"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.". There is no malicious vendetta, there is no over-exaggeration, there are no trumped-up facts. Previous warnings had also been given about a major build-up of litter in the cavity below the seats in the stand. [4] Football ground writer Simon Inglis had described the view from the stand as "like watching football from the cockpit of a Sopwith Camel" because of its antiquated supports and struts. By the time the fire brigade arrived they were faced with huge flames and dense smoke. Now a new film claims an Australian was responsible for the worst . In March 1985 the club's plans became more apparent when it took delivery of steel for a new roof. 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. Eighty names were unaccounted for and there were no positive indications about the cause of the fire. He is quoted as saying: "I don't believe the statement of retired Detective Inspector Raymond Falconer at all. People were wandering around outside the ground in disbelief, reminiscent of an air disaster, at what had happened the day before. 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]. 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. Instead it turned into a day of appalling tragedy. Yet in 2015, allegations surfaced which shifted the focus to the club's then chairman, Stafford Heginbotham. My hands suffered the most because they were exposed the most. This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 13:41. But a minute or so later there was suddenly a bigger whoosh of smoke so they went to get a steward. Disaster struck at 3.43 pm. 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. I had to put my jumper over his hair to put the blaze out. 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 turn around.Bradford City's coach Terry Yorath, whose family was in the stand, ran onto the pitch to help evacuate people. 'I think that is unlikely,' he said. There is a twin memorial sculpture, unveiled on 11 May 1986, which has the names of the dead inscribed on it. 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. No one gave it the attention it ought to have received.. .. Speculation an Australian man started the Bradford City stadium fire in 1985 IT killed 56 people and destroyed an entire stadium. I ran to the stand and tried to help people escape. 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. At the time, however, Harrison says, Bradford just wanted to move on. Listen to Valley Parade: Bradford City Fire Remembered on BBC Radio Leeds (18:00 BST) and BBC Radio 5 live (21:00 BST). [5] However, he also warned the club of a build-up of litter beneath the stand because of a gap between the seats. The local council was deemed to be one third responsible. 48,785 Location Lake Jonathan Creek The footage never gets any less shocking. It was clear from what the Chief Fire Officer for West Yorkshire, Mr Graham Karran, said yesterday that the ground was far from safe. Pendleton: "One of my most haunting images was being on the bus home after dark and going past Valley Parade. Bits of my arms, bits of my legs, part of my face, part of my scalp. 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. I was there in hospital for eight weeks - it felt like a lifetime. After Hillsborough, the Bradford City FC stadium fire was the second worst sporting tragedy in England, leaving 56 dead and at least 265 injured. While Valley Parade was re-developed, Bradford City played games at various neighbouring grounds: Elland Road, Leeds; Leeds Road, Huddersfield; and Odsal Stadium, Bradford. All Rights Reserved. Parents and children were laughing and joking with the police as the preliminaries to the game began. He was completely on fire and it looked as though he simply did not know what had happened to him.'. [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. The only fire extinguishers in the ground were in the clubroom, which is also in the main stand. 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. he asks. A Bradford Disaster Appeal Fund raised 3.5m for the victims and their families. The other, situated by the main entrance, was donated by the club after its 7.5million (13million today) rebuilding of the original main stand in 2002. Within 48 hours of the disaster, the Bradford Disaster Appeal Fund had been set up and would eventually raise over 3.5m ($5.4m). "I parked my van outside because I started making enough money painting as I was in construction. People were falling on to each other and screaming. [49], Parrs Wood Press published Four Minutes to Hell: The Story of the Bradford City Fire (2005) by author Paul Firth;[50] the title refers to the estimated time it took for the stand to be completely ablaze from the first flames being spotted. 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. This day was for them. He was helped out of the stand by other fans and spent a period of time in hospital. ", ITV football commentator John Helm, who provided live commentary of the unfolding disaster across the nation: "We wouldn't normally have covered that game - no question about it. When cross examined by QC Robert Smith, then Chairman Stafford Heginbotham said he knew about the fire risk at the ground. One family was in tears, the mother shaking. "[16] At the front of the stand, men threw children over the wall to help them escape. "[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. He had to undergo counselling and was unable to go to another game for several years. Fletcher has been the only survivor to publicly challenge the inquiry's findings. 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. 