The 1985 Bradford City Football Stadium Fire — What Happened and Why?

One of the worst ever events in British football history

Screenshot from YouTube video. WARNING: contains distressing footage.

Where and when did this happen?

11th May 1985, at Valley Parade, the home of Bradford City Association Football Club, in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They were playing a match against Lincoln City Football Club.

What happened?

According to Wikipedia, a “fan attempted to extinguish a lit cigarette, it slipped through floorboards and fell on rubbish, igniting it.”

WARNING: distressing footage

Seriously, be warned! This is awful, especially in the last few minutes. It’s age-restricted and is only available to watch on YouTube, so cannot be embedded here.

Timeline of key events in the video:

• 0:00 to 3:14 — recording of radio communications between police officers after they first become aware of the fire.
• 3:27 — the live sports commentator first mentions the fire and we see it for the first time. Police can be seen trying to get people away from the fire.
• 3:53 — we see the game has stopped and spectators are now moving onto the pitch.