Another player went into the office space to ensure there was nobody there. "[16] As spectators began to cascade over the wall separating the stand from the pitch, the linesman on that side of the pitch informed referee Norman Glover, who stopped the game with three minutes remaining before half-time. 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. "I was operated on every other day because I had so many burns and so many areas to work on. Together, flanked by undocumented supporters, they managed to clear all but one person who made it to the front of the stand. Of the 56 people who died in the fire,[2] 54 were Bradford supporters and two supported Lincoln. ', Sports reporters covering the game also spoke of the disaster. 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. he asks. Burning Man is an event focused on community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance held annually in the western United States. The scene in there was one of silence and shock. People were falling on to each other and screaming. Most recognizably, tens of thousands of Burners gather annually to build Black Rock City, a participative temporary metropolis . [19] One fan put his jumper over a fellow supporter's head to extinguish flames. Hendrie: "Us players must have been in the tunnel for seconds - and I mean seconds. Website by, Bradford City FC stadium fire | 11th May 1985, Fundraising for firefighters and their families. The firemen who arrived there were met by a wall of flame and dense black smoke. Within five minutes the whole stand was engulfed in flames. It was to be our day,' he said. 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 chairman of the football club, Mr Stafford Heginbotham, was near to tears as he explained what had happened. We went there to win the last game in front of a home crowd. 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? Hendrie: "Several minutes before half-time I saw there was a wee bit of bother. Fans in the next stand (the "Bradford End") pulled down the fence separating them from the pitch. 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! Previous warnings had also been given about a major build-up of litter in the cavity below the seats in the stand. We went there to win the last game in front of a home crowd. 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. Artist Paul Town, who now lives in Baildon, was 15 at the time of the fire. The game was irrelevant.". We couldn't breathe. It was a gruesome sight to see bodies still sitting upright in their seats, covered in tarpaulin. "All you could see was black cloud. I remember trying to make sense of what was going on. "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. Now they will begin another inquiry, into the cause of the Bradford fire. We wanted to record the trophy presentation. 56 people dead. 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. Like all areas of forensic investigations, it has come on leaps and bounds. "[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. We wanted to record the trophy presentation. "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. Within 48 hours of the disaster, the Bradford Disaster Appeal Fund had been set up and would eventually raise over 3.5m ($5.4m). "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. Although some attributed Lincoln City's sudden demise to the psychological effects of the fire on its players (together with the resignation of successful manager Colin Murphy shortly before the fire), it symbolised the wider crisis that the introduction of new safety legislation brought to Lincoln's Sincil Bank home. "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. Town began to paint two years ago, first of the old Bradford Park Avenue ground, before moving onto other stadiums. [10][16] More than 265 supporters were injured. "I got pushed down to the front and I remember looking around and suddenly this smouldering, small fire had taken over virtually half a block and was starting to hit the roof. Police removed the last body from the ground at 4 am yesterday, working under arc lights. Fifty-six people were killed, 265 were injured and thousands bore witness to the worst fire disaster in the history of English football. [10] One eyewitness, Geoffrey Mitchell, told the BBC: "It spread like a flash. [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. [17], One witness saw paper or debris on fire, about nine inches (230mm) below the floor boards. Videos, gifs, or aftermath photos of machinery, structures, or devices 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. [14] It took less than four minutes for the entire stand to be engulfed in flames.[11]. Police had an official photographer at the game, watching for crowd disturbance. 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. 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. "If we were fed a lie about it being an accident, then we will be educated. However, the fire had consumed the stand entirely by that point and they were faced with huge flames and very dense smoke. People were wandering around outside the ground in disbelief, reminiscent of an air disaster, at what had happened the day before. [5] However, he also warned the club of a build-up of litter beneath the stand because of a gap between the seats. The fire destroyed the main stand completely and left only burned seats, lamps and metal fences remaining. The 1984-85 season had been one of the most successful in Bradford City's 82-year history. We didn't know how serious it was.". He was asked if precautions would have been adequate had the club been in the Second Division. He appealed to people to be patient while forensic experts identified bodies. It was clear from what the Chief Fire Officer for West Yorkshire, Mr Graham Karran, said yesterday that the ground was far from safe. And then suddenly, in the space of 120-odd seconds, it really kicked in. Some of those who died were still sitting upright in their seats, covered by remnants of tarpaulin that had fallen from the roof. The stories of escapes are legion. 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. 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. [11], The disaster also had a long-lasting effect on the fans. 1985: Fans killed in Bradford stadium fire. I saw one man lying on the ground, burning from head to foot. '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.'