English football will stand still just before three o’clock on Saturday to mark the 30th anniversary of the Bradford fire. All fixtures in the Premier League and Football League will observe a minute’s silence for the 56 supporters who died in the devastating blaze. The inferno ripped through Valley Parade on May 11, 1985 during the first half of a game against Lincoln City, before which Bradford had received the Third Division title. A minute's silence will be held this weekend for the 56 supporters who lost their lives during the Bradford City fire disaster . Football League supporting efforts to raise £300,000 for the Plastic Surgery and Burns Research Unit at the University of Bradford . A blaze tore through Valley Parade's main stand during a Third Division match against Lincoln City on May 11, 1985 . Players, managers and fans will stand for a minute to mark the 30th anniversary of the disaster, which also left 265 injured . Supporters watch on as the fire rips through Bradford City's ground - and have had no definitive answers to questions they asked . Many fans were trapped in their seats and 265 people were injured as the fire engulfed the main stand within minutes. The top four tiers of the game will remember them this weekend. And the top four tiers of the game will mark their passing this weekend. The Football League will be supporting efforts to raise £300,000 for the Plastic Surgery and Burns Research Unit at the University of Bradford. Mark Lawn, the co-chairman of Bradford City, said: ‘I am personally delighted that the FA, the Football League and Premier League have got involved. I would like to remind people that the PSBRU is solely reliant on charitable donations by the public, charitable organisations and businesses, and has no funding from the Government. ‘I am extremely pleased that Bradford City has helped to fund the PSBRU through the supporters raising money. This has been enough over the years to help maintain and exceed the standards coming from the unit.’ There are harrowing stories of almost entire families passing away that day in Yorkshire and serious questions still remain as we head into a fourth decade since the tragedy. They are laid bare in Martin Fletcher’s new book, Fifty-Six – The Story of the Bradford Fire, in which the author challenges accepted theories as to the cause. Nobody has been made accountable for events which saw Fletcher lose his brother Andrew, 11, his father John, 34, his uncle Peter, 32, and his grandfather Eddie, 63. Fletcher has been researching the fire for 15 years and believes the investigation’s findings are flawed. The inquiry asserted that the cause was, in all likelihood, down to a cigarette or a match dropped on to a pile of rubbish. He found that former chairman Stafford Heginbotham, who died in 1995 aged 61, had been connected with at least eight other business fires and insurance claims. John Helm, the man commentating on the game when fire broke out, was candid in Sportsmail last week . Thousands watched on horrified as the flames took control of the stand to devastating effect . The variance in theories suggests, as with Hillsborough, a new investigation would be vindicated, offering potential closure for the city . Martin Fletcher’s new book – Fifty-six – The Story of the Bradford Fire – challenges accepted theories as to the cause of the fire. There were many cases of heroism, with more than fifty people receiving police awards or commendations . John Helm, the man commentating on the game when fire broke out, was candid in Sportsmail last week and refuted Fletcher’s claims. ‘Martin lost three generations of his family and has a right to speak his mind — any bitterness would be understandable — but from everything I have been told there isn’t a jot of evidence to suggest the blaze was caused deliberately,’ he wrote. ‘On the contrary, I remember the coroner telling me it was obvious how the fire had started. Detective Inspector Raymond Falconer actually identified a man who had dropped a lit cigarette that went down a hole in the stand and started the fire. ‘This corroborates what I was told at the time by the coroner. He said it was believed the fire had been started by a man, visiting this country from Australia, but his name was never revealed. ‘Without making allegations against the club’s chairman at the time Stafford Heginbotham, there is inference by implication in the book — with reference to a series of fires at factories owned by the now deceased Heginbotham. As members of his own family were seated in the stand that day, and as it was due to be demolished anyway 48 hours later, it is unfathomable to think there could have been an act of arson.’ A solitary bottle of champagne stands on the terrace - Bradford had been celebrating winning the Third Division title earlier in the day . Bradford manager Trevor Cherry looks ahead on the Valley Parade pitch in front of the burnt out stand . An aerial shot of the smoke - showing the scale of the fire to engulf Bradford's ground and shock English football . Forensic experts sift through debris in the area where the fire started on May 11, 1985 . Then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and husband Denis lay a wreath near a turnstile where many of the victims were found . The variance in theories suggests, as with Hillsborough, a new investigation would be vindicated, offering closure to a city that still has no definitive answer. This weekend will be the first time the whole of English football has come together and remembered the Bradford 56 in unison. And the club has only recently wanted to fully remember the victims publicly. The memorial at Valley Parade wasn’t erected until 2001 and years went by without the anniversary even getting a mention in programmes and there were no silences or black armbands. ‘I do feel we missed something of an opportunity in the aftermath of the fire,’ former chairman Jack Tordoff said in 2011, when Valley Parade celebrated its 125 years as a sporting venue. ‘I think we should have looked at starting from scratch in another location. This picture shows what damage the fire caused in such a short space of time, with an entrance completely obliterated . Valley Parade looked derelict in the immediate aftermath but Bradford opted to stay at their home and moved back months after . The scene at Bradford's memorial service to mark the passing of supporters who died in the fire . Firemen survey the damage and put out any remains of the fire after bringing it under control . A policeman watches the forensic team pore through evidence on the terracing at Bradford . ‘The fire was, of course, a horrible time. Fifty-six people lost their lives and the effect on the city was huge, and probably something that can’t be put into words. You had to be in Bradford at that time to understand just what the city went through. ‘I had returned to the board in 1983 with Stafford (Heginbotham, City chairman at the time of the fire) to save the club. 'But then the fire happened...' The planned minute’s applause at last season’s FA Cup final between Arsenal and Hull was given a mixed reception by some Bradford supporters, who still maintain the loss is solely theirs. That, though, won’t stop hundreds of thousands paying their respects this weekend as the disaster is brought sharply back into public focus. Fans of all clubs can show their support by donating here.
The top four tiers of the English game will stand for a minute's silence to mark the 30th anniversary .
Main stand at Bradford City's Valley Parade was ablaze in harrowing scenes on May 11, 1985 .
Football League supporting efforts to raise £300,000 for the Plastic Surgery and Burns Research Unit at the University of Bradford .