Bradford's joint chairman Mark Lawn has told publishers of a report on a US website which blames the Valley Parade fire disaster on hooligans that they "should be ashamed of themselves".
The Sport Journal, published by the US Sports Academy in Alabama, claims in an article that the fire, which claimed the lives of 56 people in 1985, was started by an ignited Molotov cocktail - a home-made petrol bomb.
Lawn said: "It's more than unbelievable. Whoever is responsible hasn't looked it up and hasn't done his research. They should be absolutely ashamed of themselves.
"People died entirely innocently of a discarded cigarette, it was an accident. To publish that is beyond the pale."
Lawn added: "If they want to mention the fire and quote what actually happened then by all means do, but to connect it with hooligans is wrong and for him to actually do that is derogatory to the people who lost their lives."
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This paper was written in 1998 and hopefully views have changed. The article is littered with errors ,most notably how the fire started. I remember watching it unfold on TV and was horrified by the scene . It is a poor incite as to how this country's favourite sport is viewed by some in the world . The reference to Heysel is way off the mark too. I was there and while I agree that hooliganism was a major part, there was no urinating on the dead or anything similar. , and the ski masks mentioned were worn by Italians.
God rest their souls all you have suffered in these events.
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