Bradford fire

Cant see any other mention on here, anniversary today, sad times that. Wasn't old enough to remember it at the time but from what i have seen since

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8668479.stm

Remembering the Bradford City fire
The blaze that engulfed an antiquated wooden stand at the Valley Parade ground on 11 May, 1985 claimed 56 lives and injured more than 200 people.

It is thought the fire - during a match between Bradford City and Lincoln City - was caused when a match or cigarette stub in a polystyrene cup was accidentally dropped on to rubbish underneath the terraces.

The old boy walking while on fire

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EpPgsR2U7s&feature=related

http://utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=141819

Originally Posted by Ginners

http://utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=141819

Fair enough my search's are always crap.

I seem to remember an American TV show including it in one of those 'hilarious' clip reels, making puns based on fire etc.
@#%&!s.

Radio 4 have been talking about it for a while.

Gaby Logan was there that day. Her dad was working for the club at the time. Radio 4 had an interview with her

Originally Posted by Zorg

I seem to remember an American TV show including it in one of those 'hilarious' clip reels, making puns based on fire etc.
@#%&!s.

£#%&!ing hell did they do one for the twin towers ?

always a sad day

I remember it happening, I was watching Grandstand or something and they went around the grounds to get the latest scores. When they were at Bradford, the commentator spotted a small fire in a small corner of the stand. The cameras stayed on it and in minutes the whole stand was on fire and I remember plastic being on fire and dripping onto people's heads. It was really shit. Then the scousers got pissed in a pub and pissed on their dead and Bradford was never mentioned again. If you ask 100 people to name a football tragedy, 99 would say Hillsborough over Bradford. I know more people died but even so, it's been forgotten.

I was at Wembley watching Boston Utd lose to Wealdstone in the FA Vase. Heard about it on the car radio driving home.

Connie gives Bradford a tatering in his book. He claims they were chasing the dream, spending big on players and neglecting the ground and the safety of the fans.

Ironic that work was due to start on the demolition of the old stand two days later...

Originally Posted by redloner

Connie gives Bradford a tatering in his book. He claims they were chasing the dream, spending big on players and neglecting the ground and the safety of the fans.

Ironic that work was due to start on the demolition of the old stand two days later...

I didn't know that. At the time they said a supporters cig fell between some cracks and lit some paper. I assume they definitely ruled out an insurance job? They got their new stand paid for as a result of the fire.

Originally Posted by redloner

Connie gives Bradford a tatering in his book. He claims they were chasing the dream, spending big on players and neglecting the ground and the safety of the fans.

Ironic that work was due to start on the demolition of the old stand two days later...

it was promotion from the old 4th Division iirc

hardly chasing the dream ffs

and every ground you visited back then was pretty much the same

Originally Posted by Spiffy

I didn't know that. At the time they said a supporters cig fell between some cracks and lit some paper. I assume they definitely ruled out an insurance job? They got their new stand paid for as a result of the fire.

£#%&! off you @#%&!

Originally Posted by florentino ariza

£#%&! off you @#%&!

What's wrong with that? People have set fire to things in the past for the insurance money. I'm not suggesting they expected anyone to die. I'm not even saying they did do it. I just asked if they had ruled it out. Surely they will have looked at that as a possibility?

Originally Posted by ReligiousRed

£#%&!ing hell did they do one for the twin towers ?

Bunch of @#%&!s

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/1...story.bradford

TV executives launched an internal inquiry yesterday into the selling of banned footage of the Bradford City football fire disaster to an American "shock TV" programme.

Lawyers for Yorkshire Television are to seek redress from ITN and the US company Fox TV, which broadcast clips of the 1985 tragedy that showed spectators on fire, footage which the company had barred from screening out of respect for the 56 victims.

The American producer of the series When Good Times Go Bad, one of a growing number of US "clip shows" that use footage from accidents and police videos, apologised for "misunderstandings" over the use of the fire in a segment on sporting catastrophes.

Enraged fans in Bradford, who learned of the show through their club's internet website, promised a protest at the club's next fixture covered by Sky TV, Fox's sister channel in Britain and also owned by Rupert Murdoch. The fans also demanded assurances that the series would never be shown in the UK.

The 45 seconds of footage of terrible scenes at Bradford's Valley Parade ground were broadcast live by ITV on the day of the tragedy, May 11, 1985, when a YTV sports crew covering a league game between Bradford and Lincoln City continued filming in a state of shock as the wooden stand was engulfed by flames within minutes.