. He started to walk home, unsure of what had happened to his father. "Until I arrived home my mum and my brother had no idea whether I was alive or dead. Earlier this year, Town gave up working in construction to pursue painting full-time through his business Stadium Portraits. Former Bradford midfielder John Hendrie, who was playing in the match: "We had already won the league, all the hard work had been done. 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. "We stayed in the pub for hours. Bradford, playing into a strong wind, were struggling to break down a Lincoln side already safe from relegation. Most of those who escaped onto the pitch were saved.[10]. Saturday began for the fans in a carnival atmosphere at Bradford 's Valley Parade ground a short walk from the city centre. [8][10] Three men smashed down one door and at least one exit was opened by people outside, which again helped prevent further deaths. 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. [26], In July 1985, an inquest was held into the deaths; at the hearings the coroner James Turnbull recommended a death by misadventure outcome, with which the jury agreed. 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. Football architect Archibald Leitch was commissioned to carry out the work. "Several minutes before half-time I saw there was a wee bit of bother. Bradford City were supposed to be celebrating on 11 May 1985. He was helped out of the stand by other fans and spent a period of time in hospital. 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. Radiated heat from the burning roof of the stand set fire to the clothing of fans trapped underneath. The game was irrelevant. The man in charge of investigating the fire, Detective Superintendent Kevin Cooper was at the game. 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. One family was in tears, the mother shaking. 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. However, as there was no real precedent, most Bradfordians accepted that the fire was a terrible piece of misfortune. He went on to state: "In 1985 fire investigation in Britain was in its infancy and some would say at that time most fire investigators were not much more than dust-kickers. The Man burns on September 02, 2023. No one gave it the attention it ought to have received.. .. 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?. Pendleton: "Many people still don't want to talk about the disaster. As he received the injured at Bradford Royal Infirmary he was able to call upon 10% of the UK's population of plastic surgeons. We sat in the main stand the week before, but we had decided to move on that day," he says. Funnily enough I was thinking 'I'm going to miss the second half at this rate'. "How quickly the fire spread is difficult to convey to people.". When Town reached the Midland Road side of the pitch, he was faced with horrific scenes of the injured being treated and comforted by ambulance crews, fans and players. "I was in the main stand when the fire happened," he says. The stand slopes downwards from the South Parade. > Contacts> Join us> Circulars> Training courses> Sign up to Rollcall. 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. There is a twin memorial sculpture, unveiled on 11 May 1986, which has the names of the dead inscribed on it. 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'. "I parked my van outside because I started making enough money painting as I was in construction. Within a few hours of the blaze starting, it was established that 56 people had been killed, many as a result of smoke inhalation, although some of them had survived until reaching hospital.[11]. There were no fire extinguishers. One letter from the council said the problems "should be rectified as soon as possible"; a second said: "A carelessly discarded cigarette could give rise to a fire risk." "The letters that went to the club, the council's failings, the police's failings, even as supporters we allowed a culture where the gates were locked. "That was the moment that I realised not everybody was going to get out. 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. This day was for them. Fifty-six people died. 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. 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]. "I'm sorry to spoil what is obviously a very good story, but I'm afraid it is nonsense for many reasons.". "It is unbelievable how quickly the fire took hold. "Many people still don't want to talk about the disaster. A few minutes later, he felt a thump on his back from his father, who told him to run. We were sat in our football kit, we didn't know what to do. Many were burnt to death at the turnstiles gates, which had also been locked after the match had begun. The Bradford City stadium fire was the worst fire disaster in the history of football.. "I know it's a clich to say that, but it's true.". The match was recorded by Yorkshire Television for their regional edition of the ITV Sunday afternoon football show The Big Match. I looked down and I saw my hands melting. 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. For the 30th anniversary of the fire a new version of "You'll Never Walk Alone" was recorded at Voltage Studios in Bradford. "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. Somebody looked round and grabbed me by the hood of my coat to pull me over. Police officers also assisted in the rescue attempts. Television cameras spotted the outbreak of fire in Valley Parade's main stand at 15:40 BST. The fire happened during a football match. After Hillsborough, the Bradford City FC stadium fire was the second worst sporting tragedy in England, leaving 56 dead and at least 265 injured. "Us players must have been in the tunnel for seconds - and I mean seconds. Now a new film claims an Australian was responsible for the worst . "[16] At the front of the stand, men threw children over the wall to help them escape. [10][16] Geoffrey Mitchell said: "There was panic as fans stampeded to an exit which was padlocked. The blaze, at the Happy Land Social Club in the Bronx, killed 87 people, the . Martin Fletcher, a Bradford fan who lost three generations of his family in the fire, published a memoir of the tragic event called Fifty-Six The Story Of The Bradford Fire, in which he claimed the blaze at Valley Parade was one of nine fires at businesses owned by or associated with Heginbotham. An inquiry launched in the aftermath of the disaster led to legislation to improve safety at football grounds. 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. 