Bradford Fire: 25 Years On: Captain Jackson heaps praise on his brave Bantams colleagues

AT the age of 24 and as captain of his hometown club, Peter Jackson should have been savouring the joy of success.

His burgeoning career, already 225 league games old, had just chalked up a second promotion in four seasons, making him the first Bradford City skipper to lift a trophy since 1929.

By the evening of May 11, 1985, however, Jackson had – along with everyone else at Valley Parade – been thrust into a nightmare of epic proportions courtesy of the then-worst disaster in the history of English football.

And Jackson, as captain, had to shoulder a huge burden of responsibility as the city began the mourning process – something he realised when driving home, still wearing his kit, that night.

He recalls: "I had my car keys in the club blazer I had picked up in the dressing room as we were told to evacuate so had collected the car and set off home.

"On the way, I drove past Bradford Royal Infirmary where I saw a few of our fans sitting outside, clearly injured. That was the moment when it hit me just how serious everything was.

"I pulled over to see if I could help them and ended up staying for three hours.

"I still didn't know how many had died or just how serious everything was but all that changed at the hospital.

"It was amazing, though, because even people who had been badly burned just wanted to talk about football and the season we had just had.

"It was really humbling, and I found the same happened in the weeks that followed as we attended all the functions to raise money for the families. Football and Bradford City was all the fans wanted to talk about."

Jackson, as captain, took it upon himself to attend as many funerals as possible. It was a similar story for his team-mates, who all wanted to help in any way they could.

A rota was quickly drawn up to ensure that no player ever attended on his own, a rule that continued as the summer wore on and fund-raising events started to be held in aid of the victims.

Friends of Jackson say the aftermath put a huge strain on the then-club captain but that he never once considered taking a back seat.

Looking back to the events of a quarter of a century ago, however, Jackson is quick to dismiss any personal accolades and instead prefers to focus on the team.

"People often forget just how young that team was," says the two-time Huddersfield Town manager. "We had Bobby Campbell in his 30s but not many others. Most of us were still young lads, who were totally unprepared for what came our way.

"No-one can train you how to speak to someone who has just lost their dad or son.

"Then there was Stuart McCall, who must have been only 20 at the time, having to cope with his dad Andy being badly burned. It was an awful time but somehow we battled through it as a team and those lads deserve a lot of credit."

For the players, there was not only the trauma of the fire to deal with but also a return to football and more than a season playing 'home' games at Elland Road and Leeds Road before the club eventually settled at Odsal.

Jackson said: "I didn't think about football until we came back for pre-season but the lads were brilliant. We didn't play a home game all season in what is now the Championship but still finished in mid-table.

"Only that group of lads could have done that. I played in a lot of dressing rooms during my career but none came close to that Bradford team."