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Bradford fire disaster...


Davebrad

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35yrs ago, as a fellow football fan remembering the 56 dead and 256 injured, and all those whose lives changed, on a day of football, 

I also remember a Vale away match not long after, when a small fire broke out at the back of the away end,  I surprised myself how fast I could move...

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I remember it well, this disaster never gets the remembrance it deserves, wasn't the Bradford chairman culpable ? I'm sure he had a history of arson.

It's almost as though it's been swept under the carpet. 

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Anyone who had ever sat in that stand knew it was a disaster waiting to happen.  The area underneath the seats was just an enormous pile of rubbish and there was a big gap where anything you put on the floor could easily be knocked down there.  I would never put a bag on the floor there for that reason. 

There is a suggestion that the Bradford chairman at the time had an unfortunate history of insurance claims resulting from fires at a number of his business premises.  Also, the inquiry into the fire was very brief, only a few days, in marked contrast to what happened after Hillsbrough.  There is a programme at 9pm on BT Sport tonight all about this.

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Horrific event, let's hope we never see the like of it again in any sport.

First wooden stand I remember was Edgeley Park (Stockport County), Bradford Park Avenue also had a big wooden stand behind the goal if I remember correctly. 

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As I recall a lot of people actually got out of the stand itself, only to find the exit gates behind the stand were chain locked making escape impossible. A number of bodies were found to be congregated by these gates.

Sometimes we as older fans ( myself included) complain about the “sanitised” and soulless new stadia that have sprung up around the country in recent years and yearn for football as it used to be. 

This disaster and the ensuing Hillsborough one show that safety always has to be the prime concern in stadia design and we should never go back to those days where safety was of little concern simply because “it hadn’t happened before” 

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 12/05/2020 at 12:47, mbycars said:

I can recall a few away stands where you were standing on wooden boards with masses of litter below. I think the old gresty road end at Crewe was one of them before it was modernised.

 

Yes, the Gresty End did have wooden steps at the back with a huge void underneath and probably contained accumulated litter. It was a dump for sure. Feel free to make fun.

AEDD550A-E9AC-4BA1-8A3F-098686443A00.jpeg

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The day of the Bradford fire I was at Maine Road for Man City v Charlton, was either 5-0 or 5-1 and City went up to Division one ( Premier ) .

Vale I'm almost certain strangely finished our season on the Friday night at Scunthorpe hence my visit to Maine Road.

An horrific day for football that fire was and also a terrible decade with Heysel and Hillsborough

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