The Trust Secretary, Murray Knight, has written to our counterparts at the Bradford Supporters Trust to offer an explanation regarding the misunderstanding between fans towards the conclusion of last months game at Valley Parade.
It relayed the cirumstances for what we believe them to have been- that as Bradford fans began to leave early, Rochdale fans sang a common chant with the words- ‘Is there a Fire Drill?’, meant purely as a humorous referral to the departing fans- something that has been sung on many other occasions previously.
However, in the context of the Valley Parade setting, where 56 people died in a 1985 fire, this led some to believe more sinister reasoning was the motivation- in no way do we believe this was the case, and instead was probably largely due to a lack of knowledge amongst younger fans.
As was stated in the letter:
“There was no slight or lack of respect intended.”
“Indeed, our more ‘senior’ fans, aware of the sensitivity of the circumstances and realising that such a chant was totally unacceptable, quickly attempted to diffuse the situation by advising those responsible to cease, which they did.