It wasn't until later on when assistant manager Terry Yorath came in and said: 'It's not good.'". It was unprecedented.". People who had escaped the fire then tried to assist their fellow supporters. "I was dragged on to the pitch and into a line of people, who couldn't do much for themselves and were lying there. Most recognizably, tens of thousands of Burners gather annually to build Black Rock City, a participative temporary metropolis . BurningMan.NYC will announce the dates and process for the 2023 grant cycle on this site & all BurningMan.NYC social channels in early Spring. 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. Everybody in the city was devastated, but there was an amazing number of volunteers. Listen to Valley Parade: Bradford City Fire Remembered on BBC Radio Leeds (18:00 BST) and BBC Radio 5 live (21:00 BST). A new book, written by Valley Parade survivor Martin Fletcher, claims then-Bradford City chairman Stafford Heginbotham had previously netted millions of pounds from insurance payouts after at least eight previous fires at businesses he was associated with. The Bradford city stadium fire. 56 people died when a - reddit Some of the dead were found at the bottom of these steps. Then the flames and smoke were all over the place.'. After 40 minutes of the first half, fans had begun to complain about the drab match and the 0-0 score. Coach Terry Yorath described the events as "the worst day in my life. 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. Eight fires in the 18 years before the Bradford City fire were identified, many catastrophic and leading to large insurance payouts. He was asked if precautions would have been adequate had the club been in the Second Division. 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. I asked the director to get the camera to go a little closer. 1908 - Collinwood school fire, in Collinwood, Ohio (soon absorbed by Cleveland ), on March 4, killed 175. It was sort of the good thing to come out of the nightmare," says Simon Parker, a football reporter for the Telegraph and Argus. ", Hendrie: "The players were told to go to the pub at the top of the road, we didn't know at this point if anyone had been killed. It's terrifying how quickly fire spreads in the wrong circumstances. Valley Parade during the early 1990s, after it had been redeveloped following the fire. Another player went into the office space to ensure there was nobody there. [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. Called 'The 56' the play dramatises actual accounts of the Bradford City Fire with the purpose of the play showing how in times of adversity, the Football Club and the local community came together. Artist Paul Town, who now lives in Baildon, was 15 at the time of the fire. He started to walk home, unsure of what had happened to his father. Copyright , Fire Brigades Union, 2023. Within five minutes the whole stand was engulfed in flames. The stadium was known for its antiquated design and facilities, which included the wooden roof of the main stand. The fire destroyed the main stand completely and left only burned seats, lamps and metal fences remaining. The game was irrelevant. 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 Samuel Firth, a founder of the supporters' club, was the oldest victim at 86; four 11-year-old boys were the youngest. 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'. There was hardly anything left of him.'. Police worked until 4am the next morning, under lighting, to remove all the bodies. Town began to paint two years ago, first of the old Bradford Park Avenue ground, before moving onto other stadiums. Yet in 2015, allegations surfaced which shifted the focus to the club's then chairman, Stafford Heginbotham. Police officers also assisted in the rescue attempts. 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. Bradford City stadium fire: Police identify man who 'dropped the Some had been crushed as they tried to crawl under turnstiles to escape. Hendrie: "Us players must have been in the tunnel for seconds - and I mean seconds. People had walked through turnstiles and along a wooden corridor before descending the steps into their seats. But a minute or so later there was suddenly a bigger whoosh of smoke so they went to get a steward. Bradford City were supposed to be celebrating on 11 May 1985. Lincoln City chairman Bob Dorrian, centre, is joined by Former Imps Players Association chairman Trevor Swinburne, left, and chairman of the Red Imps. The 1984-85 season had been one of the most successful in Bradford City's 82-year history. 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. 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. What Is Burning Man? | Burning Man We had not been told anything.". The stand itself was engulfed in seconds, almost as if petrol had been ignited throughout the block. People were falling on to each other and screaming. Two or three burly men put their weight against it and smashed the gate open. "The scene when I arrived was horrendous. "It is the little things that show how much people are still involved the fire still has a big impact on people. 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 Man burns on September 02, 2023. "[11] Police Superintendent Barry Osborne, divisional commander for the area, said many of his officers cried when they saw how badly people had been burned. Soon they were all running for their lives. 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. Although I was only 12 at the time, 11 May 1985 is a day. The timber construction of St. Andrew's Stand, Main Stand and the roof of its popular Railway End terrace were immediately condemned as fire hazards, which saw seating capacity briefly cut to nil. The chairman of the football club, Mr Stafford Heginbotham, was near to tears as he explained what had happened. Supporters either ran upwards to the back of the stand or downwards to the pitch to escape. Mr Delahunte was screaming into his microphone describing the scene until it became impossible to continue broadcasting. The next day work began on clearing the burnt out shell of the stand, and Justice Popplewell released his findings into the disaster. It made me realise life is too short and I'm a happier person for it.". His son Christopher normally watches from the stand but on Saturday he joined other fans elsewhere. More than 200 people were taken to hospital, many with terrible injuries. "We went out on to the pitch and I could see so many happy faces. 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?. Previous warnings had also been given about a major build-up of litter in the cavity below the seats in the stand. The Bradford City disaster took place on Saturday May 11, 1985 when a flash fire occurred at the Valley Parade stadium in Bradford, England. 