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.
The death toll was so high, the manner of their death so horrific and the litany of fire-safety neglect so appalling that it’s hard to understand why the disaster has not attracted anywhere near the level of coverage in the succeeding years that the Hillsborough disaster – rightly – has.
Where to start.
The stand, which had been condemned and was due for demolition (though it was still deemed good enough for football supporters for the time being), was made of timber – and this at a time when supporters were allowed to smoke freely on the terraces.
Ready-made bonfire
More incomprehensibly still, litter had been allowed to pile up beneath the stand – a ready-made bonfire just awaiting ignition. Just to give you an idea of how long the rubbish had been accruing, among the debris afterwards a copy of the Bradford Telegraph and Argus was found, dated 4 November 1968.
As the fire – which was blamed on a dropped match – spread, most people scrambled desperately to the foot of the stand, climbing over advertising hoardings to the safety of the pitch.
Others fled to the rear of the stand – to their doom. The rear exits, the police hadn’t realised, had actually been boarded up or padlocked.
Remarkably the fixture was filmed by ITV – a rare thing in those days – and you can see footage of the fire unfold below. It’s quite incongruous to hear the commentator switch from the cliched excitability of football-ese to the grave tones of a war correspondent.
The speed at which the fire develops – the entire stand is engulfed in flames in a matter of minutes – is staggering.
At one point a crowd of police, stewards and supporters desperately tried to extinguish flames that had engulfed a supporter by hitting them with their jackets. The man, a retired mill worker, later died in hospital.
Writing in the Guardian a few years ago, Daniel Taylor recalled the poignant story of a former classmate who had escaped the blaze but lost his dad, grandfather, uncle and younger brother in the disaster. All the more jarring then was the jubilant singing of many Bradford City fans on the pitch as half of their stadium burned – clearly ignorant of the loss of life occurring and something they’ve have had plenty of time to regret.
The club had apparently been warned on three separate occasions about the potential fire risk, twice by the Health and Safety Executive and once by the county council, between 1981 to 1984.
And the Safety of Sports Grounds Act introduced in the wake of the 1971 Ibrox disaster, which stipulated that wooden stands should be capable of evacuation in two and a half minutes, that all combustible material must be removed from beneath them, that all voids should be sealed and that no one should be more than 30 metres from the nearest manned exit, had clearly been ignored.
Looking back on the concerning health and safety measures at the time – there didn’t seem to be any – it’s worth reflecting on how far UK fire safety has come since. For all the anti-‘elf and safety bleating there is, the progress the industry has made has surely saved hundreds, if not thousands of lives – though of course there have still been many tragedies since and there is still much work to be done.
Too bad the improvements came too late for the 56 who lost their lives on 11 May 1985.
This article was originally written in 2014 by previous editor, Adam Bannister, and has been updated as a timely reminder of the tragedy that took place.
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Sadly I fear that the kind if media attention that the people of the City of Bradford and the football club have managed to avoid will be earring it’s ugly head due to this significant anniversary. Some City fans, most of whom I do not believe were directly involved in the fire, shouted “what about us” a few years ago following the Hillsborough anniversary and the media attention surrounding the Cup Final. The people I know who were directly involved in the fire and affected in such horrendous ways, do not want this. They do not want journalists writing either… Read more »
Having personally, as a supporter of Bradford City, been at the tragedy and witnessing and being physical and emotionally involved, I have to agree with Cathy that those of us that experienced it first-hand do not relish the prospect of media attention that will look, yet again, to find blame. The memories of that day are still so vivid that I can recall the scenes of tragedy, heroism and death without closing my eyes (no need to watch the video). The supporters of the club are appreciative of the heartfelt and unreported acts by fellow football fans in paying their continued… Read more »
“. . the police – demonstrating a level of incompetence seen again four years later in the Leppings Lane stand at Hillsborough – actually ushered to the exits at the rear of the stand – to their doom. The rear exits, the police hadn’t realised, had actually been boarded up or padlocked.” What a shame this statement is included in the otherwise moving article. The police as shown in the video, behaved impeccably and heroically. They were shooing people away to the front and onto the pitch as fast as they could. There may have been police to the rear… Read more »
I agree, the article should not make personal statements regarding the actions of any professional individuals.
Hi all. Few of you have expressed concern about a line in the article about the role of police in this appalling tragedy. I must confess, I sourced the information on that particular point from an article in the Guardian. I don’t have the time to explore the veracity of that info – and perhaps I was unwise to word it as I did anyway – so I’ve removed the offending line. On reflection I shouldn’t have included it… so apologies. Have a good Christmas all…
Very moving to read the comments & sobering to be educated that the needs of those most affected should be our primary focus. It is good to see that some good, in the form of safety improvements, has come from the tragedy – a silver lining to what has to be one of the darkest clouds. On that note, I, as a fire warden at my place of work, was subjected to the video of the disaster (I choose my verb carefully) during my fire warden training, with a narrative added to emphasise the urgency of evacuating in the event… Read more »
I wonder how we can provide effective surveillance system for the whole city-wide. I am not happy sometime how there has been loopholes in the security surveillance.