On This Day – 11th May
This date will forever be remembered for one of the darkest days in British sport. It is 35 years to the day since the Bradford Fire Disaster that claimed the lives of 56 football fans.
A day of celebration at Bradford City’s Valley Parade had been planned and the team paraded the Third Division trophy to a packed crowd before their last game of the season against Lincoln City.
The celebrations turned into disaster and tragedy a few minutes before half-time when a fire broke out in the main stand. The entire stand was ablaze within minutes.
The majority of the fans who perished that day were found at the back of the stand. They had tried to get out of the exits at the back of the stand but these had been locked when the game began.
Those lucky to escape the blaze did so by climbing the perimeter wall and onto the Valley Parade pitch.
Football stadia have changed dramatically since 1985 and a lot of changes were made in the immediate aftermath of the Bradford Fire. Any wooden stands were condemned and no longer allowed to house fans.
Four years later, the Hillsborough Disaster meant that all the teams in the top two divisions would have to play in all-seater stadiums. If any good can be taken from such awful tragedies, it is that these huge steps to prevent another tragedy like them will ever happen again.
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