[rodney]

Did anyone else see the programme on the Bradford fire last night? Puts into perspective any result and shows how far the stadia have come over the last 40 years…. Particularly looking at the nearly full house yesterday.

Wonder why we didn’t have a minutes silence / applause yesterday.

[Mr Mercury]

rodney, on 12 May 2025 - 06:44 AM, said:

Did anyone else see the programme on the Bradford fire last night? Puts into perspective any result and shows how far the stadia have come over the last 40 years…. Particularly looking at the nearly full house yesterday.

Wonder why we didn’t have a minutes silence / applause yesterday.

Always seems to be the forgotten football disaster.

[oohwallerwaller]

rodney, on 12 May 2025 - 06:44 AM, said:

Did anyone else see the programme on the Bradford fire last night? Puts into perspective any result and shows how far the stadia have come over the last 40 years…. Particularly looking at the nearly full house yesterday.

Wonder why we didn’t have a minutes silence / applause yesterday.

I thought it was an excellent and moving documentary. I didn’t realise that most died trying to exit the stand at the back by going through the turnstiles/doors only to find them locked..

[Osborne again]

oohwallerwaller, on 12 May 2025 - 05:39 PM, said:

I thought it was an excellent and moving documentary. I didn’t realise that most died trying to exit the stand at the back by going through the turnstiles/doors only to find them locked..

Yes, very sad but a totally needless loss of life.

[Waller is my hero]

Sad watch..my ex girlfriend’s dad was a coach there at the time & told me about he was pulling people to safety as it happened!
Shocking to watch it catch fire within 4 minutes…how times change for spectators safety these days

[Osborne again]

I have always been saddened by accident reports, especially when you see the glaring mistakes and oversights that takes so many lives. The Ibrox disaster was another awful day for football, along with Hillsborough too. But when supporters were treat like cattle, is it any wonder that things went wrong.

[lindave]

 rodney, on 12 May 2025 - 06:44 AM, said:

Did anyone else see the programme on the Bradford fire last night? Puts into perspective any result and shows how far the stadia have come over the last 40 years…. Particularly looking at the nearly full house yesterday.

Wonder why we didn't have a minutes silence / applause yesterday.

I saw it, I'm now watching a 4 part documentary on ITVX it goes into great detail. Very sad.

[essexspireman]

I watched it on iPlayer, very sad and resulted in lots of changes. I didn't realise there had been 3 or 4 fires at old stadia in the few years before Bradford. The main stand at Saltergate would have been a big risk, we got the steps down on to the pitch after Bradford

[Wooden Spoon]

lindave, on 13 May 2025 - 07:31 PM, said:

I saw it, I'm now watching a 4 part documentary on ITVX it goes into great detail. Very sad.

Saw the part three where the bloke who went back got the last bloke out who survived out

Tragic events. Incredible just how fast the stand went up.


Born from that is some of the fantastic facilities we now see today - take Bradford, the Leppings lane tradgedy, heysel stadium disrepair - football was forced to move from the 1930s to the 1990s very quickly

[Mr Mercury]

Wooden Spoon, on 18 May 2025 - 09:20 PM, said:

Saw the part three where the bloke who went back got the last bloke out who survived out

Tragic events. Incredible just how fast the stand went up.


Born from that is some of the fantastic facilities we now see today - take Bradford, the Leppings lane tradgedy, heysel stadium disrepair - football was forced to move from the 1930s to the 1990s very quickly

I used to have the absolutely stunning book by Simon Inglis..”The Football Grounds of Great Britain”..no idea where it’s gone. It was an astounding read into football stadiums at the time, late 90s, and their history . It went into detail about The Bradford fire, Hillsborough and the Ibrox disaster as well. The book seems to be as rare as rocking horse manure nowadays but if you can get your hands on a copy it’s a bible for football ground enthusiasts.

