Association football club in England
This article is about men ’ randomness football team. For women ’ second team, see Bradford City W.F.C. “ BCAFC ” redirects here. For others football clubs with the same initials, see BCFC ( disambiguation )

football club
Bradford City Association Football Club is an english professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team compete in League Two, the one-fourth tier of the English football league system, and are managed by Derek Adams. The club ‘s home flat coat is the 25,136-capacity Valley Parade, which was the web site of the Bradford City stadium fire on 11 May 1985, which took the lives of 56 supporters. The golf club was founded in 1903 and immediately elected into the Football League Second Division. promotion to the top tier followed as they won the 1907–08 Second Division title and then they went on to win the 1911 FA Cup Final, which remains the club ‘s only major honour. They were relegated in 1922 and again in 1927, before winning the Third Division North claim in 1928–29. Another relegation in 1937 did allow the cabaret to go on to win the Third Division North Cup in 1939, however a far relegation followed in 1962 to leave the club in the newly created Fourth Division. They secured promotions bet on into the third tier in 1969 and 1977, but were relegated in 1972 and 1978. They found success in the 1980s under the stewardship of first Roy McFarland and then Trevor Cherry, winning promotion in 1981–82 and following this up with the Third Division championship in 1984–85, though they were relegated out of the Second Division in 1990. Bradford were promoted back into the irregular tier via the play-offs in 1996, before securing another promotion in 1998–99 to reach the Premier League, marking a return to the top-flight after a 77-year absence. They entered Europe and reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2000–01, but ended the campaign with delegating out of the Premier League. A succession of fiscal crises followed as the club entered administration doubly in two years and far relegations followed in 2004 and 2007 to leave the golf club back in the fourth grade. They found achiever under the management of Phil Parkinson by reaching the 2013 League Cup final and then going on to win that class ‘s League Two play-off final, but were relegated out of League One in 2019. They are the only professional football club in England to wear claret and amber, and have worn these colours throughout their history. They have though been known by diverse nicknames, with the “ Bantams “ being the most normally use nickname as it appears on the current club crest. Supporters hold West Yorkshire bowler hat rivalries with Huddersfield Town and Leeds United, vitamin a well as a historic Bradford derby competition with the now non-league side Bradford ( Park Avenue ) .

history [edit ]

