Fifty-Six
The Story of the Bradford Fire
Published on 16. April 2015
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-1-4729-2016-4 (ISBN)
Description
Shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award.
On May 11 1985, fifty-six people died in a devastating fire at Bradford City's old Valley Parade ground. It was truly horrific, a startling story - and wholly avoidable - but it had only the briefest of inquiries, and it seemed its lessons were not learned.
Twelve-year-old Martin Fletcher was at Valley Parade that day, celebrating Bradford's promotion to the second flight, with his dad, brother, uncle and grandfather. Martin was the only one of them to survive the fire - the biggest loss suffered by a single family in any British football disaster.
In later years, Martin devoted himself to extensively investigating how the disaster was caused, its culture of institutional neglect and the government's general indifference towards football fans' safety at the time. This book tells the gripping, extraordinary in-depth story of a boy's unthinkable loss following a spring afternoon at a football match, of how fifty-six people could die at a game, and of the truths he unearthed as an adult. This is the story - thirty years on - of the disaster football has never properly acknowledged.
On May 11 1985, fifty-six people died in a devastating fire at Bradford City's old Valley Parade ground. It was truly horrific, a startling story - and wholly avoidable - but it had only the briefest of inquiries, and it seemed its lessons were not learned.
Twelve-year-old Martin Fletcher was at Valley Parade that day, celebrating Bradford's promotion to the second flight, with his dad, brother, uncle and grandfather. Martin was the only one of them to survive the fire - the biggest loss suffered by a single family in any British football disaster.
In later years, Martin devoted himself to extensively investigating how the disaster was caused, its culture of institutional neglect and the government's general indifference towards football fans' safety at the time. This book tells the gripping, extraordinary in-depth story of a boy's unthinkable loss following a spring afternoon at a football match, of how fifty-six people could die at a game, and of the truths he unearthed as an adult. This is the story - thirty years on - of the disaster football has never properly acknowledged.
Reviews / Votes
Some have tainted him as a laptop vigilante, but really, they should read his book and weep * The Times * A heart-wrenching read * FourFourTwo * Incredibly moving and brilliantly understated... lays bare the culture of institutionalised neglect that all English football-goers in the 80s came to expect, which by the end of the decade would claim more than 150 lives * Daily Mirror * Heart-rending before it is controversial * The Times * Fifty-Six is a superb, moving and necessary piece of work... Fletcher's account of the worst fire disaster in footballing history has been justly acclaimed as a painstaking, moving and enraging piece of journalism * When Saturday Comes * Comprehensive, compelling, credible... must not be ignored * Morning Star * Fletcher's forensic trawl resulted in a damning dossier which has raised questions which cannot be ignored * Daily Mail * The obvious question is why so much publicly accessible detail has never come out before; it is also Fletcher's principal question * Guardian * Above all else, it is a beautifully observed and incredibly detailed memoir of a son's relationship with the father he lost at the age of 12 * Independent * It read like a David Peace novel * Sunday Supplement * Fletcher's account of how that dreadful day unfolded makes painful reading; it could have been any of us setting on a family day out to the football * Sports Journalists Association * A compelling memoir * The Guardian *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 153 mm
Weight
520 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4729-2016-4 (9781472920164)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
04/2015
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Sport
€16.49
Available for download
Person
Martin Fletcher was 12 years old when he survived the Bradford fire in which his father, brother, uncle and grandfather were all killed. As an adult he has devoted himself to investigating and seeking the truth about the disaster, and this book is the culmination of his extensive research. During that time he has also obtained a BA in Politics with International Studies and MA in International Political Economy from the University of Warwick, together with both the LPC and ACA. He lives in London.