We went over to the policeman stood at the corner flag and asked if it was being sorted out, and he said it was under control," Harrison says. [1] When the association football club was formed, the ground was changed very little and had no covered accommodation. "[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'. They were not able to use water on the stand immediately because this would have hampered attempts to rescue people being dragged by the police and friends from the stand. 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. This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 13:41. 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. "I was dragged on to the pitch and into a line of people, who couldn't do much for themselves and were lying there. 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 stand itself was engulfed in seconds, almost as if petrol had been ignited throughout the block. We couldn't breathe. Like you, we're already preparing for Black Rock City to rise again. The Bradford way was keep it to ourselves - it worked collectively that we did that. 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. One retired mill worker made his way to the pitch, but was walking about on fire from head to foot. But a minute or so later there was suddenly a bigger whoosh of smoke so they went to get a steward. More than 250 others were injured in one of the biggest disasters at a British football ground. 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. The game was goalless after 40 minutes when play was stopped. "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. [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. His most recent painting is a powerful image; two fans in Bradford and Lincoln City kits, surrounded by 54 other figures. Then flames licked the underside of the seats, which were a combination of wood and plastic. Everybody in the city was devastated, but there was an amazing number of volunteers. The mood before the match on the 11 May 1985 against Lincoln City was one of jubilation. ", 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. 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. 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. Television cameras spotted the outbreak of fire in Valley Parade's main stand at 15:40 BST. 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. She was an. It has a black marble fascia on which the names and ages of those that died are inscribed in gold, and a black marble platform on which people can leave flowers and mementos. I've never seen anything like it. Now a new film claims an Australian was responsible for the worst . They stood outside the headquarters, staring at nothing in particular. The sling is now used internationally in the treatment of burns. Others ran forward to try to clamber over a fence and a small wall on to the pitch. [31] In 1988, the first compensation payments were made to survivors of the fire, with over 40 people receiving up to 40,000 each. At Valley Parade there are now two memorials. [6] 1908 - Parker Building, New York City, January 10. 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. Spread by the wind, the wooden roof, which was covered with tarpaulin and sealed with asphalt and bitumen, caught fire. Twenty nine years ago on this date, 56 people tragically died when a fire erupted at Bradford City's Valley Parade ground The day was supposed to be one of celebration for Bradford who had just won the Third Division trophy. The chairman of the football club, Mr Stafford Heginbotham, was near to tears as he explained what had happened. 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'. [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. Your brain tells you, you are not going anywhere. I rolled over on my head, jumped up and ran off.". Among the main outcomes of the inquiry were the banning of new wooden grandstands at all UK sports grounds, the immediate closure of other wooden stands deemed unsafe and the banning of smoking in other wooden stands. The game was irrelevant.". The Man burns on September 02, 2023. Stadium disasters have blighted the world of sport throughout modern 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. Fletcher has been the only survivor to publicly challenge the inquiry's findings. [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. The courts held the club to be two thirds responsible, finding that it gave "no or very little thought to fire precautions" despite repeated warnings. However as the game against Lincoln progressed, a fire began just before half-time in the stand that ran alongside the pitch. [45] PCs Peter Donald Barrett and David Charles Midgley, along with spectators Michael William Bland and Timothy Peter Leigh received the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct. It was an awful thing to watch.". ", IBT UK Morning Brief - Let the best of International News come to you. "It is the little things that show how much people are still involved the fire still has a big impact on people. Exactly 79 years to the day after the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, another tragic fire occurred in New York City. I'd seen the film on the Saturday but the bleakness of the stadium burnt out, and the gloom that afflicted everybody, was dreadful. The man in charge of investigating the fire, Detective Superintendent Kevin Cooper was at the game. "[35], The total amount of compensation to the 154 claimants was reported to be as high as 20million, with the payouts covered by insurance taken out by the club. There is no evidence in the book, he is just pointing out there are some coincidences. "All I could see was eerie white lights that the fire brigade had set up and the smoke still in the sky. But I've never spoken to anyone who thought the fire wasn't anything other than a tragic accident. 