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]. Bradford City Stadium Fire - Saturday 11th May 1985 "[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. Grenfell among the UK's worst fire and tower tragedies [5] However, he also warned the club of a build-up of litter beneath the stand because of a gap between the seats. Hendrie: "Several minutes before half-time I saw there was a wee bit of bother. [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. This included the banning of new wooden grandstands at all sports venues in the UK. The inquiry had found that the club had been warned that the accumulation of rubbish beneath the stands was a fire risk. 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. Lincoln City's board responded by committing 1.1million (3.5million today) to their ground's renovation in the year that immediately followed the fire at Valley Parade, and over the following decade made improvements that eventually totalled 3million. [10] Bradford City's coach Terry Yorath, whose family was in the stand,[19] ran onto the pitch to help evacuate people. He is quoted as saying: "I don't believe the statement of retired Detective Inspector Raymond Falconer at all. Parents and children were laughing and joking with the police as the preliminaries to the game began. Thirty years on, the majority of survivors still find it too difficult to talk about what happened at the Valley Parade on 11 May 1985. "That's when I thought 'this is time to get out of here'. The Bradford Burns Unit was set up by Professor David Sharpe after he received many of the victims following the fire. 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. 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. And the black and twisted skeleton of the burnt stand stood out in the night. [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. When the game began there was no way out for them, except by going on to the pitch. Ironically, off-duty firemen were at the ground selling raffle tickets for a charity football match which should have been held yesterday. Bradford City had just won the Third Division Championship and a record number of spectators over 11,000 had turned out to see the club presented with its first piece of league silverware in 56 years. All you could hear was sirens and screams. [22], Immediately after the fire, Sharpe planned and treated the injuries of over 200 individuals, with many experimental treatments being used. "How quickly the fire spread is difficult to convey to people.". "I'm sorry to spoil what is obviously a very good story, but I'm afraid it is nonsense for many reasons.". Since 1903, when the club was formed, Bradford City Association Football Club had played their home games at the ground. "That was the moment that I realised not everybody was going to get out. A few minutes later, he felt a thump on his back from his father, who told him to run. 05/10/15 AT 12:00 PM BST Crowds on the pitch at Bradford City's Valley Parade stadium after the stand caught fire Getty Images Fifty-six people were killed, 265 were injured and thousands. The 1985 Bradford City Football Stadium Fire What Happened and Why Sign up and stay up to date with our daily newsletter. Other parents whose children had not arrived home on Saturday called at the police station or sat in cars outside, waiting for news. After its renovation in 1990 they named the home end of their ground the 'Stacey-West Stand', in honour of Bill Stacey and Jim West, the two Lincoln City supporters who were amongst the 56 to die at Bradford. 'They did not have a chance. 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. Below the seats were rows of litter which had piled up throughout the season, said witnesses. I rolled over on my head, jumped up and ran off.". One man clambered over burning seats to help a fan, as did player John Hawley, and one officer led fans to an exit, only to find it shut and turn around.Bradford City's coach Terry Yorath, whose family was in the stand, ran onto the pitch to help evacuate people. "Several minutes before half-time I saw there was a wee bit of bother. I have never had to deal with such a situation before, and this has put the city on its heels.'. We wanted to record the trophy presentation. [11], The disaster also had a long-lasting effect on the fans. Bradford City fire: Police reveal who was responsible for 1985 Valley 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 got stuck against the wall with the weight of people behind me trying to get over. You may notice some big changes in Black Rock City this year. [10][16] More than 265 supporters were injured. "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. The wooden roof that burned was scheduled to be replaced by a steel roof later that same . They stood outside the headquarters, staring at nothing in particular. [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. It was also a catalyst for the substantial redevelopment and modernisation of many British football grounds within the following thirty years. However, there is a lot in this book that troubles me about the science, or lack of it, used in the testing of the investigators' hypothesis as to the source of the ignition. 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. He appealed to people to be patient while forensic experts identified bodies. I had no idea. And all you could smell was burning.". [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. "I remember not being able to watch it, but we couldn't get out. But all the people being treated, we formed a family, a bond.". We were sat in our football kit, we didn't know what to do. "It's therapeutic and I've met so many people through doing this." Police removed the last body from the ground at 4 am yesterday, working under arc lights. [3] It included a main stand which seated 5,300fans, and had room for a further 7,000 standing spectators in the paddock in front. 1985: Fans killed in Bradford stadium fire. "The one thing I remember at the time is we were grateful that we got an answer quickly after the inquiry. 527 votes, 98 comments. Television cameras spotted the outbreak of fire in Valley Parade's main stand at 15:40 BST. The team's coach, Mr Terry Yorath, ran on to the pitch to try to help people away from the stand. 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. Today marks the 35th anniversary of one of the worst disasters in the history of British football. [40] Matthew Wildman was 17 at the time and needed crutches to walk because of rheumatoid arthritis.

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