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The Bradford City Fire Disaster occurred on Saturday May 11, 1985 when a flash fire consumed one side of the Valley Parade football stadium in Bradford, England. Events 330 - Byzantium is renamed ''Nova Roma'' during a dedication ceremony but is more popularly referred to as Constantinople Year 1985 ( MCMLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar) A flash fire is an unexpected sudden intense Fire caused by ignition of flammable solids (including Dust) liquids or gases Valley Parade, also known as the Coral Windows Stadium through Sponsorship rights is an All-seater football Stadium in Bradford Bradford ( lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a Metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The fire broke out during a football match between the home team, Bradford City, and Lincoln City, on the day that Bradford City were supposed to have celebrated their winning the Football League Third Division trophy. Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered Bradford City Association Football Club (also known as The Bantams, and previously The Paraders) is an English football club based in Bradford Lincoln City FC are an English football team currently playing in Football League Two (the fourth tier of the English football league system From the 1992-93 to the 2003-04 season, the Football League Third Division was the third-highest division of The Football League and the fourth-highest 56 people lost their lives.

Contents

Background

1984-85 in English football saw Bradford City enjoy a most successful season in Football League Division 3 (today's Football League One), and by May 11, the final Saturday of the season, had secured enough points to be crowned league champions, gaining promotion to the Football League Division 2 (today's Football League Championship) for the first time since 1937, 48 years earlier. From the 1992-93 to the 2003-04 season, the Football League Third Division was the third-highest division of The Football League and the fourth-highest Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Coca-Cola Football League 1 for sponsorship reasons is the second-highest division of The Football Events 330 - Byzantium is renamed ''Nova Roma'' during a dedication ceremony but is more popularly referred to as Constantinople From 1892 until 1992 the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football. The Football League Championship (often referred to as The Championship for short or the Coca-Cola Football League Championship for sponsorship reasons Year 1937 ( MCMXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. With Bradford City already champions, and Lincoln City safely occupying mid-table, the game was a meaningless sideshow to what was supposed to be a very rare day of celebration for Bradford City.

As it was the first piece of domestic silverware that the club had captured since they won Football League Division Three North 56 years earlier, in 1929, 11,076 supporters, double that season's average attendance, packed into the then ramshackle 16,000 capacity Valley Parade, to see their club crowned league champions. The Third Division North of The Football League was a level in English association football, which ran parallel to Third Division South from Year 1929 ( MCMXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Of these, 2,000 filled all the ground's seats and a further 2,000 stood on the Paddock terrace that ran immediately to the front and side of the Edwardian Main Stand, also filling it to capacity. Class and society Socially the Edwardian era was a period during which the British Class system was very rigid

Half an hour before the game, the Bradford City team did a lap of honour after club captain Peter Jackson was presented with the Third Division trophy. Peter Jackson (born 6 April 1961 in Bradford, England) is a former footballer and current football manager currently in For the first 40 minutes of the game, the two sides played out a goalless draw, then disaster unfolded.

Fire

It is believed the fire started when a spectator disposed of smoking materials, which fell through a damaged empty space beneath the seats of the main stand and onto a pile of rubbish that had accumulated beneath the stand for approximately 20 years.

Five minutes before half-time, white smoke was seen rising from the rear of the 77-year-old wooden stand. Fire-fighting equipment was immediately requested and the police began to move fans from the rear of G Block, the area in which the fire started. Three minutes later, after flames emerged from beneath the stand, match referee Don Shaw stopped the match, which the Football Association ultimately declared to be a 0-0 draw, the score at the time of the game's abandonment. A referee is a person who has authority to make decisions about play in many Sports Officials in various sports are known by a variety of titles including referee The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey

All thoughts of the match were now forgotten as people were evacuated onto the playing field. A playing field is a field used for playing sports or games They are generally outdoors but many large structures exist to enclose playing fields from bad weather Only the fire rapidly took hold 90 seconds later, after a flashover occurred throughout G Block, with the entire main stand then engulfed within two minutes. For the 2007 documentary see Flashover (film. In Electric power transmission, a flashover is an unintended high voltage electric discharge over Whilst most escaped onto the playing field, others seated towards the rear of the stand were trapped in the narrow rear corridor at the back of the stand. Most of the fire's fatalities were found along this corridor where they had been overcome by toxic smoke, by the rear inward opening exit doors and turnstile entrances, which had been locked to prevent unauthorised access. Toxicity is the degree to which a substance is able to damage an exposed organism Smoke is the collection of airborne solid and liquid Particulates and Gases ref> ''Smoke Production and Properties'' - SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering

After flashover the fire raced along the stand's wooden roof with wooden boards and burning melting tar falling from its bitumen-coated roof and onto escaping fans below. Tar is a viscous black Liquid derived from the Destructive distillation of organic matter Bitumen is a mixture of organic Liquids that are highly Viscous, black sticky entirely soluble in Carbon disulfide, and composed primarily Ironically, the steel that the club said it intended to use to update the aging wooden roof the following Monday was lying in the car park behind the stand.

Only countless acts of heroism by police and supporters prevented the death toll from being much worse. Fans who had escaped the fire switched their attentions to saving fellow supporters. Four police officers, PCs David Britton, John Richard Ingham and Chief Inspectors Charles Frederick Mawson and Terence Michael Slocombe; and two spectators, Richard Gough and David Hustler were awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal for their actions. A constable is a person holding a particular office most commonly in law enforcement. Chief Inspector ( Ch Insp) is a rank used in Police forces which follow the British model The Queen's Gallantry Medal ( QGM) is the third level Civil decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. [1] PCs Peter Donald Barrett and David Charles Midgley; along with spectators Michael William Bland and Timothy Peter Leigh received the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct. Instituted in 1939 by King George VI as the King's Commendation for Brave Conduct it acknowledged brave acts by civilians and members of the military in non-warlike circumstances during a time [1] In total 28 police officers and 22 supporters who were publicly documented as having saved at least one life later receiving police commendations or bravery awards. Together, flanked by undocumented supporters, they managed to clear all but one person who made it to the front of the stand. The club coach Terry Yorath incurred minor injuries while taking part in the rescue. Terence Charles Yorath (born 27 March 1950 in Cardiff Wales) is a former footballer and manager

A total of 56 people died in the fire, with almost 250 of the most injured overwhelming local hospitals. A further 200 required St. John Ambulance first aid treatment at the ground and countless others of the least seriously burned treated themselves in their homes or in the houses that the local community opened up immediately around Valley Parade. St John Ambulance, branded as St John in some territories is a common name used by a number of affiliated organizations in different countries dedicated to the teaching and

The match itself was being recorded by Yorkshire Television for transmission on their Sunday afternoon regional football show The Big Match. Yorkshire Television is the ITV contractor for the Yorkshire franchise Coverage of the fire was transmitted minutes after the event on the live ITV Saturday afternoon sports programme World of Sport. Independent Television (generally known as ITV) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters set up under the Independent World of Sport was a British Television Sport anthology programme which ran on ITV between January 2, 1965 and

Aftermath

The inquiry into the disaster, the Popplewell Inquiry, led to the introduction of new legislation to improve safety at the UK's football grounds. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located One of the main outcomes of the inquiry was prohibiting the construction of new wooden grandstands at UK sports grounds.

The Popplewell Inquiry found that the club had been warned about the fire risk that the rubbish accumulating under the stand had posed. However, as there was no real precedent, most Bradfordians accepted that the fire was a terrible piece of misfortune. A discarded cigarette and a dilapidated stand, that had survived because the club simply didn't have the money to replace it, was considered to have conspired to cause the worst disaster in the history of the Football League. The Football League, also known as the Coca-Cola Football League for sponsorship reasons is a league competition featuring professional football clubs

The Bradford Disaster Appeal fund, set up within 48 hours of the disaster, eventually raised over £3. 5 million. The most memorable of hundreds of fundraising events was a recreation of the 1966 World Cup Final, which began with the original starting teams of both England and West Germany, was held at the Leeds United stadium, Elland Road, in July 1985 to raise funds for the Appeal fund. The 1966 FIFA World Cup Final was the final match in the 1966 World Cup, contested by England and England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland West Germany ( Inf German: Westdeutschland or West-Deutschland) was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany ( Leeds United Association Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Leeds United or informally Leeds, are an English professional football Elland Road is an all-seater football Stadium situated in the Beeston area of the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England won the re-match 6-4.

