Editing Valley Parade (section)

==Fire disaster==
{{Main|Bradford City stadium fire}}
[[File:Valley Parade Memorial.PNG|upright=0.7|thumb|A memorial, erected on the club's main stand, to the victims of the [[Bradford City stadium fire|fire]] in 1985]]

On 11 May 1985, 11,076 people attended Bradford City's final [[Football League Third Division|Division Three]] game of the [[1984–85 in English football|1984–1985]] season against [[Lincoln City F.C.|Lincoln City]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Frost |title=Bradford City A Complete Record 1903–1988 |page=310}}</ref> The Bradford side had won the Division Three title the week before when they defeated [[Bolton Wanderers F.C.|Bolton Wanderers]] 2–0. The league trophy was presented to City's skipper [[Peter Jackson (footballer born 1961)|Peter Jackson]] before the Lincoln game.<ref name="f37">{{cite book |last=Frost |title=Bradford City A Complete Record 1903–1988 |page=37}}</ref> The score was still 0–0 after 40&nbsp;minutes of the game<ref name="f37"/> when a small fire was noticed three rows from the back near one end of the main stand. The flames became more visible within minutes, and police started to evacuate people in the stand less than six minutes later.<ref name="bbc fire"/><ref name="inglis361">{{cite book |last=Inglis |title=The football grounds of Great Britain |page=361}}</ref>

The club's chairman [[Stafford Heginbotham]], who was in the main stand, described the effect and his reaction to the disaster: "The fire just spread along the length of the stand in seconds. The smoke was choking. We couldn't breathe. It was to be our day."<ref>{{cite news |title=Hideous images linger after carnage of 'celebration' day |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1985/may/13/fromthearchive |work=The Guardian |date=13 May 1985 |access-date=5 April 2008 |first=Malcolm |last=Pithers |location=London |archive-date=5 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205022757/http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1985/may/13/fromthearchive |url-status=live}}</ref> The game was stopped and the wooden roof caught fire. The fire spread the length of the stand, and timber and the roof began to fall onto the crowds. Black smoke enveloped the rear passageways, where fans were trying to escape.<ref name="inglis361"/> The fire killed 56&nbsp;spectators, ranging in age from 11-year-old children to the 86-year-old former chairman of the club Sam Firth.<ref name="f53"/><ref name="bbc fire"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bradfordcityfc.co.uk/news/article/in-memoriam-252356.aspx |title=In memoriam |access-date=4 February 2013 |publisher=Bradford City official website |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130302060515/http://www.bradfordcityfc.co.uk/news/article/in-memoriam-252356.aspx |archive-date=2 March 2013}}</ref> At least 265 supporters were injured.<ref name="official fire">{{cite web |url=http://www.bradfordcityfc.co.uk/news/article/valley-parade-fire-disaster-252394.aspx?pageView=full |title=Valley Parade fire disaster |access-date=4 February 2013 |publisher=Bradford City official website |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150603033916/http://www.bradfordcityfc.co.uk/news/article/valley-parade-fire-disaster-252394.aspx?pageView=full |archive-date=3 June 2015}}</ref> In some cases, the few narrow escape routes led to locked doors and the only escape for most spectators was directly onto the pitch.<ref name="inglis361"/> The match was abandoned and never replayed; [[The Football League]] ordered the score at the time of abandonment to stand.<ref name="f37"/> According to Steve Smith, a former club official: {{Blockquote|All of a sudden, a sheet of flame went up to the roof and along the entire length of the stand. Within five minutes of it starting, the whole stand was burnt down. In fact, I think it was timed at 4min 35sec. The strong wind was fanning it from the end where the blaze had started.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2005/05/11/sfnhay11.xml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014065713/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fsport%2F2005%2F05%2F11%2Fsfnhay11.xml |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 October 2007 |title=Bradford fire: forgotten tragedy of the Eighties |work=Daily Telegraph |date=10 May 2005 |access-date=5 April 2008 |first=Paul |last=Hayward |location=London }}</ref>}}

[[File:Memorial to Valley Parade Fire, Bradford (Taken by Flickr user 25th February 2012).jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.7|A memorial in Bradford city centre]]

In 1986, Sir [[Oliver Popplewell]] published his inquiry into the fire, which led to the introduction of new safety legislation for sports grounds across England.<ref name="bbc fire"/> The forensic scientist [[David Woolley]] believed the cause of the fire was a discarded cigarette or a match that had dropped through gaps between the seating to a void below the stand where rubbish had built up.<ref name="inglis361"/><ref name="official fire"/> A number of police officers and 22&nbsp;spectators were given bravery awards for their actions during the incident.<ref name="bbc fire"/>

The stand's wooden roof was due to be replaced the day after the Lincoln match because it did not meet the safety regulations required for [[Football League Second Division|Division Two]], in which the team would be playing in the following season.<ref>{{cite book |last=Inglis |title=The football grounds of Great Britain |page=120}}</ref> Work did not begin until July 1986.<ref name="inglis121"/> The ground was used for reserve-team fixtures from September 1985 but only journalists and club officials were able to watch.<ref name="official history"/> Bradford City's senior team played home games at other grounds in West Yorkshire for 19&nbsp;months while Valley Parade was rebuilt.<ref name="f60-61"/> The new ground, which cost £2.6&nbsp;million (£{{Inflation|UK|2.6|1986|r=1|fmt=c}} million today) to rebuild, was reopened in December 1986.<ref name="inglis121"/>

More than £3.5&nbsp;million (£{{Inflation|UK|3.5|1985|r=1|fmt=c}} million today) was raised for victims of the fire and their families through the Bradford Disaster Appeal Fund.<ref name="bbc fire"/> Memorials have been erected at the ground and at [[Bradford City Hall]], the latter of which was provided by Bradford's twin town of [[Hamm, North Rhine-Westphalia|Hamm]], Germany.<ref name="official fire"/> The disaster is also marked by an annual remembrance ceremony on 11 May at Bradford City Hall,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/bradford_city/4506597.stm |title=Bradford remembers fire disaster |date=11 May 2005 |access-date=25 March 2008 |publisher=BBC Sport |first=Peter |last=Scrivener |archive-date=22 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422112433/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/bradford_city/4506597.stm |url-status=live}}</ref> and an annual Easter-weekend youth tournament, which is contested between Bradford, Lincoln and other European teams.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/search/display.var.2141134.0.tournament_tribute_to_fire_victims.php |title=Tournament tribute to fire victims |date=24 March 2008 |access-date=25 March 2008 |work=Telegraph & Argus |first=Mel |last=Fairhurst}}</ref>