Clips were repeated that evening on news programmes, but the film has since been made available only for fire brigade training videos. The master copy is kept in a safe at YTV headquarters in Leeds.

"We are outraged that this could happen when there is a blanket embargo on the film's use," said Mike Best, the director of broadcasting at YTV, who was the station's news editor on the day of the tragedy.

"It was monitored by ITN on the day and they must have their own copy, but it will be covered with written warnings that it must not be shown without our express permis sion. That would not be granted - we have turned down dozens of requests over the years."

The film is understood to have been issued by ITN to an American production company, Termite Art, with warnings and indemnities accepting the conditions imposed by YTV. But 45 seconds of the height of the fire were nonetheless broadcast to a 20m strong audience across the US with a punning commentary, saying that "as rabid as American fans can get, they can't hold a candle to soccer fans around the world".

The programme added that "in this horrible case, fans actually set fires in the wooden bleachers [American term for stands] turning this English stadium into an inferno".

The claim caused added fury in Bradford, as the official inquiry into the tragedy found that the disaster was started accidentally, when a discarded cigarette end ignited rubbish.

Last night ITN said that footage had been supplied to Termite on condition that the filmmakers cleared copyright with YTV. The spokeswoman said: "It appears that they failed to do that."

David Pendleton, editor of Bradford's fanzine City Gent and a survivor of the fire, described the programme as "a vile and callous piece of journalism".

The chairman of Lincoln City, John Reames, said that the club was considering joining legal action over the "outrageous" comments screened with the film.

A spokeswoman for ITN said staff were investigating procedures which led to the issue of the footage to Termite. Sky TV hinted that the programme was unlikely to be accepted for broadcasting in Britain.

A spokesman said that editors checked on all material that might cause offence to UK viewers, and the feelings of relatives and Bradford fans would govern any decision on When Good Times Go Bad.

Termite's series producer, Danny Wolff, issued an apology for "misunderstandings about this very sensitive and unfortunate incident".

Originally Posted by Zorg

Bunch of @#%&!s

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/1...story.bradford

That's a £#%&!ing disgrace.

Originally Posted by Spiffy

Surely they will have looked at that as a possibility?

Oh yeah - the classic inside insurance job, burn it down when it's full of people.

You're achieving a koppas level of bird-brainedness here.

Originally Posted by florentino ariza

it was promotion from the old 4th Division iirc

hardly chasing the dream ffs

and every ground you visited back then was pretty much the same

From David Conn's 'The Beautiful Game' (Six Weeks of Madness, P150)

The potential fire risk, of litter under the floorboards of the old, homely wooden stand, was not just a breach of the Green Guide but had actually been drawn to the attention of the club in writing, by the HSE twice in 1981 and by the County Council in 1984...

... neither body received a reply from the club.

It was a bitter coincidence that the club had made an application for a grant, and work was going to start to replace the main stand's timber flooring with concrete - the Monday after the match.

... in fact, Bradford's accounts for 1984/5, a successful winning season from a bright young side, show that gate receipts, season tickets and and the share of the League's TV and other sponsorship deals added up to a pretty good income of £621,000...

... nearly 70% of the club's income, £419,000 was spent on wages.

He (Popplewell, the judge chairing the Inquiry) might, however, have pointed out in very plain terms that here was a club turning over £621,000 a year, who's chairman was still, even after people had died, saying he would not have sanctioned expenditure to remove the fire hazard which killed them, but who had spent £419,000 on paying players to form a team which would win promotion. The money, in other words, was there to make the ground safe but the club chose not to spend it in that way, but on the players' wages, to chase the football dream.

I agree with you about the condition of grounds during the 80s, but the excuse of low revenue is one that gets bandied around when Bradford and Hillsborough are mentioned. When it comes down to it, clubs make decisions on how they spend their money. Sadly, in this case, the decision had implications for many families beyond the usual football issues.

Originally Posted by redloner

From David Conn's 'The Beautiful Game' (Six Weeks of Madness, P150)



I agree with you about the condition of grounds during the 80s, but the excuse of low revenue is one that gets bandied around when Bradford and Hillsborough are mentioned. When it comes down to it, clubs make decisions on how they spend their money. Sadly, in this case, the decision had implications for many families beyond the usual football issues.

there is no doubt that there were serious issues but that explanation is rather simplistic

the only thing i can say i'm thankful for is that the fences weren't up or the death toll would have been far, far higher

Originally Posted by ReligiousRed

£#%&!ing hell did they do one for the twin towers ?

Just seen this video and thoughtof this post

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AYujWCCHRk&feature=player_embedded