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. "I was in the main stand when the fire happened," he says. 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. It transpired that the wooden stand had already been condemned and was set to be demolished just two days after the tragedy. [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. There was some kind of disturbance near the edge of a block of seats in the G section of the main stand. The local council was deemed to be one third responsible. The fire at a Brooklyn lumber storage building sent plumes of smoke over Williamsburg on Tuesday. Fifty-six people were killed, 265 were injured and thousands bore witness to the worst fire disaster in the history of English football. At the time, however, Harrison says, Bradford just wanted to move on. It wasn't until later on when assistant manager Terry Yorath came in and said: 'It's not good.'". [11], The disaster also had a long-lasting effect on the fans. The entrances to the stand were all at the rear and were higher than the rest of the ground. "I was burnt from top to bottom, on and off. Mr Stefan Krolak, a survivor from Bradford , said he saw the smoke start a few seats away from him 'The smoke seemed suddenly to set on fire. He appealed to people to be patient while forensic experts identified bodies. [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. 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". As we move ahead on the 2030 Sustainability Roadmap, sustainability projects are taking center stage. Mr Antony Burrows said: 'One man was stood near me with his hair on fire. Like all areas of forensic investigations, it has come on leaps and bounds. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. My hands suffered the most because they were exposed the most. What Is Burning Man? [36], In 2010, Susan Fletcher's son and survivor of the Bradford City fire (and witness to the Hillsborough disaster), Martin Fletcher, openly criticised the club's hierarchy at the time of the fire and the subsequent investigation. "[28], West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council was found to have failed in its duty under the Fire Precautions Act 1971. When cross examined by QC Robert Smith, then Chairman Stafford Heginbotham said he knew about the fire risk at the ground. Bradford, playing into a strong wind, were struggling to break down a Lincoln side already safe from relegation. 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. The Bradford way was keep it to ourselves - it worked collectively that we did that. 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. One elderly man started to walk across the pitch with his clothes and face ablaze. 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. Valley Parade during the early 1990s, after it had been redeveloped following the fire. 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. "I know it's a clich to say that, but it's true.". [5] However, he also warned the club of a build-up of litter beneath the stand because of a gap between the seats. We didn't know how serious it was.". "Me and my dad eventually got out safely but it was a bit of a struggle at one point because the walls getting down to the pitch level were quite high I didn't get a growth spurt until I was 16 or 17.". That's when everybody else had the same thought. 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. The speed at which fire engulfs the entire stand is insane. Bradford council introduced its emergency plans procedure yesterday to give aid to many families affected by the disaster. The blaze quickly engulfed the stand as Bradford played Lincoln City and claimed the lives of 59 people on May 11, 1985. 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. Those are the words of David Pendleton, a survivor of the Bradford City fire disaster, which happened 30 years ago. The 1984-85 season had been one of the most successful in Bradford City's 82-year history. 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. [6], The 198485 season had been one of Bradford City's most successful seasons, ending with City clinching the championship title courtesy of a 20 victory against Bolton Wanderers in the penultimate game of the season. As the blaze spread, the wooden stands and roofcovered with layers of highly flammable bituminous roofing feltquickly went ablaze. "[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. We use necessary cookies to make our site work. Those who escaped walked to a nearby pub to use the phone to ring home, while others arrived in a daze outside the police headquarters to try and trace relatives. Hendrie: "Us players must have been in the tunnel for seconds - and I mean seconds. 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. Police had an official photographer at the game, watching for crowd disturbance. 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. 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. The blaze, at the Happy Land Social Club in the Bronx, killed 87 people, the . Bits of my arms, bits of my legs, part of my face, part of my scalp. Sign up and stay up to date with our daily newsletter. And then suddenly, in the space of 120-odd seconds, it really kicked in. It was a gruesome sight to see bodies still sitting upright in their seats, covered in tarpaulin. 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?