Circumstances and events surrounding the fire are well documented, however it is always worth reminding others, so that nothing like this may ever happen again. The Bradford City fire occurred at a time when football supporter safety was not taken as seriously as it appears to be today.

Initially a day of celebration it was the last match of the season, against Lincoln City, and Bradford City had just won the Third Division championship.

At 3.40 a fire broke out at the back of G block in the old wooden main stand. Four minutes later the entire stand was ablaze. The cause of the fire is believed to have been a lighted match or cigarette stubbed out in a polystyrene cup, accidentally dropped through slats of the stand and igniting rubbish piled beneath. The fire quickly spread to the roof and to the rest of the stand. Ironically the old stand had been due for demolition and replacement shortly after. New steel girders lay outside the ground ready for construction.

Supporters' attempting to leave by emergency exits at the rear of the stand found they had been locked shut, whilst others escaping onto the pitch struggled to scale a wall at the front.

54 Bradford City and 2 Lincoln City supporters lost their lives and around 265 more were injured. The death toll would likely have been higher had it not been for the courage of police officers and football supporters. 22 supporters received bravery awards.

A disaster appeal fund raised £3.5m for the victims and their families, with contributions coming in from around the world.

The people of Hamm, Germany, very generously funded the memorial around which today's Centenary Square service will be held. The memorial is covered with the names of those who lost their lives. Sculptor, Joachim Reisner, said "As I cast each letter of each name, I began to reallse how enormous had been the damage done by the fire. In some cases the same surname occurred again and again. It was then that I knew how cruel the tragedy had been for those left behind."