“We can never forget her” – The Linc

“We must all remember what we went through on that day in May 39 years ago. We can never forget it. The people of Bradford can never forget her, and the people of Lincoln can never forget her.”

Saturday 11 May 2024 marks 39 years since the Bradford City fire. It was a day that should have been a celebration for Bradford, lifting the Division III trophy, but it was one that turned into tragedy.

At 3.40pm, a fire broke out at Valley Parade, killing 56 spectators. Two Lincoln City fans, Bill Stacey and Jim West, lost their lives.

The Bradford City captain was childhood Bantam Peter Jackson, with whom he sat The Linc to talk about that fateful day in 1985.

He said: “Even now, I get quite emotional talking about it because it had such a big effect on my life.”

“About half an hour into the game, the fire broke out. My wife and daughter Charlotte, then 15 months old, were in the Player’s Bar, which overlooked the pitch. And my father was in the stands (who set the fire), my two brothers, my father-in-law, so we had quite a lot of family in the stands. My first instinct was to run for my wife and daughter to get them off the ground,” he described.

Coroner Dr David Woolley said the cause of the fire was probably the accidental dropping of a match or cigarette, lying in a Styrofoam cup.

Jackson was clearly emotional as he described the events of May 11, 1985. He said: “I went back (to Valley Parade) but couldn’t find my father or my brothers for about three hours. It took me three hours to find them. It was really worrying.

“I was outside the stadium looking for my dad on the streets of Bradford. There were people running with burnt clothes and they were badly burned.

“Charlotte, my daughter, never talked about it. Then when I signed for Newcastle United he went to nursery school. And they had to draw what dad was doing. Obviously, she put a stick man, I’m kicking a ball, but on the background she colored it orange. She said, “That’s fire, daddy’s playing with fire in the football stadium.” He never talked about it, but he remembered.”

“Being in the stadium or on the field, witnessing what I witnessed and what other people witnessed, it was heartbreaking.” – Peter Jackson

What should have been a proud day for Jackson as the Bradford-born footballer lifted a trophy that ended a long silverware project soon turned into what was described as Britain’s worst stadium fire from history.

He said: “Driving down I was so excited about the day and proud to lift the trophy as a Bradford boy. It was such a proud day not only for the players but also for the supporters and staff and for it to turn into one of the biggest disasters in British football was truly shocking.”

“The tragedy of forgotten football”:

Jackson described the day as “football’s forgotten tragedy”, believing it is rarely remembered outside the cities of Bradford and Lincoln.

He said: “He changed football forever in terms of stadium design and I feel like he’s really forgotten around the country sometimes. It’s not (forgotten) in Lincoln and it’s certainly not in Bradford, but in other areas I think it’s forgotten. It can never, ever be forgotten. It was the game that changed football forever.

When asked why he thought the fire wasn’t talked about as much as other such disasters at the football stadium, he said: “It’s because we probably weren’t a big enough club. The disasters that happened involved all the bigger clubs, because Bradford was not a fashionable big club at the time. We were just a third division club.”

The memory lives on:

Jackson’s career is forever linked to Bradford, his boyhood club and Lincoln. After his playing days ended he managed both clubs, after two spells at West Yorkshire, Huddersfield Town.

He joined the Imps in the top tier of the English Football League in October 2007, before leading them to safety.

It is clear that the memory of the fire remains with him to this day. He said: “You could be sitting there and something might start to remind you of the fire. I never thought that when I stop at hotels or whatever, I’ll always be looking for fire escapes now. I’ve always believed that you can walk out of the fire, you can see the fire and walk out, but you can’t walk out of it sometimes.”

Lincoln City and opponents Portsmouth laid wreaths in front of the Stacey West Stand in the final game of the 2023/24 season. The stand, which is the end of the drive at the LNER Stadium, is named after the two Imps fans who lost their lives in the disaster.

Last year, Lincoln hosted a memorial game between the two clubs involved in the 1985 fire, raising more than £5,500 for charities in both cities.

Jackson said: “It’s so important that people keep talking about it because the longer it goes on, the more it leaks out. Next year, with her 40th birthday, will be a big one. It was a terrible day, but one we should all remember.”

Image credit: Chris Vaughan/Lincoln City FC