‘The darkness fell with such speed – it was too black, there was nothing’
On Saturday, 11 May 1985, 56 Bradford City fans went to watch a football match and didn’t come home. The Bradford City stadium fire ripped the heart out of the West Yorkshire city and is still a source of anguish for many supporters of the club. This new BBC documentary looks back on the fire and calculates the considerable human cost of the events that unfolded on that dark day…
Featuring interviews with supporters, policemen, players, journalists and many others who were there on the day, Unforgotten: The Bradford City Fire is a long overdue examination of the causes and aftermath of the fire and the legacy that it left behind. Most of this footage was new to me, and it’s still shocking to see how quickly and ferociously the fire took hold. The film also serves as a window into a different footballing era. To see the Bradford City players holding up placards that read ‘THANK YOU FANS’ feels heartbreakingly quaint now, and it is clear from the way they talk that the players had a genuine connection to both the supporters and the club. It’s a shame that much of that connection has been lost in the modern era, but the scenes that greeted Bradford City’s promotion a few weeks ago at least suggest that some of that old magic remains. While some of the interviews here are almost unbearably sad, the timeline of events that is mapped out is precise, enlightening and ultimately frustrating. While there is no attempt to assign blame here (nor should there be), this still feels like a wholly preventable tragedy.
Obviously, it isn’t a competition, but it’s no surprise that the Bradford fire has been overshadowed by the Hillsborough disaster. City are an unfashionable club from an unfashionable town, and as a result, this terrible tragedy has perhaps been overlooked in recent years. This excellent documentary goes some way to correcting that injustice by spotlighting what must go down as one of football’s darkest days.