Bradford City were formed in 1903 as a result of a series of meetings called by James Whyte, a sub-editor of the Bradford Observer, with Football Association representatives and officials at Manningham F.C., a rugby league side. [ 1 ] The Football League saw the invitation as a find to promote association football in the rugby league-dominated county of the West Riding of Yorkshire. It punctually elected the new club into Division Two of the league, in home of Doncaster Rovers. Four days late, at the 23rd annual meet of Manningham FC, the committee decided to change codes from rugby league to association football. Bradford City Association Football Club were formed without having played a game, taking over Manningham ‘s color of claret and amber, and their Valley Parade grind. [ 2 ] Robert Campbell was appointed the club ‘s first base director and with the assistant of the new committee, he assembled a play police squad at the cost of £ 917 10 mho 0 vitamin d. [ 3 ] [ 4 ] City ‘s beginning game was a 2–0 defeat at Grimsby Town on 1 September 1903, [ 5 ] six days before their first home game attracted 11,000 fans. [ 6 ] The club finished 10th in their beginning season. [ 4 ] Peter O’Rourke took over as director in November 1905, and he led City to the Division Two title in 1907–08 and with it forwarding to the Division One. [ 7 ] Having narrowly avoided delegating in their first season in the top flight, City recorded their highest finish of 5th in 1910–11. [ 8 ] The same season they won the FA Cup, when a goal from captain Jimmy Speirs won the final examination replay against Newcastle United. [ 9 ] City ‘s defense of the cup, which included the first Bradford bowler hat against Bradford Park Avenue, was stopped by Barnsley after a run of 12 consecutive clean sheets. [ 10 ] [ 11 ]
A graph showing Bradford City ‘s league history City remained in the top flight in the menstruation up to the First World War and for three seasons afterwards, but were relegated in 1921–22 along with Manchester United. [ 12 ] [ 13 ] Back in Division Two, attendances dropped and City struggled for phase, [ 14 ] with five consecutive finishes in the bottom half of the postpone. They suffered a second delegating to Division Three ( North ) in 1926–27. [ 12 ] Two seasons late, O’Rourke, who had initially retired in 1921 following the end of his son, returned and guided City to forwarding with a read haul of 128 goals. [ 7 ] [ 15 ] O’Rourke left for a second clock after one more temper, and although City spent a full of eight seasons back in Division Two, they rarely looked like earning promotion back to the crown flight. rather in 1936–37, the clubhouse were relegated back to Division Three ( North ). [ 16 ] City won their third nibble of silverware two seasons late, when they lifted the Third Division North Challenge Cup, but they were ineffective to defend the trophy because competitive football was suspended for the second World War. [ 17 ] After the war, City went through two managers in the inaugural two seasons, [ 18 ] and were systematically in the buttocks half of the Division Three ( North ) board until 1955–56. After three consecutive acme half finishes, [ 19 ] City were placed in the new Division Three in 1958–59. Bradford spent just three seasons in Division Three, but during their relegation season in 1960–61, [ 20 ] they upset Division One side Manchester United in the inaugural address temper of the League Cup. [ 21 ] With 34 goals from David Layne, City closely earned an clamant forwarding the following temper 1961–62, but it did besides include a record 9–1 get the better of to Colchester United. [ 20 ] Layne left for Sheffield Wednesday, [ 22 ] and without him City finished second from buttocks of the league and had to apply for re-election. [ 20 ] Bradford City precisely failed to win promotion in 1963–64, winning more games than any other team in the division that season, twenty five, with Rodney Green top score with 29 league goals. There followed three unmanageable seasons during which time director Grenville Hair died following a kernel assail in discipline, City returned to Division Three getting promoted in 1968–69. City ‘s stay in Division Three lasted merely three years, when they finished bottom in 1971–72. [ 23 ] Promotion via fourthly spot was won again in 1976–77 but it was immediately followed by a relegation season. [ 24 ]
A memorial, erected on the club ‘s new chief stand at Valley Parade, to the victims of the fire in 1985 City failed to win promotion for three consecutive seasons, until the board appointed early England center back Roy McFarland as coach in May 1981. McFarland won forwarding in his first base season, but was poached by his former club Derby County just six months late. [ 24 ] City won recompense from Derby and installed another England external Trevor Cherry as McFarland ‘s refilling. [ 25 ] Cherry, with early teammate Terry Yorath as his assistant coach, failed to win for two months, but finally the pair guided City to safety from relegation. [ 26 ] During the summer, however, the baseball club president Bob Martin had to call in the official receivers. The baseball club was saved by former chair Stafford Heginbotham and former board member Jack Tordoff, but to ensure the club could start the new temper, prize asset, hitter Bobby Campbell was sold to Derby. City struggled but therefore did Campbell, and when he returned, the club went on a commemorate run of ten-spot consecutive victories. Although they missed out on forwarding, City won the league the following season 1984–85, to return to the moment tier of The Football League. however, City ‘s wallow was overshadowed by the fire calamity, which killed 56 people when Valley Parade caught fire in the final game of the season. [ 27 ] City played games away from Valley Parade for 19 months. [ 28 ] But just ten days after the newly £2.6 million ground was opened, Cherry was sacked. [ 29 ] His replacement, Terry Dolan steered City away from possible delegating, [ 30 ] before he mounted a promotion challenge the pursuit season. City went acme of the postpone in September 1987, but fell away during Christmas and missed out on promotion on the final day of the season. alternatively they entered the play-offs, but were defeated in the semi-finals by Middlesbrough. [ 31 ] Two years late City were relegated back to Division Three. For three seasons, City finished mid-table in the third tier, which was renamed Division Two following the advent of the Premier League .
In January 1994, Geoffrey Richmond came from Scarborough to take over as president, [ 32 ] and promised to guide City to the Premier League within five years. He cleared the debts and after four months sacked coach Frank Stapleton to appoint his own director, Lennie Lawrence. [ 32 ] Lawrence left after little more than a class to join Luton Town but his successor, Chris Kamara took City to the play-offs and their first game at Wembley Stadium. They defeated Notts County 2–0 in the final examination to earn promotion to Division One. [ 32 ] City avoided delegating the following season by winning their concluding two league games 1–0 against Charlton and then beating Queens Park Rangers 3–0 on the final day of the season, but Kamara was sacked in January 1998. [ 33 ] [ 34 ] Paul Jewell took over, initially on a impermanent basis, before he was given a permanent contract. He bought the club ‘s first £1 million signings and guided the clubhouse to the Premier League—the beginning clock they had been in the top flight for 77 years—with a second-place finish. [ 35 ] [ 36 ] The follow season, Jewell continued to defy the critics, who labelled his team Dad’s Army, by avoiding relegation again on the last day with a 1–0 victory over Liverpool, with a finish from David Wetherall. [ 37 ] however, Jewell left soon afterwards. His adjunct Chris Hutchings was promoted to the coach ‘s position, [ 38 ] and despite a series of new expensive signings, [ 39 ] [ 40 ] he was sacked by November 2000, with City second from bottom of the league. [ 41 ] Jim Jefferies took over but could not save the club from relegation. [ 42 ] [ 43 ] At the end of the first season back in Division One, City were placed in administration with debts of closely £13 million. [ 44 ] Two years late, the baseball club suffered a second spell in presidency and a second delegating. [ 45 ] Two top-half finishes followed, but the club were relegated for a third base prison term in seven seasons in 2006–07 meaning the comply season would be their beginning in the bottom tier for 26 seasons. [ 46 ] Former player Stuart McCall was appointed the new director, [ 47 ] and although he said anything less than promotion would be a failure, [ 48 ] he later changed his take care after a poor people start and finally led the team to a 10th-place finish up. [ 49 ] [ 50 ] McCall finally left Bradford City on 8 February 2010 following a board meeting after a carry of poor results. [ 51 ] In September 2011 the club became linked with american english amateurish side SC United Bantams. [ 52 ] In January 2013, City became the beginning club from the fourth tier of English football since Rochdale in 1962 to reach the Football League Cup final examination, and the first fourth tier cabaret ever to reach a major Wembley Cup Final. They defeated three Premier League sides en route to the final – Wigan Athletic 4–2 on penalties in the fourth round, Arsenal 3–2 on penalties in the quarter-finals and Aston Villa 4–3 on aggregate over the two legs of the semi-final. They met Premier League side Swansea City in the final at Wembley, but lost 0–5. [ 53 ] The prevail to the final examination is thought to be worth at least £1.3 million to the club, with the club ‘s joint president Mark Lawn stating that the final itself could be worth an extra £1 million, taking the club ‘s full earnings to £2.3 million during their 2012–13 Football League Cup crusade. [ 54 ] On 18 May 2013, the club returned to Wembley where they defeated Northampton Town F.C. 3–0 in the League Two Playoff Final to secure a identify in League One for 2013–14. [ 55 ] On 24 January 2015, Bradford City caused an upset by beating Premiership-leaders Chelsea 4–2 away in the FA Cup. The victory sent Bradford through to the fifth rung for the inaugural time in eighteen years. [ 56 ] They beat Sunderland, another Premier League club, 2–0 at home in the adjacent round on 15 February 2015. [ 57 ] In the Quarter Finals, The Bantams faced Reading F.C. at home, in a game that ended in a scoreless draw. The replay was played on 16 March 2015 at the Madejski Stadium, where Reading won 3–0 [ 58 ] and knocked the third-tier division club out of the competition. [ 59 ] The club was relegated to League Two in April 2019. [ 60 ] In December 2021 the club was approached by american investors known as WAGMI United ( who use cryptocurrency and NFTs ) about a potential buyout. [ 61 ] The offer was rejected. [ 62 ]