[Looker-on]

oohwallerwaller, on 12 May 2025 - 05:39 PM, said:

I thought it was an excellent and moving documentary. I didn't realise that most died trying to exit the stand at the back by going through the turnstiles/doors only to find them locked..

I've watched the film during fire safety training more than once. I was told that part of the tragedy is that in an emergency, people usually try to get out the way they came in. Exit gates at the time were usually unmanned (there weren't armies of stewards about in those days) and kept locked until close to the final whistle to stop folk letting their mates in for free.

[Town_Fan]

I believe it was the same day Chesterfield were promoted as Champions. I went with my dad and on returning home my mum was white as a sheet as she had seen a wooden football stand on fire on the local news and thought it might have been us. We were sat in the main stand and I suppose it could well have been on a different day.

[60s 70s Spireite]

Town_Fan, on 19 May 2025 - 06:05 PM, said:

I believe it was the same day Chesterfield were promoted as Champions. I went with my dad and on returning home my mum was white as a sheet as she had seen a wooden football stand on fire on the local news and thought it might have been us. We were sat in the main stand and I suppose it could well have been on a different day.

Went to the CFC game with my 9 year old son at the time - in the ‘Exec Club’ - curled up sandwiches and cans of drinks. Son went to the loo on his own- consistent thought then was did a Bradford dad send his young son off to the loo just as the fire broke out?

[Westbars Spireite]

Mr Mercury, on 18 May 2025 - 09:49 PM, said:

I used to have the absolutely stunning book by Simon Inglis..”The Football Grounds of Great Britain”..no idea where it’s gone. It was an astounding read into football stadiums at the time, late 90s, and their history . It went into detail about The Bradford fire, Hillsborough and the Ibrox disaster as well. The book seems to be as rare as rocking horse manure nowadays but if you can get your hands on a copy it’s a bible for football ground enthusiasts.

I'm sure I've got the hardback 80s first edition somewhere along with the revised late 90s paperback.

[Mr Mercury]

I had them both in paper back. They really were literary works of art for us away travelling fans

[Walton Spireite]

Mr Mercury, on 18 May 2025 - 09:49 PM, said:

I used to have the absolutely stunning book by Simon Inglis..”The Football Grounds of Great Britain”..no idea where it’s gone. It was an astounding read into football stadiums at the time, late 90s, and their history . It went into detail about The Bradford fire, Hillsborough and the Ibrox disaster as well. The book seems to be as rare as rocking horse manure nowadays but if you can get your hands on a copy it’s a bible for football ground enthusiasts.

Yes I have that book great read as you say bible for ground enthusiasts.

[Middle East]

Walton Spireite, on 20 May 2025 - 04:43 AM, said:

Yes I have that book great read as you say bible for ground enthusiasts.

Is yours the edition where every ground is totally crap and 3 stands need demolishing immediately....

This post has been edited by Middle East: 20 May 2025 - 05:00 AM

[stainlessstephen]

Walton Spireite, on 20 May 2025 - 04:43 AM, said:

Yes I have that book great read as you say bible for ground enthusiasts.

I have it too, plus the Non League grounds of Great Britain.

For example back then the likes of Fleetwood, Stevenage and Accrington were very low down the pyramid and their grounds no better than what Glapwell had.

This post has been edited by stainlessstephen: 20 May 2025 - 09:47 AM

[1978blue]

Mr Mercury, on 19 May 2025 - 08:32 PM, said:

I had them both in paper back. They really were literary works of art for us away travelling fans

Yes I have both the 80s and 90s editions , remember as a kid constantly looking at the 80s one looking at the grounds we were due to visit.

[Mr Mercury]

1978blue, on 20 May 2025 - 05:08 PM, said:

Yes I have both the 80s and 90s editions , remember as a kid constantly looking at the 80s one looking at the grounds we were due to visit.

I Occasionally try to see if he’s doing an updated version because they are quite outdated now with all the new grounds and redevelopments.