Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club in
Bradford
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
,
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
. The team competes in
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
, the fourth tier of the
English football league system
The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the Isl ...
and are currently managed by
Mark Hughes
Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh football coach and former player who is the manager of Bradford City.
During his playing career he usually operated as a forward or midfielder. He had two spells at Manchester United, and a ...
.
The club's home ground is the 25,136-capacity
Valley Parade
Valley Parade, known as the University of Bradford Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Built in 1886, it was the home of Manningham Rugby Football Club until 1903, when they c ...
, which was the site of the
Bradford City stadium fire
The Bradford City stadium fire occurred during a Football League Third Division match on Saturday, 11 May 1985 at the Valley Parade stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, killing 56 spectators and injuring at least 265. The stadium was k ...
on 11 May 1985, which took the lives of 56 supporters.
The club was founded in 1903 and immediately elected into the
Football League Second Division
The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...
. 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
The 1911 FA Cup Final was the 40th FA Cup final. It was contested by Bradford City and Newcastle United. The first game resulted in a goalless draw at Crystal Palace. A single goal scored by Jimmy Speirs for Bradford won the replay at Old Traffor ...
, which remains the club's only major honour. They were relegated in 1922 and again in 1927, before winning the
Third Division North
The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...
title in 1928–29. Another relegation in 1937 did allow the club to go on to win the
Third Division North Cup in 1939, however a further relegation followed in 1962 to leave the club in the newly created
Fourth Division
Fourth or the fourth may refer to:
* the ordinal form of the number 4
* ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971
* Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision
* Fourth (music), a musical interval
* ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...
. They secured promotions back 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
Roy Leslie McFarland (born 5 April 1948) is an English former football manager and former player. With Derby County, he played 442 league games, helping him to earn 28 caps for England.
Playing career
Born in Liverpool, McFarland was a player f ...
and then
Trevor Cherry
Trevor John Cherry (23 February 1948 – 29 April 2020) was an English footballer who notably captained both England and Leeds United. A defender, Cherry also played for Huddersfield Town and Bradford City, and managed the latter club.
B ...
, winning promotion in 1981–82 and following this up with the
Third Division title in 1984–85, though they were relegated out of the Second Division in 1990.
Bradford were promoted back into the second tier via the
play-offs in 1996, before securing another promotion in 1998–99 to reach the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
, 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
The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...
in 2000–01, but ended the campaign with relegation from the Premier League. A succession of financial crises followed as the club entered
administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
twice in two years and further relegations followed in 2004 and 2007 to leave the club back in the fourth tier. They found success under the management of
Phil Parkinson
Philip John Parkinson (born 1 December 1967) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is currently manager of National League side Wrexham.
Parkinson is the only manager to take an English fou ...
by reaching the
2013 League Cup final and then going on to win that year's
League Two play-off final, but were relegated from
League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
in 2019.
They are the only professional football club in England to wear
claret
Bordeaux wine ( oc, vin de Bordèu, french: vin de Bordeaux) is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the ...
and
amber
Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In Ma ...
, and have worn these colours throughout their history. They have though been known by various nicknames, with the "
Bantams" being the most commonly used nickname as it appears on the current club crest. Supporters hold
West Yorkshire derby
The West Yorkshire derbies are a series of football matches or rugby league matches taking place between football or rugby league clubs from West Yorkshire.
In football History
Leeds United's relegation to League One in 2007 may have reignite ...
rivalries with
Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...
and
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...
, as well as a historic
Bradford derby
The Bradford derby is a football derby match played between Bradford City and Bradford (Park Avenue).
The derby has also been called the Wool City derby, referring to Bradford's history with the wool trade. The two clubs are the only two fro ...
rivalry with the now non-league side
Bradford (Park Avenue).
History
![Bradford1911](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Bradford1911.jpg)
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
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world an ...
representatives and officials at
Manningham F.C.
Manningham was an English rugby league football club based in Manningham, Bradford, the first champions of the Rugby Football League (then known as the Northern Rugby Football Union) in its first season. After seven seasons of rugby league, ...
, a
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
side.
The Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
saw the invitation as a chance to promote association football in the rugby league-dominated county of the
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...
. It duly elected the new club into
Division Two of the league, in place of
Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...
. Four days later, at the 23rd annual meeting 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 colours of claret and amber, and their
Valley Parade
Valley Parade, known as the University of Bradford Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Built in 1886, it was the home of Manningham Rugby Football Club until 1903, when they c ...
ground.