Colours and club cap [edit ]

Bradford City is the only professional football club in England to wear claret and amber. The club colours were inherited from Manningham FC, when the club converted to football upon Bradford City ‘s foundation garment in 1903. however, whereas Manningham played in hoops, the new football club adopted claret and amber stripes. [ 63 ] Manningham RFC adopted the colours in 1884 before the motion to Valley Parade in 1886. Having in the first place worn black shirts with white shorts, the club ‘s foremost game in claret and amber was against Hull on 20 September 1884, at Carlisle Road. The argue Manningham chose claret and amber is not documented but it was the same color of The Prince of Wales ‘s own West Yorkshire Regiment, which was based at Belle Vue Barracks on nearby Manningham Lane. Both Manningham, from 1886, and Bradford City, from 1903 to 1908, used the barracks as changing and club rooms. Bradford City has worn claret and amber, with either white or black, since it was founded. Since the fire in 1985, the club has used black on the kit out as a memorial to the 56 supporters who died. [ 64 ] The club ‘s away shirt has traditionally been white and to a lesser extent besides blue, but there has been a profusion of other colours and designs particularly in more recent years. The aside kit for the 2008–09 season was all white. [ 64 ] For the 2009–10 temper, the aside kit was all black with a thin claret and amber band down the centre-left.

