40 years is both a long time ago and a short time ago, and the dreadful loss of life in the Bradford Stadium Fire is very much a living memory that will never vanish from the city’s shared consciousness.
As horrific and dark as that moment was, there were also quite extraordinary points of light – acts of bravery, heroism, care, compassion and faith that also remain.
These are reference points that illuminate the darkness.
Religious faith seeks light where there is darkness. One of the great Psalms of the Bible, Psalm 27, talks about God being our light and our salvation so that we do not need to fear. Even in the midst of grief, despair and deep trauma, it is the experience of many that they know God’s presence with them in a special way, and that was certainly true 40 years ago.
It is worth recalling the first memorial service held to mark that terrible day.
In July 1985, some six thousand people gathered at Valley Parade for an inter-denominational service beneath a giant Christian cross made from two burnt wooden beams that had once been part of the destroyed main stand.
There was clearly a shared desire for a spiritual aspect to be at the centre of people’s response to the terrifying loss.
Some of the service was delivered in Asian languages in recognition of how the surrounding British Asian community had come out to help many stricken Bradford City supporters, taking them into their homes to give assistance.
The tragedy hit all Bradford’s communities, from the families who lost loved ones, to ordinary people who battled the flames to try and save strangers, and also the firefighters, police officers, and medical staff who witnessed terrible suffering and death.
It is reported that following that first memorial service, work began in clearing away the burnt debris of the destroyed stand, and it is hard to imagine the impact of that sad, simple task on those who performed it.
Last week, at Bradford Cathedral, visiting deans from the English cathedrals, along with local dignitaries, came together to hear about ways in which the Bradford Fire has helped to shape a new vision for football in our cities.
Bradford University is at the forefront of a project mapping the huge contribution that football clubs in the EFL and the EPL make to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
We all know the impact on the whole of a city when its team succeeds.
Both Bradford and Leeds experienced that enormous lift of our collective spirits last weekend.
The match at Valley Parade last Saturday brought together the pain and the jubilation that faith also knows so well.
There was pin-drop silence throughout the stadium before the game as the victims of the fire and the memories of that awful day were acknowledged. And there was ecstasy in those closing moments as Antoni Sarcevic’s deflection rolled over the line to take Bradford City into League One.