Some interesting evidence about the former chairman here:

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/apr/15/bradford-fire-stafford-heginbotham-martin-fletcher

The obvious question is why he wouldn't wait till it was empty if he did have something to do with it.

Very strange and why are we only hearing about this now.?

Wow. I'm not one to support the tinfoil hat types (and I would have a hard time putting that label on the author... such tragedy he's endured), but I'll definitely be buying this book.

Huge can of worms being opened...is he publishing now because there's little threat of a libel case against him and wants to put across his more informed opinion?

Just said on the local BBC news that £27M was paid out in insurance claims for previous fires.

Official line is still that the Bradford fire was an accident and then negligence.

Why wait 30 years to bring in new evidence?

Why would anybody "consider" setting fire to a stand during a game?  You could get insurance setting fire to the stand when it was empty.

You could but then it look rather suspicious if a stand caught fire during a non match day wouldn't you think.  Blame the fire on the fans?

WHy are people questioning how long it has taken to come to light?  Hillsborough was covered up for many years as well, thats been proven now.  This, the Bradford thing, MUST be investigated/enquiry properly now just as Hillsborough is being

The stand had no insurance value due to the fact it was up for demolition. It's a curious suggestion but there's nothing more to it I don't think. The evidence was pretty obvious at the time.

Quoted from grimsby pete

Very strange and why are we only hearing about this now.?

Because some guy has a new book out and needs publicity. The other arson claims were investigated years ago.

I can feel sympathy for the bloke in losing family in the fire but it seems pretty obvious that this is conspiracy theory based on personal motive. If the owner had wanted to raise money then setting a fire would not help in any way and the notion of him doing it on a match day is just ridiculous whatever his previous track record. The book seems to me to start with the conclusion that the fire was deliberate then work towards "proving" it and ignores the evidence that points in the sensible direction of accidental deaths. The only thing the chairman could be guilty of is having a stand with awful safety issues but in those days that applied to most clubs in lower leagues. Think about the Barrett Stand.

Shortly after the Bradford fire there was a possible similar outcome at BP.
We were in the pontoon and in those days you could see through the wooden steps to the piles of paper and rubbish that had fallen through over many many years just as at Bradford. Probably because it was still very much in mind I happened to look down and saw a few glowing embers below. I panicked a bit and said to others around me that we ought to get out the stand but nobody was interested as I think we'd just scored a goal and there was much jubilation as you would expect. There were no mobile phones in those days but fortunately one of the stewards below had spotted it too and had gone down to put it out. I doubt anyone else saw or remembers this but I do.
The guy who has the book was on Jeremy Vine today recalling his horrific memories of that day. I found his recolllections very very moving.
There but for the grace of God and all that.......

Quoted from TheRonRaffertyFanClub

I can feel sympathy for the bloke in losing family in the fire but it seems pretty obvious that this is conspiracy theory based on personal motive. If the owner had wanted to raise money then setting a fire would not help in any way and the notion of him doing it on a match day is just ridiculous whatever his previous track record. The book seems to me to start with the conclusion that the fire was deliberate then work towards "proving" it and ignores the evidence that points in the sensible direction of accidental deaths. The only thing the chairman could be guilty of is having a stand with awful safety issues but in those days that applied to most clubs in lower leagues. Think about the Barrett Stand.

The Barrett Stand wouldn't have gone up in flames. It was soaked through in urine.

I remember the incident badger 57 is referring to. I was in the pontoon that day as well. Looking back at it now it could easily have gone up in flames, horrible how those fans suffered.

Quoted from northbankmariner

I remember the incident badger 57 is referring to. I was in the pontoon that day as well. Looking back at it now it could easily have gone up in flames, horrible how those fans suffered.

I also remember the same thing happening while we were playing Sheffield Utd, the day we got promoted in May 1980

Only a small fire with some of the debris that the wind had blown under the Pontoon that didn't really catch but there could have been a disaster waiting to happen that day, given how packed the ground was that day  :-/

Quoted from KingstonMariner

The Barrett Stand wouldn't have gone up in flames. It was soaked through in urine.

You forget the urine alcohol content  - it would have gone up like a distillery!

I can remember a few small fires in the old Ponny,

We used to pee on them and put them out. 8)

Quoted from TheRonRaffertyFanClub

If the owner had wanted to raise money then setting a fire would not help in any way

But surely seven previous fires prove otherwise

Quoted from scrumble

But surely seven previous fires prove otherwise

No it doesn't. Even if seven previous fires were criminal (and there is only this bloke's word for that) they did not involve setting fire to something that contained several hundred people at the time. Even if nobody was hurt there would be compensation claims and no insurance company would pay out on a stand with so many safety issues. He would be sued for every penny he had.

Not sure if it has been mentioned but I suspect this guy is just trying to promote his book. Could be a clever piece of fiction masquerading as fact or there could be some truth. I'm not sure we will ever find out, let's face it, they're still doing well at cover up some stuff from Hillsborough at an independent inquest.

It's no consolation for the victims families either but this chap, along with others also received payouts nearer the time. This chap had family who owned a successful business in Cleethorpes, a younger brother/cousin, can never remember was in my year at school.

Would openin an inquest have implications on previous payouts? All I know is that its a can of worms that could've opened...coincidence, conspiracy or reality?

I heard an interview on talksport with the chap that has released this book. He's a geek, only given time by the media because they are hungry for new revelations following the Hillsborough cover up. The timing isn't a coincident either. I wouldn't give him the time of day.