City scarves have besides sold in large numbers in holocene years to fans of Harry Potter, because the colours are the like as Harry ‘s house scarf at Hogwarts School. [ 65 ] A number of early clubs across the world wear claret and amber. They include scottish club Motherwell, who primitively wore blue and white until they wore claret and amber for the first fourth dimension on 23 August 1913, against Celtic. It is mistakenly believed that Motherwell chose the claret and amber colours because they were the race color of Lord Hamilton ; it is more likely that Motherwell were influenced by Bradford City ‘s English FA cup win in 1911. [ 66 ] The clubhouse ‘s crest combines a series of logos from over the years. In 1974, City adopted a contemporary stylus crest incorporating the club ‘s initials, with a B-C logo. At the time, the new logo maintained the previous nickname of the Paraders. By December 1981, the golf club relaunched the Bantams as the official identity with a bantam on the newfangled crown. The crest maintains the club color and besides includes the words The Bantams .

nickname [edit ]

Bradford City have had a count of nicknames during the history. In their early years, they were referred to as the Robins or Wasps, taking over the nickname of Manningham FC, as a consequence of Manningham ‘s claret and amber hoops. [ 4 ] early nicknames have been the Citizens or Paraders, but the golf club is well known as the Bantams .

stadium [edit ]

Valley Parade Valley Parade was the locate of a prey on the hillside below Manningham, Bradford, owned by Midland Railway Company, in 1886, when Manningham RFC bought one-third of the land and leased the end, because they had been forced to find a new home. They spent £ 1,400 erecting a ground with a capacity of 20,000, baseball club facilities and levelling the domain. [ 67 ] When Bradford City were formed in 1903, they took over the ground Valley Parade, which was besides at this clock time the headquarters of The 2nd West Riding Brigade Royal Field Artillery ( Territorial Force ), playing their foremost home game on 5 September 1903 against Gainsborough Trinity, drawing a herd of 11,000. [ 6 ] [ 68 ] Five years subsequently, the club won forwarding to Division One, and therefore commissioned football architect Archibald Leitch to redevelop the land. The capacity was increased to 40,000 by December 1908 with a 5,300-seater main stand, a terrace paddock in front, a Spion Kop, and an 8,000-capacity Midland Road stand. [ 69 ] Its first game against Bristol City on Christmas Day attracted a crowd of 36,000. [ 70 ] On 11 March 1911, Valley Parade attracted its highest attendance 39,146, for an FA Cup game between Bradford City and Burnley during Bradford ‘s FA Cup winning run. [ 71 ] Until 1952, by which prison term Bradford City had bought the remaining two-thirds of the grind to own it outright, [ 72 ] the grate remained virtually unaltered. [ 70 ] [ 73 ] however, doubly during the adjacent decade, the club ‘s Midland Road base had to be demolished. Club officials first closed part of the resist in 1952, as a consequence of the Burnden Park calamity six years earlier. Its frame was sold to Berwick Rangers and a successor stand built in 1954. [ 72 ] Six years late, the new stand was itself demolished, and Valley Parade remained a trilateral footing until 1966, when the sales talk was moved, and a new stand built. [ 74 ]
The Bradford End of Valley Parade, which was the first to be redeveloped after the ground reopened in 1986 On 11 May 1985, Valley Parade was the scene of a fateful burn, during which 56 supporters were killed and at least 265 were injured. The game was the final match of the 1984–85 season, before which City were presented with the Division Three championship trophy. The fire destroyed the chief stand in equitable nine minutes. [ 67 ] [ 75 ] The baseball club played its dwelling games at Odsal Stadium, a rugby league background in Bradford, Elland Road, Leeds, and Leeds Road, the former home of Huddersfield Town, until December 1986, while Valley Parade was redeveloped. [ 76 ] The club spent £2.6 million building a new main stand and improving the Kop, and reopened the new grind on 14 December 1986 for an exhibition match against an England international XI. [ 77 ] In 1991, the Bradford end of the establish was the next to be redeveloped, and was converted into a two-tier stand with a scoreboard. In 1996, following City ‘s promotion to Division One, cabaret chair Geoffrey Richmond announced the construction of a 4,500 seater bandstand on the Midland Road side. Ahead of forwarding to the Premiership in 1999, Richmond spent another £6.5 million to convert the Kop into a two-tier 7,500-seat capacitance stand. [ 78 ] A corner resist between the Kop and main digest was opened in December 2000, taking the capacity to 20,000 for the beginning fourth dimension since 1970. [ 79 ] The comply summer, the main stand was besides converted into a two-tier bandstand, taking the capacity to 25,136. far projects were planned until the baseball club went into administration in May 2002 so none have taken topographic point. [ 78 ] The surveil year, Valley Parade was sold to Gibb ‘s pension store for £5 million, with the club ‘s offices, the shop and cable car parking lot sold to London-based Development Securities for £2.5 million, [ 80 ] but these ( golf club offices, workshop and car parking lot ) were bought bet on by the club ‘s joint chairmen in the summer of 2011. [ citation needed ] The club ‘s annual rip and alimony costs to Gibb ‘s pension fund is £1.2m, and so as of February 2009, the clubhouse is considering a reelect to Odsal. The club and Bradford Bulls would contribution the new £50m complex, which would besides feature cricket, cycle and athletics facilities. [ 81 ] Valley Parade has had several other names under sponsorship list deals. In July 2016 it became the Northern Commercials Stadium, [ 82 ] and in July 2019 it became the Utilita Energy Stadium. [ 83 ]

