270 seconds, 56 lives and 40 years: The story of the Bradford City fire

Forty years ago this weekend, what should have been a day of celebration for Bradford City turned into one of tragedy as a fire swept through the club's home ground and claimed the lives of 56 fans. This is the story of the disaster on 11 May 1985, as told by four of those who experienced it.

"It was such a beautiful day," recalls Bradford-born commentator John Helm, who was working for Yorkshire Television that day.

"The sun was shining and everybody in the city was happy."

A home game at Valley Parade against Lincoln City was due to mark the end of a memorable season which had seen the hosts top the Third Division, their first title since winning the same league in 1929.

"Bradford City had already won promotion and were due to receive the trophy in front of their adoring fans," Helm adds.

"Lincoln had nothing to play for, so you couldn't possibly imagine anything wrong."

For centre-half and club captain Peter Jackson, leading his hometown club to the title was a source of triumph.

"Particularly for me being a local lad and having lived and gone to school locally, it was a proud day," says Jackson, now 64.

"It was supposed to be a special day, but it turned into a disastrous day."

The game started uneventfully enough, but around the 40-minute mark, Helm spotted something unusual in the stand opposite his vantage point.

"My commentary position was almost like in a garden hut on the Midland Road side of the ground looking across to the main stand," he says.

"I think it was Stuart McCall who had the ball in his hands ready to take a throw-in and I just noticed over his shoulder, about seven or eight rows back, a tiny glow of a fire.

"The most chilling fact for me was that four-and-a-half minutes later the entire stand was gone. Four-and-a-half minutes. That's how savage that fire was."

Stood in the Kop, to the side of the affected stand, was 24-year-old fan Linda Norton, with her husband Bob.

"I saw some smoke and my first thought was that it was a smoke bomb," recalls Linda, who was four months pregnant with her son Lee at the time.

"Then you saw flames and people running out of the back of the stand and others going to the front to climb over the wall and get onto the pitch.

"We went down onto the pitch ourselves and the flames were getting bigger and bigger. It was scary."

Meanwhile, Helm was told live pictures of the scene were being picked up by national television as he relayed what was happening.

"(The message) was not to overdramatise," he says.

"And why would you when you could see the horror that was unfolding before my very eyes?

"All the emergency services still use the footage from that day for training.

"At one point, which was awful in my mind, one or two people were throwing stones at me and shouting, 'Switch your so-and-so camera off'.

"Well it's a good job we didn't because of the very fact those pictures are of colossal value today."

Two hundred miles south and oblivious to the chaos was Valley Parade regular Steve Ding, then 22. He had gone to the Royal Albert Hall with the Boys' Brigade, but his 59-year-old father Alan and his cousin's husband, Ken, were at the match.

"It was only when we got back to our hotel at about 17:00 BST that we turned on the telly and saw it on Grandstand," Steve says.

"I still the words, 'We're going back to Valley Parade now where there's been horrific scenes,' and my first thought, because hooliganism was so common at the time, was, 'They've not been fighting today on a day of celebration have they":[]}