JOHN Hendrie has welcomed a national silence for the 30th anniversary of the Valley Parade fire disaster as a fitting tribute to the victims.

Every club in the Premier League and Football League will pay their respects on Saturday, April 25 – to coincide with the traditional minute of remembrance at City’s final home game of the season.

Hendrie was playing for City on that fateful afternoon in 1985 when 56 people died. He believes the tragedy should be acknowledged across the country.

He said: “It’s a fine gesture and it’s important that it is remembered.

“I’ve been in to schools in Bradford and kids there have been unaware of what happened, let alone around the country. If this changes that, then it’s got to be a positive step.

“The anniversary of the Bradford fire has always been remembered on May 11 in the city and that’s the most important thing.

“When you see the families of the victims, I’ve never left the ceremony without shedding a tear. That’s the most emotional part.

“It’s right that not just the club but the whole city always remember and I’m sure it’s comforting for the families to see so many people there to support them and realise they are not on their own.

“That will be the case even more so when it is marked nationwide. The families will take more from it than anyone else because they’ve had to live with it for 30 years.

“It’s a tribute to them – not just in the centre of Bradford but right across the whole country.”

Hendrie can still recall the horrific scenes on a day which had begun as a celebration for winning the Third Division title – and the aftermath as the city came to terms with one of the biggest crowd disasters in the history of the domestic game.

He added: “I’ve never tried to push it away, far from it. I will never forget it for as long as I live.

“My thoughts and feelings are always with the relatives because they’ve got to deal with this every single day.

“We were one big happy family that day; we’d all come to celebrate our success that season.

“We were like blood brothers and sisters. It’s like when you lose a member of your family and it helps to talk about them.

“(Chairman) Stafford (Heginbotham), Terry Yorath and Trevor Cherry tried to protect the players as much as possible because the majority of us were only young guys. I was 21 and most of the others were that age.

“But I can still remember the disaster appeal and going up to places like Glasgow to pick up cheques of support.

“It changed my outlook on football. I used to look too deeply at games but after that I realised there was more to life than football, football, football.

“Hillsborough has always been well documented, and rightly so because of the families and their fight for justice.

“This was just a tragic accident that could have happened at any ground. Nobody was to blame.”

Meanwhile, City striker Lewis Clarkson has gone on loan to Whitby Town until December 18. He has been kept out this season by a torn hamstring.