Leeds United pay tribute to schoolboy Ian Hambridge on anniversary of death

Leeds United paid tribute to Ian Hambridge on Saturday, 39 years to the day since he was fatally injured during a game against Birmingham City.

Hambridge was just 15-years-old when he attended the game between Leeds and Birmingham at St Andrews’ on May 11, 1985. The Schoolboy was caught up in fan disorder when a wall collapsed on top of him and after being taken in at Smethwick Neurological Hospital, he died the following day. 

The tragic incident happened on the same day as the fire at Valley Parade in Bradford that killed 56 supporters. Both Leeds and Birmingham have ensured Hambridge is remembered on this dark day, with the former paying tribute on this most recent anniversary.

Alongside a picture of Hambridge, the club posted on their official X account: “No fan should ever go to a game and not come back. Always remembered, never forgotten. Rest in peace, Ian”.

Hambridge, from Nottingham, was at the final-day fixture to watch his beloved Leeds but at the height of English football hooliganism, trouble soon broke out between supporters. Both Leeds and Birmingham had a bad reputation for clashing and tensions quickly boiled over.

Hambridge is thought to have been seeking shelter from the disorder when the large wall collapsed on top of him, also crushing a number of cars below. The teenager suffered fatal head injuries and passed away in hospital the next day.

A sickening day of fan violence saw hundreds of fans and police officers injured, with trouble spilling out of St Andrew’s and into Birmingham city centre. The fighting was described by Justice Popplewell, during the Popplewell Committee investigation into football in 1985 as more like ‘the Battle of Agincourt than a football match’. 

Birmingham unveiled a plaque in tribute to Hambridge at St Andrew’s in 1998, following a campaign by relatives. Alongside the date and description of tragic events, it reads: “As a football supporter, one of us, never to be forgotten.’