Part of the Appeal funds were raised by a cover version by The Crowd of the Gerry & The Pacemakers hit You'll Never Walk Alone, which reached number 1 in the UK Singles chart. The Crowd was a ' supergroup ' formed specifically to produce a Charity record for the Valley Parade football disaster, in which 56 people died on Gerry and The Pacemakers were a British Rock and roll group during the 1960s " You'll Never Walk Alone " is a Show tune from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel. The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official UK Charts Company (OCC on behalf of the British record industry 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 the Bradford City FC's official charity for well over a decade. The University of Bradford (est 1966 is a University in Bradford, West Yorkshire in the United Kingdom. The unit's innovative use of a sling to relieve the pain of severe burn injuries and reduce the risk of their infection in the days immediately after the fire gave birth to a medical product that is still in use today.

A capacity 6,000 crowd attended a multi-denominational memorial service, held on the pitch in the sunny shadow of the burnt out stand at Valley Parade in July 1985. A giant christian cross, made up of two large charred wooden embers 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. The Christian cross is the best-known Religious symbol of Christianity. Part of the service was also held in Urdu and Punjabi as a sign of appreciation to the local Asian community in Manningham, Bradford around Valley Parade that had opened up their doors to Bradford City supporters in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. Urdu ( ur '''{{Nastaliq اردو}}''' trans Urdū, historically spelled Ordu) is a Central Indo-Aryan language Urdu is a standardised Punjabi may refer to The Punjabi language of Pakistan and India Punjabi grammar List of Punjabi Manningham is an area of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, approximately a mile north of the city centre and is seen as the centre of the city's south The following day work began on clearing the burnt out shell of the stand and Justice Popplewell released his findings into the disaster.

Bradford City played games at Elland Road, Leeds; Leeds Road, Huddersfield; and Odsal Stadium, Bradford; while Valley Parade was re-developed. Elland Road is an all-seater football Stadium situated in the Beeston area of the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, Leeds ( is located on the River Aire in West Yorkshire, England Leeds Road was a football stadium in Huddersfield, England. It operated from its construction in 1908 until the Alfred McAlpine Stadium Huddersfield ( is a large Market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England, 190 miles (306km north Odsal Stadium is a stadium situated in Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. Bradford ( lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a Metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. Valley Parade re-opened on 14 December 1986, when Bradford City beat an England XI 2-1 in a friendly. Events 1287 - St Lucia's flood: The Zuider Zee sea wall in the Netherlands collapses killing over 50000 people Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) 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, bar 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 of the ground. All-seater stadium is the terminology applied to those sports stadia in which every spectator has a seat

Whilst Bradford City prospered in the 2nd Division, only missing out on promotion to the 1st Division in 1988 after failing to beat Ipswich Town at home on the final day of their first full season back at Valley Parade, Lincoln City suffered two successive relegations, first to the 4th Division in 1986, before in 1987 becoming the first team to be automatically relegated from the Football League itself. They were immediately promoted back to the Football League in 1988.

Although some attributed Lincoln's City's sudden demise to the psychological effects of the fire on its players, it symbolised the wider crisis that the introduction of new safety legislation bought to Lincoln's Sincil Bank home. Sincil Bank is the stadium of Lincoln City FC. The club has played at the ground since 1894. Its timber St. Andrew's Stand, Main Stand and the roof of its popular Railway End terrace were immediately condemned as fire hazards, which saw its seating capacity briefly cut to nil. Lincoln City's board responded by committing £1,100,000 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 £3,000,000. 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, who were two visiting Lincoln City supporters who were amongst the 56 to die at Bradford. Today, with its 10,000 all-seater capacity Lincoln can rightly boast that they have "One of the best stadiums in lower league football", which is fitting homage to their tragic involvement in events at Bradford in 1985. Each year Lincoln send representatives to the annual memorial service in Bradford city centre and are currently managed by Bradford's captain that day, Peter Jackson.

