In the middle of the first half, spectators in and near G Block reported the smell of burning plastic.
And on that day, Martin and his dad, along with Martin's little brother, his uncle, and his grandfather, filled five seats of G Block in a large wooden stand at Valley Parade. There was no way they would miss this event. His dad was even crazier about Bradford City. But the day was a big deal for Bradford fans. The Lincoln City match was, in itself, meaningless. Before the match began, the team would be presented with its first trophy in 56 years. Bradford City had secured first place and a promotion. It was the final game of the Football League Third Division (now League One) season. Valley Parade stadium was packed with more than 11,000 fans. On May 11, 1985, Bradford City Football Club was playing at home versus Lincoln City. Martin Fletcher's Fifty-Six: The Story of the Bradford Fire is an engrossing, saddening, maddening page-turner. In recent weeks, the Valley Parade fire has come under renewed scrutiny after a newly published book - written by a man who escaped the blaze - said it was one of nine fires at businesses owned by or associated with the club's then-chairman, Stafford Heginbotham, and alleged it may have been set deliberately.Last year saw the publication of a book that is destined to take its place in the canon of soccer literature, alongside the likes of The Miracle of Castel di Sangro, Among the Thugs, and The Ball is Round. The song, known by many as the anthem of English club Liverpool, topped the British charts for a second time in June 1985. Some of the money for the burn unit came from record sales when "You'll Never Walk Alone," a 1963 song by Gerry and the Pacemakers, was re-released in 1985 to raise money for the Bradford fire disaster fund. The fire was not a nice thing to happen, but there are so many things to come out of it." "Our unit is funded solely from donations that come in from the Bradford supporters and the people of Bradford," said Ajay Mahajan, the director of the unit. Many of the top plastic surgeons in the country have started their training there. Just around the corner from the stadium, a road has been re-named "Hamm Strasse," after the German town of Hamm, which is twinned with Bradford and helped the English city get back on its feet after the fire.Īnd a short drive away, there is a specialist burn research unit created by David Sharpe, the plastic surgeon from the local hospital who led the treatment of the fans affected by the fire. Outside the ground, there is a memorial listing the names of the 56 people who died, ranging in age from 11 to 86. "It was pandemonium," said Procter, who has been told by a co-worker that he has since picked up a habit of scanning hotels for their emergency exits. One man emerged from the wreckage, his body on fire. Television footage shows police officers and spectators dragging bodies across the grass as they used jackets to shield their faces from the blaze.
Others frantically vaulted over the wall in front of the stand to escape onto the field of play. Panicked fans stampeded to the exits at the back of the stand, only to find they were padlocked. "I had a plastic jacket on and it was almost melting."
0 kommentar(er)
