11th May 1985

[jon_hall]

Ladies and gents it's the 22nd anniversary of the fire a Valley Parade, Bradford.

 

Hopefully we can all spare a thought for Bradford City and the fans who lost their lives that awful day.

[Ostrich Man]

Indeed.

 

RIP.

[stressederic]

Aye, RIP

[Gilps]

RIP

[Herbie von Smalls]

You'll never walk alone

[Zoob]

I remember the day clearly as it was such a beautiful sunny day. I didn't think anything like that could possibly happen at a football match...

 

RIP

[SkippyjonJones]

shocking stuff. I think it was due to be the last game there as they were knocking it down after the season.

 

rip

[fyds]

Remember it all only too well - the TV pictures were terrible.

 

YNWA

[magneto]

From wiki

 

Background to the disaster

 

Bradford City had enjoyed a successful 1984/85 season in the Football League Third Division, and by May 11th had secured enough points in the league to be crowned champions, gaining promotion to the Football League Second Division for the first time in 48 years. With Bradford City already champions, and Lincoln City safely occupying mid-table, the game was effectively meaningless, a sideshow to a rare day of celebration for Bradford City.

 

As it was the first piece of domestic silverware the club had captured in 56 years, since they won Football League Division Three North in 1929, 11,076 supporters, double that season's average attendance, packed into the then 16,000 capacity Valley Parade, to see the club crowned league champions. Of these 2,000 filled all the ground's seats and a further 2,000 stood on the Paddock terrace that ran to the front and side of the Main Stand, also filling it to capacity.

 

Half an hour before the game, the Bradford City team did a lap of honour after club captain Peter Jackson was presented with the Third Division trophy. For the first 40 minutes of the game, the two sides played out a dull goalless draw before the disaster unfolded.

 

 

The Disaster

 

The fire started when a spectactor disposed of a cigarette, which fell into the empty area underneath the seats of the main stand and into a pile of rubbish that had accumulated there over the years.

 

 

With a few minutes to go before half-time, smoke was seen to be rising from the rear of the 77-year-old wooden stand. At 3:40pm, fire-fighting equipment was requested and shortly after, the police began to evacuate fans from Block G, the area of the main stand that was by now alight.

 

By this time the fire was starting to spread rapidly, and increasing numbers of fans had to escape from the stand onto the pitch to avoid the smoke. With the flames spreading, match referee Don Shaw stopped the match with three minutes of the first half remaining. (For the records, the Football Association ultimately declared the match a 0-0 draw and it was never replayed.)

 

 

 

By this time though, all thoughts of the match were forgotten. The fire rapidly took hold and after flashover, engulfed the entire main stand in less than two minutes. Whilst many escaped onto the pitch, others seated towards the back of stand attempted to escape from the exits at the rear, but they found that the exit doors were locked, in order to prevent ticketless fans from gaining entry. Most of the fatalities were found near the rear exits and turnstile entrances.

 

To make matters worse, the stand's wooden roof was also ablaze, with burning tar and rafters raining down from its bitumen-coated covering, onto escaping fans below. Ironically, the steel that was intended to replace the aging wood roof of the stand the following Monday was lying in the car park behind it.

 

In the panic that ensued, there were many acts of heroism from both police and supporters. Fans who had escaped the fire switched their attentions to saving fellow supporters, with 22 supporters later receiving bravery awards.

 

Due to its wooden construction, the stand was completely consumed by the flames within minutes. A total of 56 people died as a result, and over two hundred were injured.

 

 

Aftermath

 

The inquiry into the disaster, the Popplewell Inquiry, led to the introduction of new legislation to improve safety at the UK's football grounds. One of the main outcomes of the inquiry was the banning of the construction of new wooden grandstands at Football League grounds.

 

The Popplewell Inquiry found that the club had been warned about the rubbish accumulating under the stand. However, as there was no real precedent, most Bradfordians accepted that the fire was a terrible piece of misfortune. A discarded cigarette and a dilapidated stand, that had survived because the club simply didn't have the money to replace it, had conspired to cause the worst disaster in the history of the Football League.

 

An appeals fund was set up within 48 hours of the disaster, eventually raising over £4 million, part of which was raised by a cover version by The Crowd of the Gerry & The Pacemakers hit You'll Never Walk Alone, which reached number 1 in the UK Singles chart.

 

Following the disaster, Valley Parade was extensively re-developed, and re-opened on 14th December 1986, when Bradford City beat an England XI 2-1 in a reopening friendly. Since then it has been further re-developed and today Valley Parade stands as a modern 25,000 seater stadium, virtually unrecognisable from how it was at the time of the disaster. A memorial sits near the ground, to remember those who perished.

 

Of the 56 who died, two were supporters of the visiting Lincoln City side, Bill Stacey and Jim West. As a memorial, Lincoln City named its home end at their Sincil Bank ground the 'Stacey-West Stand' when it was redeveloped in 1990.

 

 

 

Controversy

 

There was some controversy regarding the disaster in early 2007, when original TV news footage of the disaster was illegally posted on the internet website YouTube. Following threats of legal action from ITV Yorkshire, and considerable protest from Bradford City supporters' groups (with endorsement from the club itself), the footage was removed. However, its appearance on a much more sinister "humour" site had gone undetected, until it was discovered by a bereaved survivor in April 2007, at which point similar action brought its immediate removal. Copyright of the TV footage of that day's events is strictly controlled by ITV Yorkshire and is only meant to be used for fire awareness training purposes.

 

[Cobs]

22years ago !!

 

 

RIP to the 56.

[Redkop]

RIP

[Paul B]

RIP to them all. There's a bench on a path overlooking the beautiful Hardcastle Craggs near Howarth that's in memorium to a father and son who died that day. Always brings it home to me when I run past that bench.

[Buzz]

R.I.P.

[Ostrich Man]

Of the 56 who died, two were supporters of the visiting Lincoln City side, Bill Stacey and Jim West. As a memorial, Lincoln City named its home end at their Sincil Bank ground the 'Stacey-West Stand' when it was redeveloped in 1990.

didnt know that....Respect to Lincoln for that.

[Andy @ Allerton]

RIP Those that lost their lives that day and thoughts are with their families

 

Had to watch the video for that (Several times) as part of training as a Steward - with the audio commentary from the Emergency services being played over the top.

 

Very harrowing stuff and shows why safety is such an important issue - stewards aren't just there to piss you off and 'waste your time' during a game.

[Spike]

YNWA and RIP

[Tones]

Wow, 22 years ago. Doesnt seem that long ago as i remember it clearly. Awful thing to happen anywhere. RIP to all who died that day.

[The Hitman]

Rest In Peace

[Guest robbienor]

RIP

 

YNWA

[Guest Scot]

Good thread, thanks for reminding.

 

RIP...I can't believe it's been 22 years.

[Guy_Incognito]

RIP

[Jezzman]

[Stanley Leisure]

Mad that it's been that long.

 

RIP.

 

YNWA.

[Snookie]

A terrible, terrible thing. RIP.

[DazzlaJ]

RIP