City Ground blaze recalled, 50 years on
COMING up to the 50th anniversary on the 24th of this month of the fire at the City Ground, I would like to share with you my recollections of that momentous day.
We were seated just to the right of the halfway line towards the front of the stand. A block of seats was always purchased by the landlord of the Elm Tree Inn, in Forest Fields, Ces Winfield, and I was there that day with my dad. He had left his seat early to beat the half-time rush for the toilets!
Forest were playing Leeds United in the first division of the Football League, and the score was 1-1 in the first half, Dave Hilley, I believe it was, having equalised for the Reds. There was a good crowd, over 31,000 I believe.
The referee had noticed some commotion in the main stand and had whistled early for half-time. I believe someone shouted “fire” and the crowd around the area of the tunnel began to move.
Developments were very fast from that moment, and three things stood out: the speed at which the police and stewards went into action, the calmness of the crowd, and the speed at which the fire took a hold.
From my seat I could see a police officer was slowly walking towards us away from the fire, covering about 10 tiers of seats, ushering people from the stand. This would have been repeated in other areas of the stand by other police officers.
In those days, there was a standing area in front of the main stand, separated by a six-foot wall, and we all dropped down from the seating area into this area and made our way on the pitch, and stood and watched from about the centre circle as the fire took a hold.
And took hold it did. In those days, the main stand was a wooden structure and, of course, once the fire took hold, within a few minutes, the whole stand was engulfed. The fire brigade were very quick to respond but were faced by an almost impossible task. The calmness of the evacuation was epitomised by the safe escape of the television crew high up on the gantry. In those days, the only access to this gantry was by a large ladder, and this could easily have been knocked down in any panic. My thoughts were then of my dad. Was he safe? Where was he? As the crowd were allowed to disperse, I made my way to the car park at the front of the main stand and luckily found him safe and well, looking for me.
We made our way back up Pavilion Road to leave for home. The Leeds players were also walking up Pavilion Road towards the Bridgford Hotel, led by Jack Charlton. I’m sure he had the match ball, and he was smoking a cigarette. My dad jokingly shouted across to him “Did you cause that, Jack?” to which he replied “I’ve just lit this up!”
So, amazingly, not one fatality, no injuries, an amazing testament to the reactions of the crowd and swift and calm action of the police and stew- ards. It could have been so different. Michael Skipworth Brownlow Drive Rise Park Nottingham
WERE YOU THERE ON THAT FATEFUL DAY? SHARE YOUR MEMORIES BY WRITING TO US