Robert Campbell was appointed the club's first manager and with the help of the new committee, he assembled a playing squad at the cost of
£917 10
s 0
d.
City's first game was a 2–0 defeat at
Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...
on 1 September 1903, six days before their first home game attracted 11,000 fans.
The club finished 10th in their first season.
Peter O'Rourke took over as manager in November 1905, and he led City to the Division Two title in
1907–08 and with it
promotion
Promotion may refer to:
Marketing
* Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
to the
Division One
The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...
.
Having narrowly avoided relegation in their first season in the top flight, City recorded their highest finish of 5th in
1910–11. The same season they won the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
, when a goal from captain
Jimmy Speirs
James Hamilton Speirs MM (22 March 1886 – 20 August 1917) was a Scottish footballer who represented his country on one occasion, scored the winning goal in the 1911 FA Cup Final, and received the Military Medal during the First World War. ...
won the
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
replay against
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
. City's defence of the cup, which included the first
Bradford derby
The Bradford derby is a football derby match played between Bradford City and Bradford (Park Avenue).
The derby has also been called the Wool City derby, referring to Bradford's history with the wool trade. The two clubs are the only two fro ...
against
Bradford Park Avenue
Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in , at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The name derived from their former hom ...
, was stopped by
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
after a run of 12 consecutive clean sheets.
![Bradford City FC League Performance](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Bradford_City_FC_League_Performance.svg)
City remained in the top flight in the period up to the First World War and for three seasons afterwards, but were relegated in
1921–22 along with
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
.
Back in Division Two, attendances dropped and City struggled for form, with five consecutive finishes in the bottom half of the table. They suffered a second relegation to
Division Three (North)
The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...
in
1926–27.
Two seasons later, O'Rourke, who had initially retired in 1921 following the death of his son, returned and guided City to promotion with a record haul of 128 goals.
O'Rourke left for a second time after one more season, and although City spent a total of eight seasons back in Division Two, they rarely looked like earning promotion back to the top flight. Instead in
1936–37, the club were relegated back to Division Three (North). City won their third piece of silverware two seasons later, when they lifted the
Third Division North Challenge Cup, but they were unable to defend the trophy because competitive football was suspended for the Second World War.
After the war, City went through two managers in the first two seasons, and were consistently in the bottom half of the Division Three (North) table until
1955–56. After three successive top half finishes, City were placed in the new
Division Three
The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the ...
in
1958–59. Bradford spent just three seasons in Division Three, but during their relegation season in
1960–61,
they upset Division One side Manchester United in the inaugural season of the
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
. With 34 goals from
David Layne
David "Bronco" Layne (born Sheffield, 29 July 1939) is an English former footballer most famous for playing for Sheffield Wednesday and his involvement in the British betting scandal of 1964.
Playing career Rotherham United
Layne started his ...
, City nearly earned promotion the following season
1961–62, but did also suffer a record 9–1 defeat to
Colchester United
Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...
.
Layne left for
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
, and without him City finished second from bottom of the league and had to apply for re-election.
Bradford City just 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 scoring with 29 league goals. There followed three difficult seasons during which time manager
Grenville Hair
Kenneth Grenville Arthur Hair (16 November 1931 – 7 March 1968) was a footballer who played his entire professional career for Leeds United between 1948 and 1964. He later became the manager of Wellington Town and Bradford City. He died of a ...
died following a heart attack in training, City returned to Division Three getting promoted in
1968–69. City's stay in Division Three lasted just three years, when they finished bottom in
1971–72. Promotion via fourth spot was won again in
1976–77 but it was instantly followed by a relegation season.
City failed to win promotion for three successive seasons, until the board appointed former
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
centre back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
Roy McFarland
Roy Leslie McFarland (born 5 April 1948) is an English former football manager and former player. With Derby County, he played 442 league games, helping him to earn 28 caps for England.
Playing career
Born in Liverpool, McFarland was a player f ...
as manager in May 1981. McFarland won promotion in his first season, but was poached by his former club
Derby County
Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group.
Founded in 1884 ...
just six months later.
City won compensation from Derby and installed another England international
Trevor Cherry
Trevor John Cherry (23 February 1948 – 29 April 2020) was an English footballer who notably captained both England and Leeds United. A defender, Cherry also played for Huddersfield Town and Bradford City, and managed the latter club.
