Funnily enough I was thinking 'I'm going to miss the second half at this rate'. Eight fires in the 18 years before the Bradford City fire were identified, many catastrophic and leading to large insurance payouts.
Bradford City fire: Police reveal who was responsible for 1985 Valley "The fire still has a big impact on people," Parker says. [10] Bradford City's coach Terry Yorath, whose family was in the stand,[19] ran onto the pitch to help evacuate people. "We had already won the league, all the hard work had been done. [48] Profits from the play's run at The Edinburgh Fringe were donated to the Bradford Burns Unit. A giant Christian cross, made up of two large charred wooden members[44] that had once been part of the stand, was constructed in front of the middle of the stand and behind the pitchside speaker's platform. The stand itself was engulfed in seconds, almost as if petrol had been ignited throughout the block. Only then do you realise the huge network of people the fire involved. [] I still have terrible memories of the day, but it is the humanity of those that helped us that I reflect on."[41]. "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. After Hillsborough, the Bradford City FC stadium fire was the second worst sporting tragedy in England, leaving 56 dead and at least 265 injured. I'd seen the film on the Saturday but the bleakness of the stadium burnt out, and the gloom that afflicted everybody, was dreadful. Instead it turned into a day of appalling tragedy. Original television coverage of the fire, as caught by cameras covering the match. The match was recorded by Yorkshire Television for their regional edition of the ITV Sunday afternoon football show The Big Match. [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. 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?. We wanted to record the trophy presentation. Valley Parade in Bradford, West Yorkshire, was built in 1886 and was initially the home ground of Manningham Rugby Football Club. I asked the director to get the camera to go a little closer. Wildman: "I was burnt from top to bottom, on and off. Yet many of those with terrible memories of the tragedy also take heart in the compassion born out of the devastation. 1908 - Collinwood school fire, in Collinwood, Ohio (soon absorbed by Cleveland ), on March 4, killed 175. 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.
Bradford City Stadium Fire - 36 years ago today | RedCafe.net We had to run up the stairs, through the office doors and out on to the street. 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.
Brooklyn fire: Lumber storage warehouse in Williamsburg goes up in Most of the fans who took this escape route were killed or seriously injured. However, when Bradford City won promotion to the highest level of English football, Division One, in 1908, club officials sanctioned an upgrade programme. Police officers also assisted in the rescue attempts. Of the 56 people who died in the fire,[2] 54 were Bradford supporters and two supported Lincoln. So I threw myself over the wall and luckily someone dived in to catch me before I hit the floor.". 05/12/15 AT 9:58 AM BST Crowds on the pitch at the Valley Parade stadium after a stand caught fire Getty Images Police have revealed the identity of the man who they believe was responsible. Stadium disasters have blighted the world of sport throughout modern history. 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. [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. I've never seen anything like it. The disaster led to rigid new safety standards in UK stadiums, including the banning of new wooden grandstands. Pendleton: "One of my most haunting images was being on the bus home after dark and going past Valley Parade. 24 Bradford City A.F.C. People who had escaped the fire then tried to assist their fellow supporters.
Bradford City stadium fire: Remembering the 56 who died at Valley - IBT The fire happened during a football match. Copyright , Fire Brigades Union, 2023.
Grenfell among the UK's worst fire and tower tragedies 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. It's a nice little business and it's something positive that came out of a tragedy. The plastic surgeon who treated the injuries of over 200, Professor David Sharpe, went on to set up a world-renowned burns research facility at the University of Bradford. [5] However, he also warned the club of a build-up of litter beneath the stand because of a gap between the seats. "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.". Someone came in and shouted: 'Get out, get out there's a fire'. "When I got to one of the final walls, there was an eight-foot drop at the other side, concrete at the bottom. At the final home match against Barnsley at the end of April, Bradford City fans collected more than 8,000 in a bucket collection.
The 1985 Bradford City Football Stadium Fire What Happened and Why Bradford City FC stadium fire | 11th May 1985 | Fire Brigades Union Valley Parade re-opened on 14 December 1986, when Bradford City beat an England XI 21 in a friendly. The government inquiry into the disaster concluded the fire spread "faster than a man could run". We couldn't breathe. The sling is now used internationally in the treatment of burns. 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". 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]. 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. 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. [citation needed] Spectators later spoke of initially feeling their feet becoming warmer; one of them ran to the back of the stand for a fire extinguisher but found none. Like you, we're already preparing for Black Rock City to rise again. But a minute or so later there was suddenly a bigger whoosh of smoke so they went to get a steward. The whole fire seemed to erupt in seconds,' he said. 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. We were sat in our football kit, we didn't know what to do. "[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. The entrances to the stand were all at the rear and were higher than the rest of the ground. Last updated on 10 May 201510 May 2015.From the section Football, "People didn't die because of fires at football grounds. Superintendent Barry Osborne, divisional commander for the football club area, who was injured in the fire said that many policemen cried when they saw how badly people had been burned. They stood outside the headquarters, staring at nothing in particular. 'The smoke was very, very dense. 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'. As he received the injured at Bradford Royal Infirmary he was able to call upon 10% of the UK's population of plastic surgeons. 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. Earlier this year, Town gave up working in construction to pursue painting full-time through his business Stadium Portraits. Somebody looked round and grabbed me by the hood of my coat to pull me over. This day was for them. [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. But I've never spoken to anyone who thought the fire wasn't anything other than a tragic accident. The flames suddenly appeared and the whole roof took alight,' he said. 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." 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. 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. Bradford City stadium fire: The untold stories of the 1985 fire that devastated Valley Parade Thirty years after football's 'forgotten tragedy', the truth of what exactly happened when 56. Like all areas of forensic investigations, it has come on leaps and bounds. 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. There was hardly anything left of him.'. 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. There has been reports of people lighting paper under the seats, and it was important that as many fans as possible who were in the stand or at the Kop end contacted the police. A few minutes later, he felt a thump on his back from his father, who told him to run. [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. "I walked past a public telephone outside the ground and there were queues of people waiting to ring home to say: 'I'm OK'. I ran to the stand and tried to help people escape. The Bradford way was keep it to ourselves - it worked collectively that we did that. Burning Man is an event focused on community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance held annually in the western United States. 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. Fifty people die in a fire in the grandstand at a soccer stadium in Bradford, England, on May 11, 1985. It made me realise life is too short and I'm a happier person for it.". It was to be our day,' he said. More than 250 others were injured in one of the biggest disasters at a British football ground. "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. 1908 - Rhoads Opera House fire, Boyertown, Pennsylvania, killed 170. [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. People were arriving in a daze outside Bradford police headquarters on Saturday evening and early yesterday. Those with longer memories will also think of the Ibrox disaster of .
199 Bradford City Stadium Fire Photos and Premium High Res Pictures It wasn't until later on when assistant manager Terry Yorath came in and said: 'It's not good.'". "The scene became progressively horrendous, grotesque, and I was having to describe things you couldn't possibly imagine.". [53], In 1986, a year after the disaster, Yorkshire Television aired a documentary presented by John Helm entitled Bradford City A Year of Healing.