burning man bradford city stadium fire

[10][16] Geoffrey Mitchell said: "There was panic as fans stampeded to an exit which was padlocked. It was sort of the good thing to come out of the nightmare," says Simon Parker, a football reporter for the Telegraph and Argus. We were sat in our football kit, we didn't know what to do. 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. Although I was only 12 at the time, 11 May 1985 is a day. 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 started to walk home, unsure of what had happened to his father. However, as there was no real precedent, most Bradfordians accepted that the fire was a terrible piece of misfortune. The blaze quickly engulfed the stand as Bradford played Lincoln City and claimed the lives of 59 people on May 11, 1985. And then suddenly, in the space of 120-odd seconds, it really kicked in. Funnily enough I was thinking 'I'm going to miss the second half at this rate'. 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. Although some attributed Lincoln City's sudden demise to the psychological effects of the fire on its players (together with the resignation of successful manager Colin Murphy shortly before the fire), it symbolised the wider crisis that the introduction of new safety legislation brought to Lincoln's Sincil Bank home. 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. 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. We accepted it was an accident, nobody wanted to blame the club because it was the club we wanted to support. he asks. "It wasn't covering anything up, it wasn't avoiding the truth of what happened, everyone knows what happened, everyone knows it shouldn't have happened. Below the seats were rows of litter which had piled up throughout the season, said witnesses. The stand slopes downwards from the South Parade. "[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. Like all areas of forensic investigations, it has come on leaps and bounds. 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 . [] I still have terrible memories of the day, but it is the humanity of those that helped us that I reflect on."[41]. ", Popplewell: "I'm sorry to spoil what is obviously a very good story, but I'm afraid it is nonsense for many reasons.". Police had an official photographer at the game, watching for crowd disturbance. I don't see that. 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. Mr Antony Burrows said: 'One man was stood near me with his hair on fire. Although there was no perimeter fencing, such as led to the devastating crush at Hillsborough, locked turnstiles meant that many fans who tried to escape by that means were killed or seriously injured. 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. She was an. [22], Immediately after the fire, Sharpe planned and treated the injuries of over 200 individuals, with many experimental treatments being used. But I've never spoken to anyone who thought the fire wasn't anything other than a tragic accident. ", 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. "I'm taking the opportunity to lay out the facts that were not laid out in 1985 at the time of the inquiry or the inquests. The timber construction of St. Andrew's Stand, Main Stand and the roof of its popular Railway End terrace were immediately condemned as fire hazards, which saw seating capacity briefly cut to nil. Speculation an Australian man started the Bradford City stadium fire in 1985 IT killed 56 people and destroyed an entire stadium. Valley Parade during the early 1990s, after it had been redeveloped following the fire. "We wouldn't normally have covered that game - no question about it. 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. More than 250 others were injured in one of the biggest disasters at a British football ground. Some days I had two operations in a day. I saw one man lying on the ground, burning from head to foot. Fletcher said that "The club at the time took no actual responsibility for its actions and nobody has ever really been held accountable for the level of negligence which took place. "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.". The entrances to the stand were all at the rear and were higher than the rest of the ground. The two sides met for the first time after the fire in April 1989, when they arranged a benefit match in aid of the Hillsborough disaster, at Valley Parade. 'The smoke was very, very dense. BurningMan.NYC will announce the dates and process for the 2023 grant cycle on this site & all BurningMan.NYC social channels in early Spring. It was also a catalyst for the substantial redevelopment and modernisation of many British football grounds within the following thirty years. 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. "[37], Fletcher subsequently published a book in 2015, Fifty-Six: The Story of the Bradford Fire which revealed a history of fires at businesses owned by the Bradford City chairman Stafford Heginbotham. By the time the fire brigade arrived they were faced with huge flames and dense smoke. Website by, Bradford City FC stadium fire | 11th May 1985, Fundraising for firefighters and their families. Loading. 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 Man burns on September 02, 2023. England won the re-match 64. After its renovation in 1990 they named the home end of their ground the 'Stacey-West Stand', in honour of Bill Stacey and Jim West, the two Lincoln City supporters who were amongst the 56 to die at Bradford. I'd seen the film on the Saturday but the bleakness of the stadium burnt out, and the gloom that afflicted everybody, was dreadful. You may notice some big changes in Black Rock City this year. He photographed the blaze from start to finish and the police will use this as evidence when an inquest is held. "The one thing I remember at the time is we were grateful that we got an answer quickly after the inquiry. I hope you enjoy some of the fascinating stories we have here.#History #Disasters Fifty people die in a fire in the grandstand at a soccer stadium in Bradford, England, on May 11, 1985. Most Bradfordians have accepted the fire was a terrible misfortune. 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. It was the brainchild of Bradford City fan Lloyd Spencer with all profits going to the Bradford Royal Infirmary Burns Unit.[43]. The man we see at 7:50 walking out onto the pitch on fire was a retired mill worker. 