Bradford City Fire Disaster: Why keeping the memory alive matters to Graham Alexander

Leeds United have Istanbul, when Christopher Speight and Kevin Loftus were killed before the 2000 UEFA Cup semi-final against Galatasaray, and Liverpool particularly have Hillsborough, the stadium crush which killed 97 supporters and had a big effect on Sheffield too.

For Bradford City it is the fire that swept through Valley Parade on May 11, 1985, killing 54 home fans there to celebrate winning Division Three, and two Lincoln City supporters. At least 265 were recorded as injured, but many more bear mental scars.

There are no doubt some Bradfordians who understandably would rather just erase what happened that fateful, windy day when the condemned main stand and its wooden roof caught fire and quickly became a deathtrap from their memories.

But it is important those who wear the claret and amber understand an incident which took place before they were born.

“It’s an important part of the history of Bradford City," says their manager, Graham Alexander.

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“I’m old enough to remember it as a teenage football fan. I was 13 so I don’t know if I’d have understood the scale of it apart from obviously the tragedy of the death toll.

“As you get older and have more of an understanding of life, these things become more important because you have a family yourself.

“When I park the car before games and walk past the memorial, I look at it every time and see the names. You certainly see some of the ages, which is quite haunting.

“Oli (Oliver Evans), our club chaplain, came in recently to talk about his experiences and recollections. He’s the same age as me and a big Bradford fan.

“The whole squad and staff sat through the seven-minute video of the footage. I’ve seen it before but being here and watching it again, knowing the ages of some of those people, and seeing it right in front of you was horrendous.

“I had a quick glance around the room at the players and you could see in their faces they understand now the psyche of the Bradford people, certainly the ones that come to Valley Parade to support their team.

“Whether they went through it or not, everyone will know someone who was a part of that day.

“It’s a vital part of the rich history of Bradford City and it’s vitally important everyone who comes to either play or work for the club understands what it means to everybody.”

The memorial service is held annually in Centenary Square, not Valley Parade, because this was a community, not just a football disaster.

The Bradford Burns Unit, set up at the local university in the aftermath, and its founder, the late and world renowned plastic surgeon Professor David Sharpe, are as intrinsically linked with the football club as Stuart McCall, Paul Jewell or whoever else you care to mention.

Born in Coventry to a Scottish father and Irish mother, never on the books of a Yorkshire club until he became Bradford's manager in November, Alexander still feels it.

“You don’t want a tragedy like that to form that bond but it is there," he says. "You feel it.

"Football is an emotional sport and you have to connect with that emotion. I don’t think any person watching that video or listening to Oli wouldn’t have felt something.

“Hopefully we can use that as part of our inspiration.

"If that thought or emotion might get you through a difficult moment for two or three minutes, I think that’s showing all the people that passed on that day the greatest respect you can.”