Football fans recall Norwich City fire 40 years on

Football fans have recalled how devastated they were after a major fire wreaked havoc to parts of Norwich City Football Club's Carrow Road stadium 40 years ago.

Kathy Blake, a member of the Canaries Trust supporters group, said she was left "really upset" to see one of its stands partially destroyed.

No-one was hurt in the blaze that started at about 03:30 on 25 October 1984. It caused millions of pounds of damage, leaving the Canaries with a three-sided stadium for the next two years.

Ms Blake said she was "fond" of the old stand that smelt of "freshly-mown grass, cigar smoke and embrocation".

The blaze, which started in the central section of the City Stand, contained the club's boardroom, its trophies, changing rooms and 700 seats.

By the time crews arrived, the 1930s' stand was well alight. Up to 40 firefighters managed to stop it spreading to the rest of the ground.

Bob Ledwidge, a freelance journalist living and working in Norwich, was woken by a phone call from the BBC in London and was sent to report on the blaze for the Breakfast Time show.

"I have a vivid memory of holding my breath and running the length of the stand in order to meet my camera crew at the other end," he said.

"Carrow Road was hemmed-in by industrial buildings in those days, and the narrow road behind the stand was the only way I could get through from the Thorpe end of the stadium to the River End."

The cause of the fire was attributed to an electrical fault.

Former club employee Dick Cann confessed to the BBC in 2004 he might have been responsible, after accidentally leaving an electric heater switched-on in the stand the night before.

However, the club said the incident was "now of historical interest" and the "world has moved on".

Ms Blake recalled she was "really upset to see what had happened to my football ground".

"I was very fond of that stand," she said.

"It had a smell about it – a combination of freshly-mown grass, cigar smoke and embrocation. And I think if I smelled that smell now, it would take me right back."

Lorraine Taylor, another member of the Canaries Trust, said: "It felt like a loss, what was in that stand. Because it was the main stand, it was where the directors were and everything."

The stand was left structurally unsafe and a replacement stand was ready for the 1986-87 season, now known as the Geoffrey Watling Stand.

Greg Downs, a footballer for the club at the time, said playing to only three sides of fans caused an unusual atmosphere.

"It was a bit of a weird feeling when you went out there, because you're so used to being enclosed," he said.

"We would come out and it's like, that feels a bit weird – there's no noise coming from that side."

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