'It is the worst day in my life. Police had an official photographer at the game, watching for crowd disturbance. Stadium disasters have blighted the world of sport throughout modern history. People were scrambling for their lives to get out, and I know having sat in that stand normally that it is difficult and there is a drop to get to the pitch level," Harrison says. Keep an eye out as you ride your bike through the city you will see a new solar-powered Man, fewer gas and . Coach Terry Yorath described the events as "the worst day in my life. [38], 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. "When I got to one of the final walls, there was an eight-foot drop at the other side, concrete at the bottom. And the black and twisted skeleton of the burnt stand stood out in the night. Below the seats were rows of litter which had piled up throughout the season, said witnesses. It was unprecedented.". [40] Matthew Wildman was 17 at the time and needed crutches to walk because of rheumatoid arthritis. There was hardly anything left of him.'. I don't know where Falconer is getting this cock-and-bull story from the inaccuracies in this report [documentary] are dumbfounding. Artist Paul Town, who now lives in Baildon, was 15 at the time of the fire. After Hillsborough, the Bradford City FC stadium fire was the second worst sporting tragedy in England, leaving 56 dead and at least 265 injured. "All I could see was eerie white lights that the fire brigade had set up and the smoke still in the sky. Our world has a varied history full of terrible tragedies, bizarre tales, unexplained events, and extravagant people. BBC Sport looks back at the Bradford City fire disaster that claimed the lives of 56 spectators when a stand became engulfed in flames on 11 May 1985. "I saw people die in the stand - but it was only until then that I realised the scale of it.". [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. It is impossible so far to be accurate about the precise cause of the fire, with grossly conflicting reports from witnesses. When the game began there was no way out for them, except by going on to the pitch. According to ABC News, though, several hundred people in the Chinese city of Luoyang decided to cut loose on Christmas night 2000 by heading to a nightclub housed on the fourth floor of a multi-use industrial building.A fire broke out in the basement of the structure . Pendleton: "Many people still don't want to talk about the disaster. He later said: "I have never known anything like it, either before, or since. People smothered him to extinguish the flames, but he later died of his injuries in hospital. Burning Man is an event focused on community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance held annually in the western United States. "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. Tarpaulin fell on them and stuck to their clothes and then ignited. The fire started five minutes before half-time during the match on 11 May between Bradford and Lincoln City. Valley Parade during the early 1990s, after it had been redeveloped following the fire. Burning timber and molten material began to fall onto the seating below and black smoke enveloped the passageway behind, where fans were trying to escape. The blaze, at the Happy Land Social Club in the Bronx, killed 87 people, the . They were donated by Bradford's twin city of Hamm, Germany, and are situated in front of Bradford City Hall in both locations. The playing area and stands were very basic but the ground had enough room for 18,000spectators. Football architect Archibald Leitch was commissioned to carry out the work. 1908 - Rhoads Opera House fire, Boyertown, Pennsylvania, killed 170. "As I ran away I remember turning around and looking and just seeing this wall of grey smoke pouring out and pushing thousands of people in front of it. 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. The 51 other bodies of children, women and men were so badly burned that identification will take many days. A call was made on a police radio to the police operations room in Bradford and relayed to the fire brigade at 3.43 pm. Witnesses of the fire have come to terms with the tragedy in different ways. I've never seen anything like it. As he scaled the brick perimeter wall at the front, his father stayed behind to help others escape. [2] The main stand was described as a "mammoth structure", but was unusual for its time because of its place on the side of a hill. We wanted to record the trophy presentation. 56 people dead. Helm: "There was a throw-in in front of the stand where the fire started - something caught my eye. 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 . 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. The fire started five minutes before half-time during the match on 11 May between Bradford and Lincoln City. Bradford City continues to support the burns unit at the University of Bradford as its official charity. One man clambered over burning seats to help a fan,[18] as did player John Hawley,[15] and one officer led fans to an exit, only to find it shut and had to turn around. 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. Everybody in the city was devastated, but there was an amazing number of volunteers. [47] Scriptwriters of the play spent hours with the survivors and victims families. Led by former England international Trevor Cherry, the Bantams won only their third divisional title and earned a return to the second tier of English football for the first time since 1937.
Highley Motocross Track,
St Patrick's Day Parade Route,
Alex Bennett Barstool Husband,
What Happened At Grace Chapel Leipers Fork,
Articles B
