On foggy Albion, the Bradford tragedy is hardly remembered. Perhaps due to the fact that too soon after her the terrible drama “Eisel” broke out. Or because four years later she was eclipsed by a terrible crush on the Hillsbrough. Or maybe they forgot about her because of what happened in the match between two very modest teams. Meanwhile, the events that took place on May 11, 1985 at Wally Parade, outlined a problem that is becoming more acute every year not only in British, but also in world football.
In the early 80s, most English stadiums did not meet safety standards. Now it is hard to believe, but facts are a stubborn thing. Two fingers are enough to count the number of new stands built in the decade preceding the Bradford tragedy. And if you dig deeper, then over the past 30 years not a single new arena has been erected. But barriers appeared around the fields, turning stadiums from places of recreation and entertainment into something similar to prisons. Every Saturday people went to football, believing that “they” (authorities, police, ambulance) knew what to do in case of force majeure. It turns out they did not know. But, ironically, the biggest tragedy in English football in 30 years, resulting in numerous casualties, was not due to hooligan actions of fans (as, for example, on Eisel), but due to the amazing negligence of Bradford City.
... On May 11, a festive atmosphere reigned at Walley Parade. A few days earlier, “Bradford” ahead of schedule became the winner of the third division, and just before the start of the match, the home team captain Peter Jackson was awarded the championship cup. For the first time this season, over 11 thousand spectators gathered in the stands, which was more than double the average home attendance of the team. Against the backdrop of festivities, the game itself has faded into the background. However, shortly before the end of the first half, a broadcaster from Yorkshire John Helm noticed smoke flowing from one of the stands. In a matter of minutes the tar roof took fire, and soon the whole stadium was embraced by the fire. At that moment, many of the fans were already on the field, and some were burning clothes. But far more victims were on the opposite side of the rostrum: people rushed to the emergency exits, but they were locked; free riders were not supposed to enter the stadium. As a result, 56 people died ...
Later, the investigation found that the cause of the fire was a cigarette thrown on a polystyrene cup, which in turn fell down through a wooden slot and set fire to the debris accumulated there for years. A bag of peanuts and a newspaper of the 68th year of release found in a pile of ash showed that they had not been cleaned under the stands for decades. But you should not blame only Bradford City for negligence. Clubs, especially those from the lower divisions, simply did not have the money (or the desire?) To ensure fire safety - every year they had to count every penny. But the most annoying is that the “townspeople” knew about the existence of the problem (about the tribune rubbish on the Walley Parade was narrated by the book of the football stadiums of England and Wales published in 1983 by the writer Simon Inglis) and were about to solve it. An iron roofing was already purchased and was behind that unfortunate tribune, and two days later the roofing work was to begin.
Despite the fact that two weeks later the Brussels state of emergency was undoubtedly captured by the media, the tragedy in Bradford entailed widespread consequences in English football. The stands that did not meet safety standards were closed throughout the country (for example, at Wolverhampton fans only one Molino stand could take fans). Bradford himself played next season at the Odsal Stadium, the home arena of the Bradford rugby, and returned to the newly built Wally Parade only at the end of '86. One way or another, grief and sorrow guests - Lincoln City. On that unfortunate day, two fans of the club, Bill Stacy and Jim West, died (one of the stands of the Lincoln home stadium has been bearing their names since then), and the team itself went head over heels: the next season flew out of the third division, and in the 87th and completely lost her professional status.
If elite clubs were engaged in the reconstruction of stadiums after the Sheffield tragedy, then it was the Bradford flame that inspired small ones. As a result, Scunthorpe United replaced Old Show Ground with Glenford Park, and Walsall replaced Fellows Park with Beskot Stadium. The drama at Bradford has become a symbol of the decline in which English football was in 1985. And as if reinforcing symbolism, on the same day, but in a different place, a 14-year-old boy died: during a fight between Birmingham and Leeds fans, a dilapidated wall collapsed on St. Andrews ...
Translation by Andrey KARNAUKHOV