SATURDAY, May 11, 1985 was to be a day of celebration for the Bradford City Football Club. They had won the third division championship and were to be promoted. This was their last game of the season and on the following Monday, the stand where the fire started was to be pulled down and replaced. When the fire started a few minutes before half-time, the stand had a life of no more than about 45 minutes.

From the time that smoke was observed under the wooden seating until the whole stand was ablaze was something under five minutes. The cause of the fire was a lighted cigarette, match or pipe tobacco being dropped through a gap in the wooden floorboards on to debris lurking in the cavity below the seats. Fifty-six people died and many others were seriously injured. On the same day, there was a riot at Birmingham City’s football ground. I was appointed with two assessors to conduct an inquiry into fire precautions and hooliganism.

At the time, football grounds were run in a somewhat amateur way. Stewards, whose responsibilities were never clearly defined, were often elderly, enthusiastic, long-time members of the club who were allowed to watch the game in exchange for handing out programmes or showing people to their seats. They had no training in safety precautions and often wore no sort of identification.

There was in existence a code of practice called the “Green Code”, which pointed out the risks involved in rubbish accumulating under voids in wooden stands. No authority seemed to have any responsibility for ensuring the safety of this particular ground. Under the Fire Precautions Act 1971, the fire authority had power to enforce proper precautions where they were satisfied that there was an immediate and appreciable risk of danger, but they took the view that they had neither the time nor resources to visit sports grounds such as Bradford’s.

The other relevant legislation was the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975, which required certificates of safety to be issued by the local authority. However, this applied only in relation to designated grounds, which in effect were the first and second division clubs. Thus Bradford was not covered. The other body responsible for the safety of the premises was the Health and Safety Executive. It took the view that it would concentrate on hazards not caught within the net of other legislation.

The effect of this was that, as far as fire was concerned, except in special circumstances, the Health and Safety Executive did not regard Bradford as its concern. However, in the years 1981 and 1984, it inspected the premises and recorded that there was a substantial risk to the public, which was “fire, place of work and means of access”. But, sadly, this view was not communicated to the other authorities.

Clearly defined lines of authority therefore needed to be instituted. I recommended that designation under the Safety of Sports Grounds Act should be very much wider, applying to many other sports as well. These recommendations have been adopted. The issue of a certificate now involves the agreement of a number of authorities working together.

I also recommended that stewards should be properly trained and that the oldfashioned ex-supporter should be replaced. This is now universal. Another difficulty related to exit gates. Football grounds at that time were old-fashioned and out of date. The most recent new building was Wembley, opened in 1923. Exit gates were not clearly marked and they were often locked to keep out those who did not wish to pay. Both had played a crucial part in the Bradford disaster. I therefore recommended that they should be manned and clearly marked. This, too, has been done.

The continued use of wooden stands was clearly a problem. Their use is now governed by certificates, as I recommended. If they still exist, a rigorous no-smoking rule has to be enforced. I was thus horrified, on visiting a ground in the North East recently, to find the rule ignored with stewards openly smoking.

It is clear, however, that as a result of the adoption of my recommendations, there has been a substantial improvement to the quality of the grounds and the applicable safety provisions. The issue of certificates ensures this. The approach of management to safety has become more professional.

Arising out of the riot at Birmingham’s ground, I also had to consider the related problems of hooliganism. One of the most important of my recommendations was the introduction of closed-circuit television in a dedicated area of the ground, with experienced police officers in charge. Because they are now able, with their highly sophisticated equipment, immediately to identify and arrest troublemakers, they have managed to reduce the level of violence inside the ground. Sadly, it can still continue outside the grounds and at places (particularly abroad) that are without CCTV.

I pointed out the problems of disorder, which were likely to accrue from old-fashioned turnstiles leaving a large number of frustrated fans outside the ground at kick-off. More modern grounds seem to have reduced this problem. Another effect of these improvements has been the abolition of standing. The attempt by Coventry City many years ago to introduce all seating sometimes resulted in fans breaking up the seats and using them as weapons, but seating is now the accepted thing. The disaster at Bradford undoubtedly led to significant improvements in the standard of safety at sports grounds, but as Hillsborough showed, there can be no guarantee of perfect safety. You cannot legislate for human error.

The people of Bradford buried their dead, succoured the injured, nurtured the bereaved and fairly compensated those in need. Not for them the endless desire for litigation, the constant demand for inquiries, the unceasing desire for revenge or the clamour for prosecution that have been such a feature of other disasters.

Nor did they feel the need for frequent expressions of public grief. For them grief is, and was, a very private affair. They behaved with much dignity and very great courage.

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