MAY 11th

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Saturday May 11th 1985 The Bradford City fire occurred at Valley Parade. This tragedy is recorded above. I was driving kids in a minibus that afternoon from school, heading north to Derbyshire for a weekend's field work, when the news came over the transit radio. 56 spectators died and 265 were injured.....heaven knows how many were mentally affected by being there, having relatives who were there or affected by the event. Many reminders are in the stadium and surrounds to remind us of the event, the deaths, injuries and the heroes who tried to help.

There may be a coincidence that John Stead has been recognised today in the press, having played at Bradford City (not in 1985) and today retired from top flight football. He finished his career that began at Huddersfield in 2002. Stead was brought up in Honley, just down the road from me and played at local Huddersfield, Blackburn R, Sunderland, Derby, Sheff Utd, Ipswich T, Coventry C, Bristol C, Oldham Athletic, Bradford City (2013-5), Notts County, finally at Harrogate. He played 11 times for England U21s.

On 24 January 2015, Stead scored one goal and set up a further two, in a 2-4 away win away at Chelsea in the FA Cup. In the next round, the 5th of the FA Cup, Stead scored again; this time in a 2–0 win over his old club Sunderland. In the 6th Rd his team lost to Reading after a replay, who then lost to Asenal aet 1-2 in the S-F, who then beat Aston Villa 4-0 in the Final. John is below.

James Coppinger, at 40 years, also retires today, having mainly played at Doncaster Rovers, a club that has worked with the NSPCC since the beginning of 2009. In June 2011, Coppinger, along with colleagues and other Rovers staff and local Doncaster businessmen David Plant and Brian Butcher walked the 62-mile Inca Trek raising almost £50,000 for the charity. He has also set up 'Pro Mindset', a mentoring and support service for footballers and 'Kixx Middlesbrough', a local youth coaching academy.

In January 2013, along with several other people, including fellow footballers, Coppinger faced a race-fixing inquiry with allegations of corruption in gambling on horses to lose on Betting Exchanges in nine races between 1 November 2010 and 31 March 2011. He strongly denied the charges, though was found guilty of corrupt and fraudulent practices by the BHR and given a three-year ban from any dealings with registered racing individuals.

BUT he has played 727 games (1999-2021), scored 85 goals (for Doncaster Rovers 695 apps 67 goals) Cheerio.