B ...
as McFarland's replacement. Cherry, with former teammate
Terry Yorath
Terry is a unisex given name, derived from French Thierry and Theodoric. It can also be used as a diminutive nickname for the names Teresa or Theresa (feminine) or Terence or Terrier (masculine).
People
Male
* Terry Albritton (1955–2005), A ...
as his assistant manager, failed to win for two months, but eventually the pair guided City to safety from relegation. During the summer, however, the club chairman Bob Martin had to call in the
official receiver
An officer of the Insolvency Service of the United Kingdom, an official receiver (OR) is an officer of the court to which they are attached. The OR is answerable to the courts for carrying out the courts' orders and for fulfilling their duties ...
s. The club was saved by former chairman
Stafford Heginbotham
Stafford Heginbotham (12 September 1933 – 21 April 1995) was a British businessman and chairman of Bradford City football club at the time of 56 deaths in the Bradford City stadium fire, which occurred immediately after the club won league pro ...
and former board member Jack Tordoff, but to ensure the club could start the new season, prize asset, striker
Bobby Campbell was sold to Derby. City struggled but so did Campbell, and when he returned, the club went on a record run of ten successive victories. Although they missed out on promotion, City won the league the following season
1984–85, to return to the second tier of the Football League. However, City's triumph was overshadowed by the
fire disaster, which killed 56 people when Valley Parade caught fire in the final game of the season.
City played games away from Valley Parade for 19 months. But just ten days after the new £2.6 million ground was opened, Cherry was sacked. His replacement,
Terry Dolan, steered City away from possible relegation, before he mounted a promotion challenge the following season. City went top of the table in September 1987, but fell away during Christmas and missed out on promotion on the final day of the season. Instead they entered the
play-offs
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
, but were defeated in the semi-finals by
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
. Two years later 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
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
.
In January 1994,
Geoffrey Richmond
Geoffrey Richmond (born March 1941) was a football chairman of Bradford City from 1994 to 2002, and previously chairman of Scarborough.
Career
Richmond was born and raised in Leeds, where he attended Roundhay Grammar School. After leaving school, ...
came from
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
to take over as chairman,
and promised to guide City to the Premier League within five years. He cleared the debts and after four months sacked manager
Frank Stapleton
Francis Anthony Stapleton (born 10 July 1956) is an Irish former professional football player and manager. He is best remembered for his time at Arsenal, Manchester United and as a pivotal player for the Republic of Ireland national team. H ...
to appoint his own manager,
Lennie Lawrence
Robin Michael Lawrence (born 12 December 1947) is an English former football manager, player and football consultant who is non-executive director at EFL League Two side Hartlepool United.
Lawrence was a semi-professional at Croydon, Carshalt ...
.
Lawrence left after little more than a year to join
Luton Town
Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...
but his successor,
Chris Kamara
Christopher Kamara (born 25 December 1957) is an English former professional football player and manager who worked as a presenter and football analyst at Sky Sports from 1992 to 2022.
As a player, he was known as a tough-tackling midfielder. H ...
, took City to the
play-offs
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
and their first game at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
. They defeated
Notts County
Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...
2–0 in the
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
to earn promotion to Division One.
City avoided relegation the following season by winning their last two league games, 1–0 against
Charlton and then beating
Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...
3–0 on the final day of the season, but Kamara was sacked in January 1998.
Paul Jewell
Paul Jewell (born 28 September 1964) is an English football manager and former player, who was most recently director of football at Swindon Town.
Jewell began his playing career with Liverpool, continued at Wigan Athletic and concluded in a t ...
took over, initially on a temporary basis, before he was given a permanent contract. He bought the club's first £1 million signings and guided the club to the Premier League—the first time they had been in the top flight for 77 years—with a second-place finish. The following season, Jewell continued to defy the critics, who labelled his team ''
Dad's Army
''Dad's Army'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard (United Kingdom), Home Guard during the World War II, Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft (TV producer), David Crof ...
'', by avoiding relegation again on the last day with a 1–0 victory over
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, with a goal from
David Wetherall
David Wetherall (born 14 March 1971) is an English football coach and former professional footballer, who is as head of youth development with the Football League.
As a player, he was a central defender, he played most of his career in the Pre ...
.
