Firth's book on Valley Parade fire still an essential record

Whether through our regular contact by email or infrequent catch-ups at various venues around the country – from coffee shops in Yeovil to the sun-baked terrace of Scarborough cricket ground – his knowledge and opinions on Bradford City were invaluable.

I first encountered Paul when he wrote Bobby Campbell’s book, They Don’t Make Them Like Him Anymore.

Paul told me that it had been three years in the making – and he would often have to ring Campbell back to go over the interviews again because he couldn’t understand him!

Campbell joked that the published account was the “clean” version from the many tales he had told the former Merseyside judge.

He trusted Paul to do justice to the job of chronicling a career that stood out from the rest. The result was a nostalgic wallow into how football used to be and a hugely enjoyable read for City fans.

But that was the Paul that I got to know, a good listener just as much as a wise sounding board.

Born in Dewsbury and brought up in Bingley, he saw his first City game aged nine in 1961 and was instantly hooked.

He retired in 2005 – and two years later published a book about the Valley Parade fire which remains such a valuable and essential view of the tragedy.

Paul suffered from smoke inhalation that day; his father-in-law Arnold Whitehead broke a rib being pulled to safety over the perimeter wall by City striker John Hawley.

He was motivated to write the book by the words of Sir Oliver Popplewell about the response of the Bradford people in the wake of such horror.

Popplewell, who had conducted the public inquiry into the cause of the fire, wrote in his own memoirs: “One can only be astonished at the wonderful way that the citizens of Bradford behaved.

“They quietly buried their dead, tended their injured and comforted their bereaved.

"Not for them the noisy and public whingeing and whining which has been the hallmark of so many other disasters. They behaved with great dignity and no little courage."

Paul’s account captured the thoughts of those who had been there – a cathartic exercise for many after bottling up the nightmares.

Paul with his son Dave at Valley Parade, where he was a long-time season-ticket holder

As former T&A columnist Jim Greenhalf said in his review at the time: “Mr Firth's book is filled with stories and personal accounts which he has collated and described for posterity. As he says towards the end of the book: Four minutes has become a lifetime, I'm proud to say."

Club historian and author John Dewhirst said Firth was ideally qualified to write the book.

“Not only did he have first-hand experience of the disaster but he was intimately familiar with the affairs of the club and the series of events at Valley Parade prior to 1985,” he said.

“This background knowledge allowed him to comment on the nuances of the disaster. And his professional experience as a judge ensured a focus on issues of substance as opposed to conjecture, as well as to write confidently without fear or favour.

“To embark on the project of writing about 1985 was no mean feat and it is a tribute to him that his book was acclaimed by survivors as a definitive account of what happened.

“It provided the context and perspectives for people still struggling to come to terms with the trauma. In that sense Four Minutes to Hell was cathartic for many and a big part of the healing process.

“His account remains necessary reading for anyone wanting to understand what happened in 1985 and the aftermath.

“Paul's authority on the subject was invaluable when, in 2015, there were attempts to conflate the Hillsborough and Valley Parade disasters.

“His detailed knowledge of what had happened ensured that there could be no distortion of the narrative.

“The disaster tends nowadays to be commemorated by reference to the fatalities alone. Four Minutes to Hell provides an important reminder of how the disaster was originally remembered, of how the emphasis was on helping the survivors and rebuilding the football club.

“The story of the disaster of 1985 is so important in the club's history that we owe Paul Firth a huge debt for ensuring not only that the narrative was put on record, but that it was based on fact as opposed to myth and hearsay.”

Paul Firth passed away on Thursday with a brain tumour. A JustGiving page has been set up to raise funds for research - donations can be made at this link.