To mark the 30th anniversary of the Bradford City fire, football fans nationwide observed a moment of silence, but nowhere was it more poignant than at Valley Parade.
Roy Hodgson, the manager of England, was present at the Bantams’ poignant memorial service for the 56 people lost on May 11, 1985.
A wooden stand caught fire, killing two supporters of Bradford City’s rivals, Lincoln City, and 54 Bradford City fans in all.
The tragedy claimed the lives of several residents of Craven. Looking back at the worst day in the club’s history is Lindsey Moore.
Today was meant to be a day of festivities.
The league trophy was given to Peter Jackson, the captain of Bradford City, before the season’s final matchup with mid-table Lincoln City.
11,076 fans were in the stands because it was the first league trophy the team had won since they had won the Division Three (North) championship 56 years prior. With 3,000 spectators in the main stand of the stadium, it was almost twice as many as the season’s average of 6,610.
In the crowd were local dignitaries and guests from three of Bradford’s twin towns -Verviers, in Belgium, and Mönchengladbach and Hamm, in Germany.
Also watching were several Craven residents.
Among them was former Craven Herald reporter and village correspondent Roy Mason, 74, of Silsden, who suffered severe burns and died in hospital two days later.
He was a season ticket holder and had followed the team through bad times as well as good.
Former colleague Robert Hall said at the time: “May 11 would have been for him his finest moment watching Bradford City. The enormity of the tragedy is a major loss and shock to everyone. Journalism in Yorkshire has lost one of its best and nicest men.”
Other Craven supporters had narrow escapes.
Pensioner George Markham, of Sutton-in-Craven, suffered burns to his scalp and described the moments where people fled for their lives as hell.
He was in the main stand at the opposite end to the fire. He told the Herald: “A man next to me said there was a fire and we should get out. I walked up the steps, but the way was blocked as all the doors were locked.
“I turned and saw the fire coming. There was a wall of flame and black smoke was choking you.”
Mr Markham then made his way down the stand, but two walls stood between him and the pitch.
“I got on top of the first wall and put my hands on a man’s shoulder. He eased me down. At the bottom of the stand, I got on top of that wall and fell over. The heat was toasting you. I tried to run but my legs gave way. I just wanted to lie down I was so exhausted.”
Mr Markham’s grandson, 17-year-old Christopher Reape was an apprentice footballer with the club and was sitting near where the players came out. He saw the fire and realised the danger his relatives were in.
He managed to warn his cousin, Mark Busfield, also of Sutton, who was in the ill-fated stand. Mark, 17, made for the barrier, but was pinned against it by other fleeing fans. In a life-saving act, a stranger took hold of him and pushed him onto the field.
Another relative, uncle Richard Little managed to get his wife, two sons and a niece to safety by kicking down a door.
Mr Little’s wife, Kathleen, said: “It was a nightmare. There was a big ball of smoke. My husband and another fellow kicked in a door at the back of the stand. I have never experienced anything like it. I am still shaken up.”
Sarah Tennant, a 21-year-old from Earby, was standing on the “kop” near the scene of the fire with some friends when it started, but she was unaware of the full scope of the tragedy until she heard the news updates.
“Within five minutes, the fire started on the seats and quickly spread to the roof,” she stated. It was a firestorm. The police and fans were amazing. They were removing all of them. We simply felt so powerless.
“It was very, very hot and we had to keep moving back along the terraces.”
Additional casualties included Grassington resident Nellie Foster, sister of Grassington resident Leo Coxon, 44, and his 76-year-old father Jack, as well as Peter Greenwood and his two sons, Rupert, 11, and Felix, 13, who were the brother and nephews of Glusburn School teacher Ann Cowen.
New safety regulations were implemented in UK football grounds as a result of the disaster, and new wooden grandstands were outlawed.
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