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." ", IBT UK Morning Brief - Let the best of International News come to you. He agreed that the inquiry into Bradford, led by the judge Oliver Popplewell, was inadequate and that there are many unanswered questions. Stories From 11 May. Bradford fire: the horrors and the silence that had to be broken Daniel Taylor The policewoman assigned to the grieving Fletchers gets goosebumps when she looks back to 30 years ago. And then suddenly, in the space of 120-odd seconds, it really kicked in. The next day work began on clearing the burnt out shell of the stand, and Justice Popplewell released his findings into the disaster. An ancient wooden spectator stand and a dropped cigarette - the ingredients for one of Britain's deadliest soccer tragedies. [47] Scriptwriters of the play spent hours with the survivors and victims families. [53], In 1986, a year after the disaster, Yorkshire Television aired a documentary presented by John Helm entitled Bradford City A Year of Healing. 'This was a dreadful afternoon. The blame was through neglect, they didn't have the money to maintain the stand. We had not been told anything.". "I was burnt from top to bottom, on and off. Those are the words of David Pendleton, a survivor of the Bradford City fire disaster, which happened 30 years ago. Speculation an Australian man started the Bradford City stadium fire in 1985 IT killed 56 people and destroyed an entire stadium. "When I got to one of the final walls, there was an eight-foot drop at the other side, concrete at the bottom. 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. One family was in tears, the mother shaking. 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. [19] One fan put his jumper over a fellow supporter's head to extinguish flames. "Then we ran out in our tracksuits each holding a massive card with a letter. Since 1903, when the club was formed, Bradford City Association Football Club had played their home games at the ground. Those with longer memories will also think of the Ibrox disaster of . People smothered him to extinguish the flames, but he later died of his injuries in hospital. He was completely on fire and it looked as though he simply did not know what had happened to him.'. The local council was deemed to be one third responsible. Owing to windy conditions, less than four minutes later the entire wooden stand was engulfed in smoke and fire. The worst fire disaster in English football history played out on live television on May 11, after Valley Parade's main stand caught fire during a match between Bradford City and Lincoln City on . [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. "[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. He was helped out of the stand by other fans and spent a period of time in hospital. Sir Oliver Popplewell, the High Court judge who led the Valley Parade inquiry in 1985: "The scene when I arrived was horrendous. Most of the fans who took this escape route were killed or seriously injured. 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. "I saw people die in the stand - but it was only until then that I realised the scale of it.". Eight fires in the 18 years before the Bradford City fire were identified, many catastrophic and leading to large insurance payouts. Police had an official photographer at the game, watching for crowd disturbance. It occurred during a league match in front of record numbers of spectators, on Saturday, 11 May 1985, killing 56 and injuring at least 265. The fire started five minutes before half-time during the match on 11 May between Bradford and Lincoln City. Another player went into the office space to ensure there was nobody there. [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. "Could any man really be as unlucky as Heginbotham had been?" "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. "I was in the stand opposite when the fire broke out. Police officers also assisted in the rescue attempts. I have never had to deal with such a situation before, and this has put the city on its heels.'. Sign up and stay up to date with our daily newsletter. No fire extinguishers had been installed over fears of vandalism and less than four minutes after the fire was reported, the fire had engulfed the whole stand. "I was in the main stand when the fire happened," he says. There was a bit of paper on fire, but it was so small.". Fletcher, who was 12 at the time of the fire, does not make any direct allegations but he does believe Heginbotham's history with fires resulting in payouts of around 27m in today's terms warrants further investigation. Warnings had been issued over the ground's antiquated wooden structure, which had been condemned and was due to be pulled down and replaced with steel and concrete. Website by, Bradford City FC stadium fire | 11th May 1985, Fundraising for firefighters and their families. [11], The disaster also had a long-lasting effect on the fans. Copyright , Fire Brigades Union, 2023. There is a twin memorial sculpture, unveiled on 11 May 1986, which has the names of the dead inscribed on it. People ran onto the pitch with their clothes on fire while others were trapped at the back of the stand where they had gone to try to escape through the turnstiles. 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 well over a decade. 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. [10] Of those who died, 11 were under-18 and 23 were aged 65 or over,[20] and the oldest victim was the club's former chairman, Sam Firth, aged 86. Like you, we're already preparing for Black Rock City to rise again. Club coach Terry Yorath incurred minor injuries while taking part in the rescue. 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. [6] 1908 - Parker Building, New York City, January 10. Popplewell's report was nowhere close to the quality of Lord Justice Taylor's report after Hillsborough, and since reading it as an adult I have always been very disappointed in it and considered it a poor piece of work. Hendrie: "Several minutes before half-time I saw there was a wee bit of bother. The heat was so intense it caused car windows to shatter in the street. 