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". ", Hendrie: "We stayed in the pub for hours. [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. People were wandering around outside the ground in disbelief, reminiscent of an air disaster, at what had happened the day before. It transpired that the wooden stand had already been condemned and was set to be demolished just two days after the tragedy. Called 'The 56' the play dramatises actual accounts of the Bradford City Fire with the purpose of the play showing how in times of adversity, the Football Club and the local community came together. My hands suffered the most because they were exposed the most. The scene in there was one of silence and shock. "I'm sorry to spoil what is obviously a very good story, but I'm afraid it is nonsense for many reasons.". "But the feeling here is that it is hard to believe that someone would purposefully start a fire. Crowds on the pitch at Bradford City's Valley Parade stadium after the stand caught fire, Bradford City fans pay tribute to the 56 fans who died the Bradford City stadium fire in 1985, The blaze causing the deaths of 56 supporters in one of the worst incidents in British football, Bradford artist Paul Town was inspired to paint after surviving the Valley Parade fire, Stay up to date with our daily newsletter, New book claims fatal 1985 Bradford City Valley Parade fire might have been started deliberately, Bradford City chairman 'linked to eight fires' before Valley Parade stadium disaster, Bradford City 0-0 Reading: Bantams hold Royals in quarter-final stalemate, David Alaba receives massive abuse for voting for Lionel Messi in The Best awards, Glazers' demands set to delay Manchester United takeover: reports, Man Utd beat West Ham to reach FA Cup quarters as Spurs crash out, Bahrain GP: F1 team rankings ahead of 2023 season-opener, Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Xavi admits Los Blancos still favourites to advance. A fire at a third division match between Bradford City and Lincoln City killed 56, including 11 children, and injured hundreds more. 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. "The scene when I arrived was horrendous. I ran to the stand and tried to help people escape. He was completely on fire and it looked as though he simply did not know what had happened to him.'. [39], The club's chairman, Stafford Heginbotham, said: "It was to be our day". Instead it turned into a day of appalling tragedy. 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 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. The fire started five minutes before half-time during the match on 11 May between Bradford and Lincoln City. [34], 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. Somebody looked round and grabbed me by the hood of my coat to pull me over. The speed at which fire engulfs the entire stand is insane. Come celebrate the beastly realm and our place in it and with it, an even more radically inclusive and sustainable city and global community in 2023: ANIMALIA! [2] By 1911, his work was completed. Bradford City stadium fire: The untold stories of the 1985 fire that devastated Valley Parade Thirty years after football's 'forgotten tragedy', the truth of what exactly happened when 56. "[16] 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. Fire disaster at football match (Bradford City stadium fire) - YouTube Sign in to confirm your age 0:00 / 5:23 Sign in to confirm your age This video may be inappropriate for some users.. More than 250 others were injured in one of the. That duty was not a duty to the Club but a duty to the spectators and other persons in the stand. Yet in 2015, allegations surfaced which shifted the focus to the club's then chairman, Stafford Heginbotham. "[11] Police Superintendent Barry Osborne, divisional commander for the area, said many of his officers cried when they saw how badly people had been burned. [53], In 1986, a year after the disaster, Yorkshire Television aired a documentary presented by John Helm entitled Bradford City A Year of Healing. There is no malicious vendetta, there is no over-exaggeration, there are no trumped-up facts. [16] Messages of condolence were also received from Helmut Kohl, Chedli Klibi and Felipe Gonzlez. Since then, it has been further re-developed and, today, Valley Parade is a modern 25,136 all-seater stadium, which is virtually unrecognisable from how it was at the time of the disaster, save for the original clubhouse that still stands beside the main stand, and the flank support wall that runs down the Hollywell Ash Lane at the "Bradford End". Thirty years on, the majority of survivors still find it too difficult to talk about what happened at the Valley Parade on 11 May 1985. A giant Christian cross, made up of two large charred wooden members[44] that had once been part of the stand, was constructed in front of the middle of the stand and behind the pitchside speaker's platform. [1] When the association football club was formed, the ground was changed very little and had no covered accommodation. 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. It is a simple account laid out for all to see. " Burning Man," " Burning Man Project," " Black Rock City ", and . [10][11], Bradford's Telegraph & Argus newspaper published a souvenir issue for 11 May, entitled, "Spit and Polish for the Parade Ground". Representatives from the fire brigade were due to go to the club tomorrow to inspect it and see whether regulations were being observed. Fifty-six people died. [15] They included three who tried to escape through the toilets, 27 who were found by exit K and turnstiles 6 to 9 at the rear centre of the stand, and two elderly people who had died in their seats. Wildman: "I was burnt from top to bottom, on and off. Burning Man is an event focused on community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance held annually in the western United States. Fifty-six people died. "It's therapeutic and I've met so many people through doing this." Copyright , Fire Brigades Union, 2023. 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. 1.7M subscribers in the CatastrophicFailure community. "If we were fed a lie about it being an accident, then we will be educated. Mike Harrison, the editor of the Bradford City Football Club fanzine The City Gent, was there on the day. Cigarette smoking was also banned at all grounds with wooden stands. His son Christopher normally watches from the stand but on Saturday he joined other fans elsewhere. Bradford City had just won the Third Division Championship and a record number of spectators over 11,000 had turned out to see the club presented with its first piece of league silverware in 56 years. 2022 DECOMPRESSION WAS DREAMY . Television cameras spotted the outbreak of fire in Valley Parade's main stand at 15:40 BST. The disaster led to rigid new safety standards in UK stadiums, including the banning of new wooden grandstands. 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. [30], The outcome of the test case resulted in over 154 claims being addressed (110 civilians and 44 police officers)[31] by the injured or bereaved. It was later established that the blaze was caused by a fan who went to put his cigarette out but dropped it between the floorboards onto a pile of rubbish that had been building up below. 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. [7] As it was the first piece of league silverware that the club had captured since they won the Division Three (North) title 56years earlier, 11,076supporters were in the ground. The match, Bradford against Lincoln, was to have been a joyous climax to the club winning the Third Division championship and being promoted to the Second Division. The stadium was known for its antiquated design and facilities, which included the wooden roof of the main stand.