Papers of the Popplewell Inquiry into Crowd Safety in Sports Grounds
Archive reference code: GB 0532 POP
Special Collections
J.B. Priestley Library
University of Bradford
Bradford. BD7 1DP.
Email: special-collections@bradford.ac.uk
Web: http://www.brad.ac.uk/library/special-collections
Tel: +44 (0) 1274 235256
Copyrights
Copyright in this Catalogue: University of Bradford. Readers are welcome to share it under the terms of our Creative Commons licence: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
Rights in the contents of the Archive are held by the Crown and many third-party copyright holders. See section on copyright in the collection description, below, and contact special-collections@bradford.ac.uk for help.
Special Collections welcomes feedback on its documentation. Please contact us if you have any comments, if you need to view this Catalogue in an alternative format, or if you wish to use it in any way not covered by the Creative Commons licence: special-collections@bradford.ac.uk
CONTENTS
Introduction 4
Collection description 5
Reference code 5
Title 5
Dates 5
Level of description 5
Extent 5
Name of creator 5
Administrative history 5
Immediate source of acquisition 5
Scope and content 5
System of arrangement 5
Access conditions 6
Copyright/conditions governing reproduction 6
Language of material 6
Finding aids 6
Archivist’s note 6
Rules or conventions 6
Dates of description 6
Indexing 6
1. Sociological articles, causes of football hooliganism, crowd behaviour 8
1/1. SPG 4 8
Booklet, published London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1984 for the Department of the Environment (DOE). ‘Football Spectator Violence: Report of an Official Working Group’. 8
1/14. SPG 214 9
2. Oral evidence and non-football visits 12
2/65. Folder containing documents related to oral evidence to be given in the week commencing 11 November: 23
3. Interim report 24
4. Evidence / Correspondence of sports clubs or concerning sports grounds (excepting oral evidence) 26
4/90. Tottenham Hotspur programme, Tottenham vs. Watford 17 August 1985. 35
5. Belgium / Heysel 36
6. Bradford, Birmingham, Norwich and Bolton inquiries 41
7. Law 49
8. Final report 54
9. Other listed evidence presented to the inquiry 57
10. Other evidence presented to the inquiry 78
Introduction
On 11 May 1985, a fire broke out in the wooden stand at Bradford’s Valley Parade ground during a match between Bradford City and Lincoln City. 56 people were killed and hundreds of others badly burned.
This archive tells the story of the fire, its causes and its results, and sets it in the context of grounds management, crowd safety and sports culture of the 1980s. It documents the work of the Committee of the Inquiry, chaired by Sir Oliver Popplewell, to uncover the truth and to make sports grounds safer. The Committee’s remit also covered the tragedies at Birmingham and Heysel. The Interim and Final reports produced by the Committee remain essential reading for anyone responsible for the safety of large groups of people.
You can find out more about the fire and the Inquiry in number 84 of our 100 Objects exhibition: http://100objectsbradford.wordpress.com.
This catalogue was written in 2004, thanks to the excellent work done by volunteer Eleanor Laviers with the assistance of my then colleague John Brooker. We are now putting it online as part of our “Quick Wins” programme to make more information about our most important archives available as soon as possible, by digitising existing lists.
If you’d like to use this archive, do get in touch: our contact details are on the front cover of this catalogue.
Alison Cullingford, Special Collections Librarian.
Collection description Reference code
GB 0532 POP.
Title
The Papers of the Popplewell Inquiry into Crowd Safety at Sports Grounds.
Dates
1924-1985.
Collection.
Extent
2 linear metres.
Name of creator
Sir Oliver Popplewell, 1927-, jurist.
Administrative history
Following the fire in 1985 at Valley Parade, Bradford City football stadium, an Inquiry chaired by Sir Oliver Popplewell was held under the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975. In the light of this inquiry, and of the earlier disaster at Birmingham City football stadium, a Committee of Inquiry into Crowd Safety at Sports Grounds was set up. Sir Oliver Popplewell was selected to chair this committee. Submissions and evidence were gathered from interested parties, including the Fire Brigade, police, sociologists, football clubs and other sports associations. The Committee’s Interim Report was published in July 1985 (Command Paper Cmnd 9585). Further evidence was received, including reports from the tragedy at Brussels’ Heysel stadium and the Final Report was published in 1986 (Command paper Cmnd 9710).
Donated by Sir Oliver Popplewell in 1999.
Scope and content
Submissions to the Inquiry. Notes of oral evidence to the Inquiry. Notes of visits by the Committee to Edinburgh and Brussels. Report and witness statements from the Bradford City Inquiry. County Surveyor’s report and police photographs from the wall collapse at Birmingham City. Documents concerning Heysel stadium disaster. Reports and articles on football hooliganism. Interim Report with drafts, press notices and photocopies of press cuttings. Drafts of Final Report.
Share with your friends: |