Nothing surprising in the construction of the stand to give this rate of fire growth," Woolley writes in an untitled script which appears to be his own notes from the first day of Popplewell's Inquiry. or "How unusual was that degree of rapidity?" After the fire, Bradford City also announced they would thereafter play with a black trim on their shirt sleeves as a permanent memorial to those who had died. Christopher Hammond, who was 12 on the day, said on the 20th anniversary of the fire: "As a 12-year-old, it was easy to move on – I didn't realise how serious it was until I looked at the press coverage over the next few days. Among the main outcomes of the inquiry were the banning of new wooden grandstands at all UK sports grounds, the immediate closure of other wooden stands deemed unsafe and the banning of smoking in other wooden stands. Four police officers, constables David Britton and John Richard Ingham and chief inspectors Charles Frederick Mawson and Terence Michael Slocombe, and two spectators, Richard Gough and David Hustler, were awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal for their actions. Most of those who escaped onto the pitch were saved. There was talk of "a raincoat smell" about 15.40pm that afternoon, as the fire took hold. FBU join fight to save union learning programme, Firefighters stay on Covid alert after eight in 10 fire services pulled into first wave response, The Firefighters' Story: 100 Years of the Fire Brigades Union, Free Wills and Independent Financial Advice, Rewards for Rescue - rewarding those that save lives, FAQs: Exercise and Fitness Apprenticeship Level 3, Covid has exposed the folly of austerity - there is another way. Lincoln City's board responded by committing £1,100,000 (£3.4 million today) to their ground's renovation in the year that immediately followed the fire at Valley Parade, and over the following decade made improvements that eventually totalled £3,000,000. They enjoyed an unbroken run of thirteen winning games, and secured the club’s first championship title since 1929. [36], In July 1985 an inquest was held into the deaths; at the hearings the coroner James Turnbull recommended a death by misadventure outcome, with which the jury agreed. It was described as the worst fire disaster in the history of British football and the worst stadium disaster in Britain since 65 supporters perished at Ibrox, in January 1971, at the end of a Rangers vs Celtic 'Old Firm' derby fixture. [10] The stand seats did not have risers; this had allowed a large accumulation of rubbish and paper waste in the cavity space under the stand, which had not been cleared for many months. Fans in the next stand (the "Bradford End") pulled down the fence separating them from the pitch. It was a tinderbox. There was no way out there anyway; the doors were locked. The fire started five minutes before half-time during the match on 11 May between Bradford and Lincoln City. [44], During the case, Sir Joseph Canley stated that: "It is only right that I should say that I think it would be unfair to conclude that Mr Heginbotham, Mr Tordoff, the Board of Directors, or any of them, were intentionally and callously indifferent to the safety of spectators using the stand. It was clear that the stand was a fire risk; the club and local authority clearly knew that it needed improvements, even the fans who filled it could see the danger. One of the worst things about this tragedy is the fact that it could have prevented a future disaster, if only someone had been listening.