If there's one thing to not expect to happen in a football match, it's a fire breaking out. It's almost unthinkable to happen. Despite this, a tragic fire broke out during a Bradford City football match on this day (11 May) in 1985.
This shoul've been a day of celebration for Bradford City. Instead, it turned into one of tragedy as a fire swept through the club's home ground and claimed the lives of 56 fans.
A home game at Valley Parade against Lincoln City was due to mark the end of a memorable season which had seen the hosts top the Third Division, their first title since winning the same league in 1929.
Bradford City had already won promotion and were due to receive the trophy in front of their adoring fans. Lincoln had nothing to play for, so there couldn't possibly imagine anything wrong.
The stadium was known for its antiquated design and facilities, which included the wooden roof of the main stand. Previous warnings had also been given about a major build-up of litter in the cavity below the seats in the stand. The stand had been officially condemned and was due to be replaced with a steel structure after the season ended.
Five minutes before half-time, a fire broke out in the stadium, killing 54 Bradford fans and two travelling Lincoln supporters, while more than 260 were injured. The fire led to the creation of a pioneering research unit in Bradford, which has developed ground-breaking treatments for burns and scars.
One witness saw paper or debris on fire, about nine inches (230 mm) below the floor boards. 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. 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. A police officer shouted to a colleague for an extinguisher but his call was misheard and instead the fire brigade were radioed.
The fire escalated very rapidly and flames became visible; police started to evacuate the stand. As the blaze spread, the wooden stands and roof – covered with layers of highly flammable bituminous roofing felt – quickly went ablaze. Burning timbers and molten materials fell from the roof onto the crowd and seating below and dense black smoke enveloped a passageway behind the stand; where many spectators were trying to escape.
One eye witness, Geoffrey Mitchell, told the BBC: "It spread like a flash. I've never seen anything like it. The smoke was choking. You could hardly breathe." 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. It took less than four minutes for the entire stand to be engulfed in flames.
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. Supporters either ran upwards to the back of the stand or downwards to the pitch to escape. 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.
Footage of the accident at this point shows levels of confusion among the spectators – while 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 pitchside cameras.
Most of the exits at the back were locked or shut and there were no stewards present to open them but seven were forced open or found open. Three men smashed down one door and at least one exit was opened by people outside, which again helped prevent further deaths. Mitchell said: "There was panic as fans stampeded to an exit which was padlocked. Two or three burly men put their weight against it and smashed the gate open. Otherwise, I would not have been able to get out." At the front of the stand, men threw children over the wall to help them escape. Most of those who escaped onto the pitch were saved.
People who had escaped the fire then tried to assist their fellow supporters. Police officers also assisted in the rescue attempts. 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 had to turn around. Bradford City's coach, Terry Yorath, whose family was in the stand; ran onto the pitch to help evacuate people. Another player went into the office space to ensure there was nobody there.
One fan put his jumper over a fellow supporter's head to extinguish flames. 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.
The fire brigade arrived at the ground four minutes after they were initially alerted. However, the fire had consumed the stand entirely by that point and they were faced with huge flames and very dense smoke. As many supporters still required rescue from the stand, they were unable to immediately start fighting the source of the fire.
The fire destroyed the main stand completely and left only burned seats, lamps and metal fences remaining. Some of those who died were still sitting upright in their seats, covered by remnants of tarpaulin that had fallen from the roof. Police worked until 4am the next morning, under lighting, to remove all the bodies. 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.
The inquiry into the disaster, chaired by Sir Oliver Popplewell and known as the Popplewell Inquiry, led to the introduction of new legislation to improve safety at the UK's football grounds. 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.
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 main stand at Bradford wasn't surrounded by fencing and therefore most of the spectators in it could escape onto the pitch.
However, the turnstiles were locked and none of the stadium staff were present to unlock them, leaving no escape through the normal entrances and exits. Most of the fans who took this escape route were killed or seriously injured. Fans in the next stand (the "Bradford End") pulled down the fence separating them from the pitch.
The Popplewell Inquiry found that the club had been warned about the fire risk that the rubbish accumulating under the stand had posed. The stand had already been condemned and the demolition teams were due to start work two days later. 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 wooden stand, which had survived because the club didn't 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 at that time.