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. 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. I had no idea. Stadium disasters have blighted the world of sport throughout modern history. We had to run up the stairs, through the office doors and out on to the street. Videos, gifs, or aftermath photos of machinery, structures, or devices The entrances to the stand were all at the rear and were higher than the rest of the ground. While Valley Parade was re-developed, Bradford City played games at various neighbouring grounds: Elland Road, Leeds; Leeds Road, Huddersfield; and Odsal Stadium, Bradford. The man in charge of investigating the fire, Detective Superintendent Kevin Cooper was at the game. Radiated heat from the burning roof of the stand set fire to the clothing of fans trapped underneath. It was a gruesome sight to see bodies still sitting upright in their seats, covered in tarpaulin. He was asked if precautions would have been adequate had the club been in the Second Division. And all you could smell was burning.". However as the game against Lincoln progressed, a fire began just before half-time in the stand that ran alongside the pitch. "[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. That's when everybody else had the same thought. Some days I had two operations in a day. 1908 - Rhoads Opera House fire, Boyertown, Pennsylvania, killed 170. By the time they got back, the whole thing had taken off. Helm: "The scene became progressively horrendous, grotesque, and I was having to describe things you couldn't possibly imagine.". The man we see at 7:50 walking out onto the pitch on fire was a retired mill worker. And then suddenly, in the space of 120-odd seconds, it really kicked in. The blaze, at the Happy Land Social Club in the Bronx, killed 87 people, the . "The referee blew his whistle to stop the game and told us to get back to the dressing room.". The disaster led to rigid new safety standards in UK stadiums, including the banning of new wooden grandstands. 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. Bits of my arms, bits of my legs, part of my face, part of my scalp. 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. The stand had been officially condemned and was due to be replaced with a steel structure after the season ended. The Bradford City stadium fire was the worst fire disaster in the history of football.. 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. "We went out on to the pitch and I could see so many happy faces. "For the first minute people were laughing and joking, it wasn't anything serious. The stadium was known for its antiquated design and facilities, which included the wooden roof of the main stand. We accepted it was an accident, nobody wanted to blame the club because it was the club we wanted to support. Each year Lincoln send representatives to the annual memorial service in Bradford city centre and between 2007 and 2009, were managed by Bradford's captain that day, Peter Jackson. Earlier this year, Town gave up working in construction to pursue painting full-time through his business Stadium Portraits. His son Christopher normally watches from the stand but on Saturday he joined other fans elsewhere. All Rights Reserved. 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. "I got stuck against the wall with the weight of people behind me trying to get over. 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. [10][16] More than 265 supporters were injured. ", 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. Funnily enough I was thinking 'I'm going to miss the second half at this rate'. Original television coverage of the fire, as caught by cameras covering the match. Mr Delahunte was screaming into his microphone describing the scene until it became impossible to continue broadcasting. People who had escaped the fire then tried to assist their fellow supporters. Fifty-six people died. "If we were fed a lie about it being an accident, then we will be educated. Some of those who died were still sitting upright in their seats, covered by remnants of tarpaulin that had fallen from the roof. He photographed the blaze from start to finish and the police will use this as evidence when an inquest is held. I hope you enjoy some of the fascinating stories we have here.#History #Disasters "I'm sorry to spoil what is obviously a very good story, but I'm afraid it is nonsense for many reasons.". 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. [10][16] Geoffrey Mitchell said: "There was panic as fans stampeded to an exit which was padlocked. 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. Police worked until 4am the next morning, under lighting, to remove all the bodies. The mood before the match on the 11 May 1985 against Lincoln City was one of jubilation. It wasn't until later on when assistant manager Terry Yorath came in and said: 'It's not good.'". However, as there was no real precedent, most Bradfordians accepted that the fire was a terrible piece of misfortune. He appealed to people to be patient while forensic experts identified bodies. England won the re-match 64. Recommended The untold stories of the 1985 fire "I looked up and saw the flames. Then flames licked the underside of the seats, which were a combination of wood and plastic. "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. One man in tears said: 'He looked as if he was just going for a stroll. Tarpaulin fell on them and stuck to their clothes and then ignited. 