Bradford Football Fire: My Dad Is No Arsonist

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 17 April 2015 | 22.11

By Paul Kelso, Sports Correspondent

The son of the former Bradford City chairman linked to a series of fires has told Sky News his entire family were in the main stand at Valley Parade during the blaze that killed 56 people in May 1985.

A new book by survivor Martin Fletcher has linked eight previous fires to businesses or premises owned by the club's then chairman Stafford Heginbotham.

Mr Fletcher says this information was not considered by the police or public inquiry at the time, and is calling for a fresh investigation.

His book, Fifty-Six: The Story of the Bradford Fire, also claims Mr Heginbotham received millions of pounds in insurance as a result of the fires.

It also says that the club was in dire financial difficulties at the end of the 1985 season.

But Simon Heginbotham dismissed any suggestion his father was linked to the fire. He said he, his brother and his mother were all in the stand that day.

"We're disgusted - it is quite diabolical that he has chosen to do this on the 30th anniversary of the fire and 20 years after my father's death," Mr Heginbotham said.

"James, my brother, was filming in a very particular spot at the end of that stand where he had a video camera.

"Myself and my mother were sat in the middle of the stand, so why is my father gong to light a fire on a day like that with all his family sat in the stadium?

"That stadium was going to be pulled down 48 hours after the game, on the Monday morning.

"So why would you burn down a club that had been deemed uninsurable and no use for any insurance claim.

"There is no reason or gain in any shape or form for setting a football club on fire. It's absolutely ridiculous, we've never had any financial trouble with the family or the business."

Stafford Heginbotham was a well-known businessman in Bradford in the 70s and 80s, running foam and toy companies.

Several fires occurred in mill buildings where his companies operated, and in three cases someone was arrested and prosecuted.

Simon Heginbotham said these incidents were already in the public domain and his father had nothing to hide.

"These were old woollen mills - there were fires every week. He's been singled out as a serial arsonist, and everyone in the town of Bradford is disgusted with this.

"He [Martin Fletcher] didn't have to dig for 15 years in a London library, he could have rung me up and I could have told him any details. Those fires have always been in the public eye.

"They became bad jokes. In the 70s and 80s, if businessmen saw a cloud of smoke in the town after 6pm they'd say 'that will be one of Stafford's'. Not meant to be horrible, but he was unlucky in that area."


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