She was Hazel Greenwood – the mother whose children, 13-year-old Felix and 11-year-old Rupert, had been ushered away from the flames of the stadium fire all those years ago by a traffic warden, seeking to shelter them under his tunic. And only after she had gone – vanished into the kind of warm Bradford Saturday night on which wives, children, parents and friends first learned that they were the bereaved, 30 years ago next week – did the significance of her gratitude become clear. Thank you for telling this," said the woman, who was perhaps 60 or so, to one of the young people whose stage play, based on football's Bradford disaster, had just concluded on the small theatre space behind her. The 1985 inquiry into the tragedy headed by Sir Oliver Popplewell concluded that it was an accident, probably started by a spectator dropping a cigarette into rubbish that had accumulated under an old timber stand.īut the buildup to Monday’s anniversary has been overshadowed by a new book by Martin Fletcher, whose father, brother, uncle and grandfather died in the fire, which claims that the fire was was one of nine that occurred at businesses owned or linked to the club’s then-chairman, Stafford Heginbotham."Thank you. Mike Thompson, the chairman of the Bradford City Supporters Trust, said: “I think the hardest thing for people to recognise, to be honest, is just how much it still impacts on people today.Īs far as the people of Bradford are concerned, it’s something we will never forget and it’s good this year that there’s been so much support around the football community. Every year there’s always been memories and the thought that it could have been you.” He added: “The way it’s gone today - it’s good to remember. He said he was so close to the outbreak of the fire he realised what was happening and was one of the first group of fans to escape on to the pitch. His brother Keith, 51, was in the paddock in front of the main stand. ![]() We thought it was going to come round the corner at us.” We could see the fire above people, it was on the roof, and there were people looking at the fire not realising it was already above them. Remembering fleeing the flames, Stockdill said: “We had to watch it coming towards us. It’s quite emotional to come here today.” It was wonderful the dignified way that the Bradford and Lincoln supporters have remembered this. The lord mayor of Bradford, Mike Gibbons, laid a wreath on behalf of the city and other dignitaries also laid tributes before a stream of bereaved family members placed their floral memorials as Sharp sang Abide With Me.Īlan Stockdill, 61, described how he watched the fire break out 30 years ago from the neighbouring stand and then returned to help the day after as a special constable. This was followed by a minute’s silence and then a rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone played by the City of Bradford Brass Band and sung by the Opera North soprano, Victoria Sharp. They gathered around the memorial to the dead with civic dignitaries, current and former players from Bradford City and Lincoln City and hundreds of other people who wanted to pay their respects.Īs well as Helm, Bantams manager Phil Parkinson, team captain Stephen Darby and Shaun Harvey, the chief executive of the Football League, read out in front of a silent crowd the names of those who died.īradford City manager Phil Parkinson (left) and the club’s co-chairman Mark Lawn (right) attend the memorial service. Some of those who attended on Monday are still living with the injuries they suffered on that day. She said: “There is part of me that is still a little girl missing her dad.”Īs well as the 56 people who died, more than 200 people were taken to hospital following the blaze, many with terrible injuries. It is really humbling to see just how wonderfully the city of Bradford is remembering and I know that when I’m not here any more, this will still be remembered and dad will live on forever.”ĭempsey-Moore, who was 16 in 1985, recalled that she would have been in the stand with her father but could not go to the game because she went to a youth club disco the night before and had not finished her homework. She said: “This is just wonderful, although it has brought everything back. Georgie Dempsey-Moore, 46, told how she lost her father, Derek Dempsey, in the disaster when he was the same age as she is now. Photograph: Lynne Cameron/PA Wireįans who gathered to lay wreaths after the service said the event brought back terrible memories but was a “wonderful” act of remembrance. ![]() More than 1,000 people gathered in Bradford to pay their respects to the 56 victims of the 1985 disaster.
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