In Memory Of The Bradford Disaster

[Keith_M]

Forty years ago today at Valley Parade, Bradford, a fire broke out under the main stand during a game between Bradford City and Lincoln City.

The fire spread so rapidly that not everybody was able to evacuate in time and 56 poor souls lost their lives.


I've just been reading about it again and It still shocks me all these years later

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3r8r1408jro

[Trinity Hibee]

BBC2 9pm there is a programme on about it

[Spike Mandela]

Remember watching it live. Seem to remember a policeman's hair catching fire on the pitch. Really affected me, similar to Hillsborough and Heysel.

At least it kick started the gov't and the football authourities into improving football stadia

[NAE NOOKIE]

Started I believe by a dropped cigarette. But the fact is that was only one factor. The others were a stand made of incredibly flammable materiel with decades of rubbish underneath it and gates locked at the back of the stand, even after the game was over, that stopped people getting out.

I still remember the old Hibs main stand and seeing how tinder dry and untreated the wooden structure looked, also with rubbish piled up beneath the seating deck. The sobering thought is that a tragedy like Bradford could have happened at any one of a number of grounds around the UK at that time .... not least Easter Road.

[Pretty Boy]

Horrific.

As I said on the Hillsborough thread a few weeks back the authorities and clubs treated football fans like crap back then. No investment in stadiums, comfort and even safety were total afterthoughts.

If there is anything to be taken from such events it's that people didn't die in vain. The Taylor Report forced clubs to do what they had neglected for years and we are all far safer and more comfortable now.

[tamig]

Remember it like it was yesterday. I was sure I’d been to ER that day - we were playing the hun - but I was watching live pictures on the telly at my pal’s house in Prestonpans of the fire. Earliest I’d have been there would have been about 5:15. So not sure if the kick-offs at the games were at different times. Or maybe I didn’t go to ER that day at all even though I had a season. Horrific seeing the scenes live though. It went up so quickly. But was a catalyst for change in relation to the state of many football grounds in the UK.

[Bridge hibs]

Started I believe by a dropped cigarette. But the fact is that was only one factor. The others were a stand made of incredibly flammable materiel with decades of rubbish underneath it and gates locked at the back of the stand, even after the game was over, that stopped people getting out.

I still remember the old Hibs main stand and seeing how tinder dry and untreated the wooden structure looked, also with rubbish piled up beneath the seating deck. The sobering thought is that a tragedy like Bradford could have happened at any one of a number of grounds around the UK at that time .... not least Easter Road.And the Bradford City owners had been pre warned about safety in the stand but did not act.

Bradford City, specifically the club's owners, received multiple warnings about potential fire safety issues at their Valley Parade stadium before the tragic fire in 1985. The club received warnings from the Health and Safety Executive and West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council, highlighting the fire hazard posed by the wooden stands and accumulated rubbish beneath the seats.

Elaboration:

Warnings:

Bradford City was warned about the fire hazard in their main stand, particularly the accumulation of combustible materials beneath the seats.

Authorities:

The warnings came from the Health and Safety Executive and West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council.

Unheeded Warnings:

The club did not act on the warnings or reply to the council's letter.

Consequences:

The inquest into the deaths found that the fire could have been foreseen and avoided if action had been taken.

[Stevie Reid]

Remember it from when I was a kid, but watched a very good BT documentary on it a few years ago, which showed how quickly the fire progressed via the tv coverage. Was an absolutely terrifying watch.

[Kato]

Have Seen it a few times as part of Fire Awareness Training, including just a couple of months ago. My youngest team member was dumbstruck at the brevity between the initial smoke and the whole place being ablaze. Brutal.

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[JimBHibees]

Remember it from when I was a kid, but watched a very good BT documentary on it a few years ago, which showed how quickly the fire progressed via the tv coverage. Was an absolutely terrifying watch.

Was that the one with Gabby Logan in it? Her dad of course being Terry Yorath who was Bradford manager that day

[Stevie Reid]

Was that the one with Gabby Logan in it? Her dad of course being Terry Yorath who was Bradford manager that day

It was, Jim.

