English Soccer Landmark Game Recalls Historic Fire

YESTERDAY SAW A LANDMARK GAME IN England’s Soccer League when two Division 2 teams played each other for the first time in 22 years. Bradford City and Lincoln City teams had last met in Bradford on May 11, 1985.

Bradford’s stadium, Valley Parade, was a 77-yr.-old wooden structure that hadn’t been maintained because of chronic financial difficulties. With a capacity of 6,000 it was configured to restrict movement of the patrons from one section to another or to gain access to the playing field.

The Lincoln City game was the final one of the season and Bradford had clinched the league championship. Everybody was ready for a game day of celebration. But shortly before the completion of the first half, a fire erupted underneath the stands in the G section and spread rapidly, causing panicky fans to pour out of the stands. The referee stopped the match as the crowd continued to pour onto the pitch. Within four minutes the fire had raced through the entire grandstand on that side of the field, trapping many patrons in the back.

When it was over, there were 56 people dead, nearly 250 seriously injured, most with severe burns, and another 200 injured but not transported. Most of the deaths were people trapped in the rear and unable to get out because of inward-opening doors and locked turnstiles.