Supporters [edit ]

The club spearheaded an first step in 2007 to slash the price of watching professional football for the 2007–08 season. [ 84 ] As a leave, season tickets to watch Bradford City were the cheapest in England at £138, the equivalent of £6 per equal. [ 85 ] When the offer finished at 7 prime minister on Tuesday, 31 July 2007, the club confirmed the total of season tickets sold was 12,019. [ 86 ] The outline enabled the club to top the average league attendances for Football League Two during the 2007–08 season, attracting more than three times more than any other club. The club won the Perform Best Fan Marketing campaign class in The Football League Awards for the system and earned them an invitation to the Houses of Parliament. [ 87 ] [ 88 ] The club aimed to attract 20,000 fans for the 2008–09 by offering a absolve season ticket to anyone buying a season slate angstrom long as 9,000 adults sign up, but they fell 704 short of the prey. [ 89 ] Joint-chairman Mark Lawn announced in November 2008 that season tickets in the Bradford End for the 2009–10 temper would be available for good £99 and £138 for the rest of the ground if bought in December 2008. Season tickets for the 2013–14 temper are available until 31 July 2013. Adults prices are £199, senior citizen and scholar tickets priced at £149 and juniors £99. For the 2015–16 season, the baseball club announced its latest season ticket outline aimed at continuing to make football low-cost for fans. Season ticket prices were set at £149 for adults, senior citizens and students, while entree for under-11s was free when purchased with an adult ticket. An initial campaign target of 15,000 was set with a deadline for the reduce tickets of 31 July 2015. [ 90 ] On 6 July, the club announced a record-breaking 18,000 tickets had been sold following a successful campaign. [ 91 ] The campaign was repeated for the 2016–17 season, where the club sold in surfeit of 17,000 tickets. Bradford City have one official mascot, Billy Bantam .

competition [edit ]

Bradford City have participated in the Bradford bowler hat with city rivals Bradford Park Avenue. [ 92 ] The West Yorkshire bowler hat is held between City and local rivals Leeds United and Huddersfield Town. [ 93 ] [ 94 ] A “ friendly ” competition besides existed with now-defunct club Halifax Town. [ 95 ] According to a survey conducted in August 2019, Bradford City fans besides see Burnley, Barnsley and Oldham Athletic as rivals. [ 96 ]
Bradford City ‘s merely participation in european football to date came in the 2000 UEFA Intertoto Cup. [ 97 ] [ 98 ] [ 99 ]

Players [edit ]

current police squad [edit ]

As of 13 November 2021[104]

note : Flags indicate home team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality .

Out on loanword [edit ]

bill : Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality .

player of the year [edit ]

staff [edit ]

current staff [edit ]

As of 7 December 2021[163][164][165][166]

early managers [edit ]

Statistics [edit ]

Honours [edit ]

league [edit ]

cup [edit ]

Winners (1): 1911
Winners (1): 1939
Runners-up (1): 1938
  • West Riding County FA Challenge Cup
Winners: 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909 [183]

Records [edit ]

All records from Bradford City F.C. official website. [ 184 ]

stadium [edit ]

  • 1995–1999 The Pulse
  • 2005–2007 Bradford & Bingley
  • 2007 Intersonic
  • 2007–2016 Coral Windows
  • 2016–2019 Northern Commercials
  • 2019– Utilita Energy

See besides [edit ]

References [edit ]

Read more: Willem Dafoe