[JimBHibees]

It was, Jim.

Yes excellent but harrowing watch

[ozhibs]

Started I believe by a dropped cigarette. But the fact is that was only one factor. The others were a stand made of incredibly flammable materiel with decades of rubbish underneath it and gates locked at the back of the stand, even after the game was over, that stopped people getting out.

I still remember the old Hibs main stand and seeing how tinder dry and untreated the wooden structure looked, also with rubbish piled up beneath the seating deck. The sobering thought is that a tragedy like Bradford could have happened at any one of a number of grounds around the UK at that time .... not least Easter Road.

I remember thinking the same thing at the time, I remember as a youngster in the cowshed thinking I would love to be in the North Stand

GGTTH 🇳🇬🇳🇬

[Renfrew_Hibby]

I was six at the time of the disaster and have no recollection of it compared to the tragedies that would follow it in the years to come so last nights documentary was both moving but also an education for me.

What I didn't know about was that in the years leading up to Bradford was that various wooden stands at clubs like Norwich, Brighton and Bristol Rovers had caught fire, the fire at Norwich seemed to completely destroy the stand. Yet nothing was done, no safety regulations seemed to be brought in as there had been no deaths at those fires and it took the deaths of 56 people to force the governments hand.

The speed at how fire took hold is truly terrifying. From the moment that a small patch of flames is visible on the TV footage to the whole stand being engulfed by flames and thick poisonous smoke is only two to three minutes. Extraordinary.

[snedzuk]

I was six at the time of the disaster and have no recollection of it compared to the tragedies that would follow it in the years to come so last nights documentary was both moving but also an education for me.

What I didn't know about was that in the years leading up to Bradford was that various wooden stands at clubs like Norwich, Brighton and Bristol Rovers had caught fire, the fire at Norwich seemed to completely destroy the stand. Yet nothing was done, no safety regulations seemed to be brought in as there had been no deaths at those fires and it took the deaths of 56 people to force the governments hand.

The speed at how fire took hold is truly terrifying. From the moment that a small patch of flames is visible on the TV footage to the whole stand being engulfed by flames and thick poisonous smoke is only two to three minutes. Extraordinary.

Our 1968 LC final was postponed because of a fire at Hampden that damaged about 1400 seats. There was talk of arson but I dont know that was ever proven. There was another fire at Ibrox about two days later.

[hibsbollah]

There was an enquiry called the Popplewell enquiry which can get confused with the Taylor report; Popplewell only said new wooden stands couldnt be built and existing stands were ok as long as a smoking ban was put in place, which in those days was of course widely ignored; i remember sitting in the old wooden west stand as long ago as 1999 and there was tons of rubbish piled up under the stand and every bassa seemed to be smoking, that was 13 years after Bradford

[Pagan Hibernia]

Have Seen it a few times as part of Fire Awareness Training, including just a couple of months ago. My youngest team member was dumbstruck at the brevity between the initial smoke and the whole place being ablaze. Brutal.

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Yep same, seen it as part of fire awareness training at work, and watched it a few times since then.

Harrowing. One minute the commentator is describing a second division football match, and within 3 minutes he's having to find the words to describe that... unbelievable

[NAE NOOKIE]

There was an enquiry called the Popplewell enquiry which can get confused with the Taylor report; Popplewell only said new wooden stands couldnt be built and existing stands were ok as long as a smoking ban was put in place, which in those days was of course widely ignored; i remember sitting in the old wooden west stand as long ago as 1999 and there was tons of rubbish piled up under the stand and every bassa seemed to be smoking, that was 13 years after Bradford

Which goes towards what a few people have been saying. Even in the knowledge that piled up rubbish and tinder dry wooden structures had been a major contributory factor at Bradford, clubs still ignored these warnings, even to the extent of neglecting the simple job of clearing rubbish from beneath wooden seating decks, which as you point out both wings of our main stand consisted of long after Bradford.

[Tom Hart RIP]

A few years after the Bradford fire, we played Rangers at Ibrox and for some reason got allocated the Broomloan end of their Main stand which was also wooden, similar to Easter Road's north stand.

