Bradford memories inform McCall reaction

MOTHERWELL manager Stuart McCall declared last night that the abandonment at half-time of his club’s match with Hibernian was “one million per cent” correct. McCall, who was a witness to the Bradford fire which killed 56 people in May 1985, said that safety considerations had to come first after a small electrical fire had been discovered in one of the stands.

“One million per cent, safety has got to come first,” McCall said. “Having been involved in the Bradford fire, when we start talking about wires burning, if they touch something down it could flare up.

“It’s a nightmare, obviously. There’s not much more I can say about it – I don’t know the ins and outs of electricity.

“It’s a bit disappointing. But it might have been more disappointing if we had been ahead rather than Hibs.”

The fact that the game was under threat became apparent shortly before half-time, when a security code was announced three times over the public address system. By that time a fire engine had already appeared behind the stand housing the away support.

Referee Willie Collum at first told both McCall and Hibs boss Pat Fenlon that the interval would be extended by up to 15 minutes, but police and fire personnel then informed the match official that the game would not be restarted. The crowd was informed over the PA system, and asked to collect a ticket for the rearranged game on the way out. The date for that game has yet to be announced.

Chief inspector Brian Connel, the match commander, explained that after the alert had been given, an investigation had confirmed that smoke was coming from an electrical source in the south stand. “I had no option but to call out fire and rescue at that point,” he said.

“Fire and rescue identified the seat of the fire, which was part of the framework for the lighting column in the south-east corner. We managed to isolate part of that frame.

“However, I could not be given the assurance that there was not a danger of further fire. The match officials were informed of this situation and they delayed the start of the second half as long as they could. But then, myself having not been given the assurance that it was going to be safe, we took the decision that we would have to abandon the match.”

It was Fenlon’s first match in charge of Hibs, as although he had been appointed before last Saturday’s loss to St Johnstone, he had sat in the stand for that match and let assistant manager Billy Brown take the team. “We are very disappointed,” Fernlon said. “We would have loved to see the game out and win it. It looked like we might do that, but it just wasn’t to be.

“You can take something out of every game, though, and it is important we take the positives. I think the players showed what is in them.

“They are capable of performing like that on a regular basis and there is no reason why they shouldn’t. The players worked hard all week and it will go for you in most games if you put in a shift.”

Fenlon had realised before most of the crowd that something was amiss, but at the time did not expect it to develop into an abandonment. “Billy had said to me during the game that the fire engines had gone across to the other stand, but I was too engrossed in the game and didn’t notice,” he said, “It was only when we got in at half-time that we realised there was a small problem. We went in with the referee and it was explained it was a health and safety decision rather than a football one and there wasn’t a lot we could do. I have had floodlight failure before, but I don’t think I have ever been involved in a game that was cancelled.”

McCall had been aware that the emergency services had turned up a lot earlier, although he explained that had been for a different reason. “It was two minutes into the game that we heard somebody had collapsed in the stand,” the Motherwell manager added. “And they had to be defibrillated, as well, so that was a bad start.”