Sunday 11th May 2025 marks the 40th anniversary of one of the most tragic days in the history of English football.
Saturday 11th May 1985 was the final day of the football season, with Bradford City playing Lincoln City at Valley Parade. Wolves were away at Blackburn Rovers for the final game of our Division 2 campaign.
Bradford were celebrating third division title success and the day began as a momentous and joyous occasion. The game kicked off at the slightly later time of 3.04pm due the trophy celebrations, but at 3.44pm the day changed drastically, as a horrendous fire broke out at Valley Parade which took the lives of 54 Bradford City supporters and two Lincoln City supporters, while causing horrific injuries to many more, both physically and mentally.
The Popplewell Enquiry opened in May 1985 which looked at this tragedy and other events that happened on that day and later in the month. The inquiry gave many recommendations, but one had a direct impact on Molineux. New wooden grandstands were banned, along with the immediate closure of other wooden stands deemed unsafe. Smoking in other wooden stands was also banned.
When Wolves supporters returned to Molineux for the first game of the new season, on Saturday 24th August 1985 for our Division 3 game against Newport County, they found a two-sided Molineux. The North Bank and Waterloo Road Stands were closed in 1985 and never reopened. We were not the only club effected; many others were too.
We didn’t suffer the pain that Bradford City and Lincoln City did. We lost two buildings, but those two football clubs lost lives.
Some may remember we had a smaller fire of our own in the Waterloo Road Stand in May 1992. This was under totally different circumstances and thankfully did not have any tragic ending. It did reiterate again how dangerous the old wooden stands were.
Club historian Pete Crump travelled up to Valley Parade last week for Bradford City’s final home game of the season versus Fleetwood Town to lay a Wolves wreath at the permanent memorial.
Crump said: “For Bradford, it must have been a day filled with a mix of emotions. When I walked up to the stadium with our wreath, I was approached by a Bradford supporter who thanked us and revealed that his dad was one of the 56.
“This brought home even more the severity of what happened in May 1985. No one can even comprehend what it must have been like unless you were there, and I would not even try to find words to describe it as that would be disrespectful to the victims.
“The way Bradford and Lincoln remember this every year is with the utmost dignity. The minute’s silence was nothing short of impeccable. Bradford were drawing 0-0 and needed to win to gain promotion to League One, with the winning goal coming in the sixth minute of injury time.
“I can’t help but think that the 56 were looking down on the team that day. As always, the Bradford supporters did the 56 proud, as did the Bradford team. I also saw there were poignant and fitting tributes paid at Sincil Bank too. Bradford and Lincoln should be proud of how they mark this every year and will continue to do so.
“The 56 are heroes and so are the people who helped save lives that day too, as there were many horrific injuries that day. Tomorrow will be a very emotional day in both cities, and I will be thinking of all of them. I was proud and honoured to be there last Saturday to pay our respects. The 56 will never be forgotten.”
Here at Wolves Museum and throughout the football club, our thoughts are with all people affected by this horrendous tragedy at both Bradford City AFC and Lincoln City FC.
No one should go to a football match and not come home.
The 56, we will never forget you.
Hear more from Pete on the Valley Parade fire, the impact it had on Wolves and why it was so important to him to honour the victims of the disaster on Wednesday's episode of Wolves Express below.
