Fifty-Six: The Story of the Bradford Fire

Fletcher, Martin

ISBN 10 : 1472920171 ISBN 13 : 9781472920171

Editeur : Bloomsbury Sport, 2015

Synopsis

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.

A propos du livre

Revue de presse :

Some have tainted him as a laptop vigilante, but really, they should read his book and weep
Rick Broadbent, 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
Brian Reade, Daily Mirror

Heart-rending before it is controversial
Matt Dickinson, 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
Mike Keegan, Daily Mail

The obvious question is why so much publicly accessible detail has never come out before; it is also Fletcher s principal question
Daniel Taylor, 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
Ian Herbert, Independent

It read like a David Peace novel
Sam Wallace, 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 --Anton Rippon, Sports Journalists Association

Présentation de l'éditeur :

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.

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Bloomsbury Sport
• Date d'édition: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1472920171
• ISBN 13: 9781472920171
• Reliure: Livre broché
• Nombre de pages: 256