A Hibs fan let off a flair which flew up, hit the ceiling, ricocheted a few times on girders before falling into the crowd,

For a minute or so you couldn't see two rows in front of you because of the thick smoke and it took a few minutes before we could see the pitch.

Once it cleared a couple of Strathclyde cops waded into the crowd and lifted a teenager although I'm not sure they got the right guy.

Anyone else remember being there that day?

Given the Bradford disaster it was a frightening experience.

[HoboHarry]

Yep same, seen it as part of fire awareness training at work, and watched it a few times since then.

Harrowing. One minute the commentator is describing a second division football match, and within 3 minutes he's having to find the words to describe that... unbelievable
During my fire training years many ago we were told that the first emergency call for Bradford didn't even come from staff at the ground, it came from someone watching it happen on tv more than 20 miles away. I can't say if that's true or not but certainly what we were told at the time....

[ekhibee]

I remember watching an interview with Stuart McCall during a documentary about it, I think he was playing in that game and his dad was in the crowd and was injured, he said it stayed with his dad for the rest of his life.

[superfurryhibby]

During my fire training years many ago we were told that the first emergency call for Bradford didn't even come from staff at the ground, it came from someone watching it happen on tv more than 20 miles away. I can't say if that's true or not but certainly what we were told at the time....

Pre-mobile phone days and the chances are that the telephones were unreachable due to the speed of the fire in the main stand?

This was a disaster waiting to happen and could have taken place at any club with an old wooden stand.

I rarely sat in our old main stand anyway, but was even more reluctant after Bradford. What a tragic event it was, very sad.

[superfurryhibby]

Here's an account of the fire from Wiki. It's very distressing to read, but worth doing so. The lack of safety considerations are shockingly described.



The match kicked off at 3:04 pm and after forty minutes of the first half the score remained 0–0,[13] in what was described as a drab affair with neither team threatening to score.

At 3:44 pm, five minutes before half-time, the first sign of a fire – a glowing light – was noticed three rows from the back of block G, as reported by television commentator John Helm. Helm later described the start of the fire in an interview to the Daily Express newspaper:

[A] man over from Australia visiting his son got two tickets to the game. 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. It slipped through a hole in the floorboard. A minute later he saw a small plume of smoke so he poured his coffee on it and so did his son. It seemed to put it out. But a minute or so later there was suddenly a bigger whoosh of smoke so they went to get a steward. By the time they got back, the whole thing had taken off.

One witness saw paper or debris on fire, about nine inches (230 mm) below the floor boards.[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. 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.[10] The call was timed at 3:43 pm.[11]

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.[10] One eyewitness, 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."[15] 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.[13] It took less than four minutes for the entire stand to be engulfed in flames.[11]

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.[citation needed]

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.[8][10] Three men smashed down one door and at least one exit was opened by people outside, which again helped prevent further deaths.[10][15] 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."[15] 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.[10]

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,[17] as did player John Hawley,[14] and one officer led fans to an exit, only to find it shut and had to turn around.[10] Bradford City's coach Terry Yorath, whose family was in the stand,[18] ran onto the pitch to help evacuate people. Another player went into the office space to ensure there was nobody there.[18] One fan put his jumper over a fellow supporter's head to extinguish flames.[11] 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 4 am 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.[11]

[Keith_M]

A few years after the Bradford fire, we played Rangers at Ibrox and for some reason got allocated the Broomloan end of their Main stand which was also wooden, similar to Easter Road's north stand.

A Hibs fan let off a flair which flew up, hit the ceiling, ricocheted a few times on girders before falling into the crowd,

For a minute or so you couldn't see two rows in front of you because of the thick smoke and it took a few minutes before we could see the pitch.

Once it cleared a couple of Strathclyde cops waded into the crowd and lifted a teenager although I'm not sure they got the right guy.

Anyone else remember being there that day?

Given the Bradford disaster it was a frightening experience.


I don't want to take this off track, but the person that did that has admitted it was a bit of a daft thing to do.

But yeah, it must have been a bit worrying, given the context.