The Daily Hilario: 30th anniversary of the Bradford Fire

MAY 11, 1985:

Tragedy struck on a day of celebration for Bradford City on this day 30 years ago.  The club had just won the third division and were presented with the trophy before their game against Lincoln City.  But just before the end of the first half, the wooden main stand, with decades and decades of paper and trash accumulated underneath it, went up in flames.  56 people died, many more were injured.

The match was recorded for local broadcast, and you can find some of that footage here.  It's not the easiest viewing.

There will be a new documentary about the fire airing on BT Sport tonight at 9:30pm.

Nobody's ever really taken responsibility for the tragedy.  But just recently, new revelations have placed then chairman Stafford Heginbotham firmly in the crosshairs.  His personal history of fires leading to massive insurance payouts is quite shocking, to say the least.

FOOTBALL (all times BST):
19.00:  U21 Premier League, 4th vs. 3rd:  Sunderland U21 vs. Chelsea U21
19.00:  Eredivisie, 3rd vs. 5th:  Feyenoord vs. Vitesse
19.45:  La Liga, 12th vs. 14th:  Rayo Vallecano vs. Getafe
19.45:  Serie A, 8th vs. 9th:  Genoa vs. Torino
20.00:  Premier League, 3rd vs. 8th:  Arsenal vs. Swansea City