Rather, football is one of his few escapes, something that resembles 90 minutes of normalcy in the midst of so much anger and sadness. ![]() Through all the shock and grief that followed in the days, months, and years after that moment, Fletcher's love of football still shines, when you might expect a complete rejection of the sport or at least of Bradford City fandom. He didn't know what to say to that, and after I repeated myself he asked, "Look, I can see you were in it, but have you actually seen the stand?" "Do you think the second half will start soon?" I asked, as if we'd stand and watch it together. I nodded, smiling, relieved to interact with the familiar world once more. Here is how shock is for a 12-year-old boy, whose cap had burned off, whose ear and back were seared from dripping tar, who had just crawled out of the smoke-filled tunnels and was dragged across the pitch by life-saving fans, whose family were still somewhere inside those tunnels. The second part of the book contains the best portrayal of shock and post-traumatic stress disorder I've ever read - from the perspective of a young adolescent who has lost his father and his little brother, his uncle and grandfather. Some of the most gripping moments follow the aftermath of the fire. The story moves along sweetly here and inexorably, though, to the disaster at Valley Parade. Fletcher's dad is brought to life as a fun-loving father, a fatalist who lives for the moment, and a successful salesman who finally gets his son to root for their family's hometown Division Three team, Bradford City. With no Panini sticker books around, baseball cards would have to do.īut there's more to these early chapters than just season tickets to football games, goals remembered, heroes worshiped. If I wasn't playing it myself, the only soccer I ever saw were satellite broadcasts of 1986 World Cup games, and I watched every single one of them and without any fellow fans in whom I could confide. In this sense, this first segment of Fifty-Six is not unlike Dave Roberts' The Bromley Boys or Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch. Being the same age as the author, but growing up in rural America at the time, I have to say his access to so much professional soccer, whether live games, broadcasts, or simple paraphernalia, while surrounded by a community of equally enthusiastic fans, was a joy to read about, even if it was nothing out of the ordinary for an English boy. His childhood football indulgences are impressive. In the first part of this book, we get to know Martin and his family and their love of football and Bradford City. What frames that day is compelling reading. Fletcher's eyewitness account of the fire itself takes up just one chapter. The whole event unfolded live on television.įifty-Six is a book about that day and what it all meant. His father, brother, uncle, and grandfather all died moments later, their remains recovered at one of the turnstiles. He somehow found his way back toward the stands and the pitch. Martin was separated from the rest of his family. The doors in the back of the stadium, where the tunnels led, turned out to be locked. In the meantime, the fire was spreading at incredible speed down the length of the stand, block after block, along with the roof, engulfed in flames. Martin and his family were part of the crowd that was sent into the tunnels. ![]() Some fans descended the stands, to climb a wall at the bottom and drop to the pitch others were sent backward, toward the tunnels behind the stands where there were turnstiles and gates to exit the stadium. The evacuation of G Block was orderly, given the circumstances. The flames came from directly beneath G Block, from under the stands. In the middle of the first half, spectators in and near G Block reported the smell of burning plastic. And on that day, Martin and his dad, along with Martin's little brother, his uncle, and his grandfather, filled five seats of G Block in a large wooden stand at Valley Parade. There was no way they would miss this event. ![]() His dad was even crazier about Bradford City. ![]() But the day was a big deal for Bradford fans. The Lincoln City match was, in itself, meaningless. Before the match began, the team would be presented with its first trophy in 56 years. Bradford City had secured first place and a promotion. It was the final game of the Football League Third Division (now League One) season. Valley Parade stadium was packed with more than 11,000 fans. On May 11, 1985, Bradford City Football Club was playing at home versus Lincoln City. Martin Fletcher's Fifty-Six: The Story of the Bradford Fire is an engrossing, saddening, maddening page-turner. Last year saw the publication of a book that is destined to take its place in the canon of soccer literature, alongside the likes of The Miracle of Castel di Sangro, Among the Thugs, and The Ball is Round.
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