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]. ", "If the inquiry is opened again, we will await to see what evidence there is to prove is wasn't an accident," he says. Others ran forward to try to clamber over a fence and a small wall on to the pitch. "For the first minute people were laughing and joking, it wasn't anything serious. 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. The fire started five minutes before half-time during the match on 11 May between Bradford and Lincoln City. Interviews conducted by BBC Radio Leeds' Tim Daley. People who had escaped the fire then tried to assist their fellow supporters. 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. Disaster struck at 3.43 pm. 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. The whole fire seemed to erupt in seconds,' he said. After Hillsborough, the Bradford City FC stadium fire was the second worst sporting tragedy in England, leaving 56 dead and at least 265 injured. By this date the appeal fund set up for survivors had paid out more than 4m with further payouts expected as the effects of physical and mental injury were determined. [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. 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. Read about our approach to external linking. 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. You could hardly breathe. The flames suddenly appeared and the whole roof took alight,' he said. The blaze is believed to have begun when a dropped cigarette lit rubbish under the wooden seats of the wooden Main Stand at Bradford City's Valley Parade stadium The 51 other bodies of children, women and men were so badly burned that identification will take many days. It is a simple account laid out for all to see. But a minute or so later there was suddenly a bigger whoosh of smoke so they went to get a steward. The Bradford Disaster Appeal fund, set up within 48hours of the disaster, eventually raised over 3.5million (11.3million today). 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. While Valley Parade was re-developed, Bradford City played games at various neighbouring grounds: Elland Road, Leeds; Leeds Road, Huddersfield; and Odsal Stadium, Bradford. 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". Those with longer memories will also think of the Ibrox disaster of . 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. 1908 - Rhoads Opera House fire, Boyertown, Pennsylvania, killed 170. Stadium disasters have blighted the world of sport throughout modern history. It took the firemen four minutes to arrive at the ground but the speed of the fire was such that the blaze also took only four minutes to grip the entire stand. 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. He saw smoke coming from a small area of the stand and thought that someone had let off a flare. Only then do you realise the huge network of people the fire involved. The smoke was choking. 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. As the blaze spread, the wooden stands and roofcovered with layers of highly flammable bituminous roofing feltquickly went ablaze. [4] Football ground writer Simon Inglis had described the view from the stand as "like watching football from the cockpit of a Sopwith Camel" because of its antiquated supports and struts. But many, including Harrison, believe it could unnecessarily reopen wounds if it does happen. ", Popplewell: "I'm sorry to spoil what is obviously a very good story, but I'm afraid it is nonsense for many reasons.". 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. He photographed the blaze from start to finish and the police will use this as evidence when an inquest is held. After the fire, Bradford City also announced they would thereafter play with a black trim on their shirt sleeves as a permanent memorial to those who had died. "We had already won the league, all the hard work had been done. One man clambered over burning seats to help a fan,[18] as did player John Hawley,[15] and one officer led fans to an exit, only to find it shut and had to turn around. One man in tears said: 'He looked as if he was just going for a stroll. Mike Harrison, the editor of the Bradford City Football Club fanzine The City Gent, was there on the day. "[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. "I saw people die in the stand - but it was only until then that I realised the scale of it.". [10] The call was timed at 3:43pm. Bradford fan David Pendleton, then aged 21 and stood in the main stand: "For the first minute people were laughing and joking, it wasn't anything serious. It's terrifying how quickly fire spreads in the wrong circumstances. [45] In total, 28 police officers and 22 supporters, who were publicly documented as having saved at least one life, later received police commendations or bravery awards. "The scene when I arrived was horrendous. "[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. I remember trying to make sense of what was going on. 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". We were given the trophy before the game in front of the supporters and had to do a lap of honour. I do not include the people currently running the club, who have always displayed a great, sensitive duty to the memory of those who died. "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. And then suddenly, in the space of 120-odd seconds, it really kicked in. Bits of my arms, bits of my legs, part of my face, part of my scalp. "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. [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. Valley Parade re-opened on 14 December 1986, when Bradford City beat an England XI 21 in a friendly. The disaster led to rigid new safety standards in UK stadiums, including the banning of new wooden grandstands. "[33], Central to the test case were two letters sent to Bradford City's Club Secretary by the West Yorkshire Fire Brigade; the second letter dated 18 July 1984 specifically highlighted in full the improvements needed to be actioned at the ground as well as the fire risk at the main stand. Soon they were all running for their lives. And the black and twisted skeleton of the burnt stand stood out in the night. After 40 minutes of the first half, fans had begun to complain about the drab match and the 0-0 score. 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. The man we see at 7:50 walking out onto the pitch on fire was a retired mill worker. [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. You may notice some big changes in Black Rock City this year. He is quoted as saying: "I don't believe the statement of retired Detective Inspector Raymond Falconer at all.

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