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. Spreading with almost unbelievable speed, a small fire under a wooden bench consumed the entire stand in under four minutes.Original TV footage: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x31qcmtIf you would like to support this channel - https://buymeacoffee.com/TheRavensEyeAlthough focused primarily on disasters, this channel is all about the interesting, the strange, the unsolved, the tragic. [citation needed] Mathew Wildman, aged 17 at the time of the fire, commented that "I must have had five different experiments carried out on me with all sorts of new techniques for skin grafts and I had potions injected into me that helped my face repair naturally over time. The match between Bradford City and Lincoln City, the final game of that season, had started in a celebratory atmosphere with the home team receiving the Third Division championship trophy. You could hardly breathe. We were sat in our football kit, we didn't know what to do. He started to walk home, unsure of what had happened to his father. The horrific scenes of people burning alive seemed to live on in an eerie silence as daylight broke over the remains of Bradford City Football Club's ground yesterday. In the last few years, the BCFC kit-man John Duckworth did a sponsored 73-mile walk between Lincoln's Sincil Bank stadium and Valley Parade, joined by Bradford fans along the way. 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]. Christmas Day is supposed to be happy and pleasant, a time to gather with loved ones for a chill and relaxing celebration. Now a new film claims an Australian was responsible for the worst . 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. 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. Smoke was seen coming from the third row in the section but people are apparently used to seeing smoke flares on the Bradford ground. I don't know where Falconer is getting this cock-and-bull story from the inaccuracies in this report [documentary] are dumbfounding. "We had already won the league, all the hard work had been done. 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. The Bradford City disaster took place on Saturday May 11, 1985 when a flash fire occurred at the Valley Parade stadium in Bradford, England. He is quoted as saying: "I don't believe the statement of retired Detective Inspector Raymond Falconer at all. Bradford, playing into a strong wind, were struggling to break down a Lincoln side already safe from relegation. This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 13:41. [32] 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. 1985 disaster in Valley Parade Stadium, Bradford, England. 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. 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". [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. 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. I dread to imagine how many more could have died if the wind had been blowing in the direction of the pitch, instead of away from it. Spread by the wind, the wooden roof, which was covered with tarpaulin and sealed with asphalt and bitumen, caught fire. 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. We, and the world, need Burning Man and Black Rock City more than ever. A fire at a third division match between Bradford City and Lincoln City killed 56, including 11 children, and injured hundreds more. ", "If the inquiry is opened again, we will await to see what evidence there is to prove is wasn't an accident," he says. [8][10] Three men smashed down one door and at least one exit was opened by people outside, which again helped prevent further deaths. It was fairly clear that somebody had dropped a lighted match or cigarette between the floorboards.". 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. 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. Cigarette smoking was also banned at all grounds with wooden stands. It seemed to put it out. 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. So I threw myself over the wall and luckily someone dived in to catch me before I hit the floor.". I remember trying to make sense of what was going on. [57] Following the 30th anniversary of the fire, a number of news organisations named this man as Eric Bennett who was visiting his nephew in Bradford from Australia and attended the game on the day. "[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. 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? [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. 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. [3] It included a main stand which seated 5,300fans, and had room for a further 7,000 standing spectators in the paddock in front. Mr Antony Burrows said: 'One man was stood near me with his hair on fire. It is a simple account laid out for all to see. "I was dragged on to the pitch and into a line of people, who couldn't do much for themselves and were lying there. Soon they were all running for their lives. ", "There was a throw-in in front of the stand where the fire started - something caught my eye. ", Hendrie: "We stayed in the pub for hours. "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. I'd seen the film on the Saturday but the bleakness of the stadium burnt out, and the gloom that afflicted everybody, was dreadful. It was to be our day,' he said. Bradford city council officials, off-duty policemen and guests from Bradford 's twin town, Munchengladbach, were there to celebrate. 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. 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. "The scene became progressively horrendous, grotesque, and I was having to describe things you couldn't possibly imagine.". It was clear from what the Chief Fire Officer for West Yorkshire, Mr Graham Karran, said yesterday that the ground was far from safe. 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 Bradford way was keep it to ourselves - it worked collectively that we did that. A Bradford Disaster Appeal Fund raised 3.5m for the victims and their families. Today, locals continue to raise money for the Plastic Surgery and Burns Research Unit in memory of the victims of the fire. Helm later described the start of the fire in an interview to the Express newspaper: .mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}, [A] man over from Australia visiting his son got two tickets to the game.
Spam Ping Bot Discord,
Articles B