At Valley Parade there are now two memorials. One, now re-situated to that end of the stand where the fire began is a sculpture donated on the initial re-opening of Valley Parade in December 1986 by a then Jersey-based former West Yorkshire woman. The other, situated by the main entrance, was donated by the club after its £7,500,000 renovation of the original main stand in 2002 and is a black marble fascia on which the names and ages of those that died are inscribed in gold and has a black marble platform on which people can leave flowers and mementoes. Meanwhile there is a twin memorial sculpture, unveiled on 11 May 1986, which has the names of the dead inscribed on it. A memorial is an object which serves as a memory of something usually a person (who has died or an event They were donated by Bradford's German twin city of Hamm and are situated in front of the City Halls of both Bradford and Hamm. Hamm is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW Germany. It is located on the Lippe River, in the northeastern part of the Ruhr area. After the fire Bradford City also announced they would thereafter play with black trim on their shirt collars and arms as a permanent memorial to those who had died.

By the City Hall memorials, in a tradition similar to Remembrance Day, a short memorial service follows a minute's silence held on the 11th hour of the 11th day of each May. A city hall or town hall is the chief administrative building of a City or Town 's administration and usually houses the city or Remembrance Day also known as Poppy Day, Armistice Day (the event it commemorates or Veterans Day is a day to commemorate the This is perhaps due to 24 of those who died at Valley Parade having been above the age of 60, who would have therefore served during and survived World War II, with the 40th anniversary of VE Day only 3 days before the fire, with the civic ceremonies of reconciliation that surrounded this anniversary the reason why a dignitary party from Hamm was present in the stand on the day of the fire. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Victory in Europe Day ( V-E Day or VE Day) was May 7 and May 8, 1945, the dates when the World War II Allies

Controversy

FOX TV

American television network FOX TV controversially aired footage of the disaster in the program When Good Times Go Bad 3. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A television network is a distribution network for Television content whereby a central operation provides programming for many Television stations They incorrectly blamed supporters for deliberately starting the fire; and the program used punning language such as "as rabid as American fans can get, they can't hold a candle to soccer fans around the world". David Pendleton, the editor of Bradford City F. C. 's fanzine, stated that the program was "a vile and callous piece of journalism" [2] Copyright of the TV footage of that day's events is strictly controlled by Yorkshire Television and the footage is only meant to be used for fire awareness training purposes. Yorkshire Television is the ITV contractor for the Yorkshire franchise

YouTube

In early 2007, original TV news footage of the fire was illegally posted on the internet website YouTube. YouTube is a video sharing website where users can upload view and share Video clips YouTube was created in February 2005 by three former PayPal employees Following threats of legal action from Yorkshire Television, and considerable protest from Bradford City supporters' groups (with endorsement from the club itself), the footage was removed. The footage had also been posted on a second, more obscure "humour" website where its presence had gone undetected until it was discovered by a bereaved survivor in April 2007. Similar action brought its immediate removal. However despite these protests, as of January 2008 the video appears on at least two other publicly accessible websites. To this day the fire remains a most awkward taboo-like topic of conversation for many within the city of Bradford. A taboo is a strong Social prohibition (or ban) against words objects actions or discussions that are considered undesirable or offensive by a group culture

References

  1. ^ a b London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 50531, pages 7213–7214, 28 May 1986. The London Gazette is one of the official journals of record of the British government, and the most important among such official journals in the UK in which certain Events 585 BC - A Solar eclipse occurs as predicted by Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) Retrieved on 2008-03-19. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1279 - A Mongolian victory in the Battle of Yamen ends the Song Dynasty in China.
  2. ^ http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,90224,00.html

Further reading

External links

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