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SirNeil... You are correct with the summing up of the Bradford fire .
I won't go into great detail but the fire brigade ( and in particular my father who was officer in charge of west Yorkshire ) had serious issues with the stand being all timber and as you say , all the rubbish under the timber seating and people in those days able to smoke in the stadium, it was almost definatley a cigarette butt that was tossed aside and set fire to the rubbish.
The whole stand was up in flames in minutes.
I watched with horror as it unfolded at the time on TV.
And as I said, my husband was there on the day.
Him and his mates were in the queue to go into the fateful stand , but the queue was very long so in the end they decided they couldn't be bothered queuing so they went to a gate with a smaller queue for the stand behind the goal.
This decision may possibly have saved their lives .
It still haunts him now all these years later.
And of course in those days, no one had mobiles so families were sick with worry .
On the last game of every season all the fans wear their maroon t shirts which were made specially for the victims in remembrance and the burns units in Bradford are still in receipt of monies raised by the club and the fans .
It is rumoured that where the concrete toilet block was/ is , is haunted.
Many fans went in there feeling they would be safe from the fire , but they perished too.
# Rest in peace .
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