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. Following the hearing in 1986, a test case was brought against the club by David Britton, a police sergeant serving on the day and by Susan Fletcher, who lost her husband, John, 11-year-old son, Andrew, John's brother, Peter and his father, Edmond in the fire. On 23 February 1987, Sir Joseph Cantley found the club two thirds responsible and the county council (which by this time had been abolished) one third responsible.
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. That duty was not a duty to the Club but a duty to the spectators and other persons in the stand. However, the responsibility of the Club is, in my view, very much the greater and I apportion responsibility between the two defendants as to two-thirds on the first defendant and one-third on the third (sic) defendant."
West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council was found to have failed in its duty under the Fire Precautions Act 1971. The Health and Safety Executive who were also part of the legal action were found to be non-liable. Criticising Bradford City during the case, Mr. Michael Ogden QC highlighted that the club "gave no or very little thought to fire precautions" despite repeated warnings.
The outcome of the test case resulted in over 154 claims being addressed (110 civilians and 44 police officers) by the injured or bereaved. Speaking at the close of the case, the Judge said, "They (the club) were at fault, no one in authority seemed to have appreciated the fire hazard. No one gave it the attention it ought to have received.... The fact is that no one person was concerned with the safety of the premises."
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. When cross examined by QC Robert Smith, chairman, Stafford Heginbotham, said he knew about the fire risk at the ground.
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. They were at fault but the fault was that no-one in authority seems ever to have properly appreciated the real gravity of this fire hazard and consequently no-one gave it the attention it certainly ought to have received."
The total amount of compensation to the 154 claimants was reported to be as high as £20 million, with the payouts covered by insurance taken out by the club. In 1988, the first compensation payments were made to survivors of the fire, with over 40 people receiving up to £40 000 each. 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.
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. Messages of condolence were also received from Helmut Kohl, Chedli Klibi and Felipe González.
The club's chairman, Stafford Heginbotham, said: "It was to be our day." Coach, Terry Yorath, described the events as, "the worst day in my life." Police Superintendent, Barry Osborne, divisional commander for the area, said many of his officers cried when they saw how badly people had been burned.
The disaster also had a long-lasting effect on the fans. Christopher Hammond, who was 12 on the day, said on the 20th anniversary of the fire: "As a 12-year-old, it was easy to move on – I didn't realise how serious it was until I looked at the press coverage over the next few days. But looking back and seeing how much it really affected my dad makes me realise what we went through." His father, Tony, went back the following day and said: "I wondered how anybody had got out alive, but I also began to feel guilty that I had got out when so many hadn't." He had to undergo counselling and was unable to go to another game for several years.
Matthew Wildman was 17 at the time and needed crutches to walk because of rheumatoid arthritis. He was helped out of the stand by other fans and spent a period of time in hospital. He later said: "I have never known anything like it, either before, or since. Everybody in the city was devastated, but there was an amazing number of volunteers. [...] I still have terrible memories of the day, but it is the humanity of those that helped us that I reflect on."
The Bradford Disaster Appeal fund, set up within 48 hours of the disaster, eventually raised over £3.5 million (£13.4 million today). 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 Elland Road stadium in July 1985 to raise funds for the Appeal fund. England won the re-match 6–4.
Part of the Appeal funds were raised by a recording of "You'll Never Walk Alone" 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. The money raised from this record was contributed to fund the internationally renowned burns unit that was established in partnership between the University of Bradford and Bradford Royal Infirmary, immediately after the fire, which has also been Bradford City's official charity for many years.
For the 30th anniversary of the fire a new version of "You'll Never Walk Alone" was recorded at Voltage Studios in Bradford. 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, and Rick Wild of The Overlanders. It was the brainchild of Bradford City fan Lloyd Spencer with all profits going to the Bradford Royal Infirmary Burns Unit.
I think this disaster proves that you should always heed to people's advice and concerns. This could've been avoided had the necessary personnel had listened to the experts/professional workers. I fully support the reactions that were made. Those who were responsible had to pay the price for their incompetence and lack of concern.
It's a good thing that changes were made to ensure that something like this never happens again.
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