Bradford Remembers - 25 years on: ‘They wanted to talk about football... it seemed to help’

Stuart McCall

The most harrowing thing for me was that I couldn’t find my dad.

We were all based in the pub at the top of the road with our families. Everyone was accounted for except him.

We were a family club and all the wives and kids used to meet in the players’ lounge to watch the game.

Everyone had got up the road and was passing on information but my dad was nowhere to be seen.

I went back to the car park at the ground and saw a policeman ashen-faced. At that time Grandstand were reporting on the TV that there had been no fatalities. But you couldn’t see what had gone on in and around the turnstile areas.

I asked the policeman about it. He just looked at me and said: “Those who could get out did get out.”

That’s when the enormity of what was going on hit me.

I got in my car and it was boiling hot. You could hardly touch the steering wheel. I went with my brother in a search for our dad.

We went to the spot where he usually parked for home games and it was empty. We thought that was a good sign but later found out that the spot had been taken by somebody else because there was such a big crowd.

We drove over to St Luke’s looking for him and then went to Pinderfields in Wakefield, where we eventually found him.

He had suffered 20 per cent burns but they were superficial. They were going to heal, although he had to have skin grafts on the back of his hands and top of his head.

I went to see my dad in hospital every day and got to know the others in the ward with him. They would ask me to bring in the rest of the lads with the trophy. They wanted to see the medals and ask about how we’d get on next season.

They were going through hell with pain and the mental scars but it seemed to help them to talk about football.

It was so trivial to me compared with what had gone on but the nurses said it was a massive release from their suffering.

The memorial service every year is such a sad and emotional day in a way. But for those who died, it’s an ongoing tribute.

You see the same faces and speak to people who’ve lost love ones and I realise that I was so lucky.

I had eight or nine family there on that day and, apart from dad, they all escaped unhurt. I always think I was one of the lucky ones.

Peter Jackson

I noticed a plume of smoke in the stand but never thought much about it. People were still watching the game.

All of a sudden within seconds the fire raged along the top of the stand. It was terrifying.

That stand was due to be demolished straight after the game. It was absolutely in ruins.

When I started as an apprentice ten years before I’d have to sweep it and it was falling apart then. That was the horrible irony of the day.

My wife Alison and daughter Charlotte were in the players’ lounge above the dressing room, watching the game with Terry Yorath’s wife and Gabby.

But I had my dad, two brothers and father-in-law sat in that stand. I got Alison and Charlotte out but was worrying about the others. Did they get on to the pitch or did they go to the back of the stand? It was just chaos.

It was an hour before I found my dad. He had looked after and attended Stuart McCall’s father.

Living in Shelf, I drove past BRI on the way home and saw hundreds of people sat outside. I just had to stop.

I called in for two or three hours, still in my kit and trainers. People there just wanted to talk football. People had major injuries, 40-50 per cent burns, and they only wanted to discuss our chances for next season. It was quite humbling.

We all spent the next few weeks attending church services, funerals and functions for the appeal. There was no time to sit down and mope, we just had to get on with it.

We were a close group of players anyway. It was a young side. I was 24 and captain and apart from Bobby Campbell and John Hawley, everyone else was my age or younger.

The feeling in that dressing room was special. It was a remarkable achievement to win the title although it had been put in the background.

Nobody gave us a chance the next season but we managed to finish 12th without a ground. It was an incredible feat.

Some clubs might have collapsed but Bradford became stronger both as a club and as a city.

John Hendrie

I saw people running on the pitch and just thought ‘here we go again’. There was more crowd trouble at games at that time.

The ref blew the whistle and sent us back to the dressing room. But we’d been there maybe 20 seconds when someone came running down the corridors shouting “get out, get out.”

We were totally oblivious to what was going on. The first time I knew something was very wrong was going out on the street.

It was manic, just pandemonium. There was black smoke everywhere and sirens blaring.

People were crying and screaming out for their loved ones. Mums and dad were looking for their kids; children were shouting for their parent.

There were people lying on the floor. It was absolutely horrific.

We were still in our playing kit and boots watching all this. We didn’t know what to do.

I went down to the ground a few days later to lay some flowers with Linda. We were due to get married three weeks later. There was just this feeling of numbness. Everybody was in a state of shock. It was the same throughout that summer – they were just horrible, horrible months.

You never get over it. I was at the final home game last week in the press box with my sons Luke and Jordan.

As soon as I heard You’ll Never Walk Alone, I just filled up because it brings back all those painful memories.

Jordan asked me if it had been the worst day in my life. Yes, son, it was.

But we should always remember. These people can’t be forgotten.

They will be part of Bradford’s history and that of the football club because they gave their lives for it.