Police officers investigating the devastating Bradford City stadium fire back in 1985 knew who dropped the cigarette believed to have started the blaze, according to a BBC documentary.
Fifty-six people were killed in the fire, which an official inquiry, led by Sir Oliver Popplewell, ruled was an accident.
It was concluded that a spectator was likely to have dropped a cigarette into rubbish that had gathered under the timber stand at the ground during the match against Lincoln City.
Retired Detective Inspector Raymond Falconer told BBC documentary Missed Warnings: The Bradford City Fire, that the man alleged to have accidentally dropped the cigarette was named as Eric Bennett, who was visiting from Australia.
Falconer has revealed that he interviewed Mr Bennett, but the police decided at the time not to release his name, according to The Mirror.
On Monday, hundreds of people attended a memorial service to mark the 30th anniversary of the tragedy.
Danielle Joynson