However, Jewell left shortly afterwards. His assistant
Chris Hutchings
Christopher Hutchings (born 5 July 1957) is an English former footballer and manager. He played for a number of clubs including Chelsea and played more than 100 games for Brighton & Hove Albion and Huddersfield Town. He has managed in the Premie ...
was promoted to the manager's position, and despite a series of new expensive signings, he was sacked by November 2000, with City second from bottom of the league.
Jim Jefferies took over but could not save the club from relegation. At the end of the first season back in Division One, City were placed in
administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
with debts of nearly £13 million. Two years later, the club suffered a second spell in administration and a second relegation. Two top-half finishes followed, but the club were relegated for a third time in seven seasons in
2006–07 meaning the following season would be their first in the bottom tier for 26 seasons.
Former player
Stuart McCall
Andrew Stuart Murray McCall (born 10 June 1964) is a professional football coach and former player. He is assistant manager at Sheffield United.
McCall played in a total of 763 league games and in 40 full international matches for Scotla ...
was appointed the new manager, and although he said anything less than promotion would be a failure, he later changed his mind after a poor start and finally led the team to a 10th-place finish. McCall eventually left Bradford City on 8 February 2010 following a board meeting after a run of poor results.
In September 2011, the club became linked with American amateur side
SC United Bantams
SC United Bantams is an American soccer team based in Columbia, South Carolina that plays in USL League Two. The team is linked with professional English team Bradford City, and was formerly known as Palmetto FC Bantams.
Players and staff
Current ...
.
In January 2013, City became the first club from the fourth tier of English football since
Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...
in
1962
Events January
* January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand.
* January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism.
* January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...
to reach the
Football League Cup
The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...
final, and the first fourth tier club ever to reach a major Wembley Cup Final. They defeated three
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
sides en route to the final –
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, ...
4–2 on penalties in the fourth round,
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
3–2 on penalties in the quarter-finals and
Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
4–3 on aggregate over the two legs of the semi-final. They met Premier League side
Swansea City
Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...
in the
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
at
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
, but lost 0–5.
The run to the final is thought to have been worth at least £1.3 million to the club, with joint chairman Mark Lawn stating that the final itself could be worth an additional £1 million, taking the club's total earnings to £2.3 million during their
2012–13 Football League Cup
The 2012–13 Football League Cup (known as the Capital One Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 53rd season of the Football League Cup, a knock-out competition for the top 92 football clubs played in English football league system. Liverpool wer ...
campaign. On 18 May 2013, the club returned to
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
where they defeated
Northampton Town F.C.
Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland L ...
3–0 in the
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
Playoff Final to secure a place in
League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
for 2013–14.
On 24 January 2015, Bradford City caused an upset by beating Premiership leaders
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
4–2 away in the FA Cup. The victory sent Bradford through to the 5th round for the first time in eighteen years. They beat
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
, another Premier League club, 2–0 at home in the next round on 15 February 2015. In the Quarter Finals, The Bantams faced
Reading F.C.
Reading Football Club ( ) is a professional Association football, football club based in Reading, Berkshire, England. The team play in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is manag ...
at home, in a game that ended in a goalless draw. The replay was played on 16 March 2015 at the Madejski Stadium, where Reading won 3–0.
The club was relegated to League Two in April 2019.
In December 2021, the club was approached by American investors known as WAGMI United (who use cryptocurrency and NFTs) about a possible buyout. The offer was rejected.
On 24 February 2022,
Mark Hughes
Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh football coach and former player who is the manager of Bradford City.
During his playing career he usually operated as a forward or midfielder. He had two spells at Manchester United, and a ...
was appointed manager of the club on a contract until the summer of 2024.
Colours and club crest
Bradford City is the only professional football club in England to wear claret and amber. The club colours were inherited from
Manningham FC
Manningham was an English rugby league football club based in Manningham, Bradford, the first champions of the Rugby Football League (then known as the Northern Rugby Football Union) in its first season. After seven seasons of rugby league, t ...
, when the club converted to football upon Bradford City's foundation in 1903. However, whereas Manningham played in hoops, the new football club adopted claret and amber stripes. Manningham RFC adopted the colours in 1884 before the move to Valley Parade in 1886. Having originally worn black shirts with white shorts, the club's first game in claret and amber was against Hull on 20 September 1884, at Carlisle Road.
The reason Manningham chose claret and amber is not documented but the colours were the same as those of
The Prince of Wales's Own West Yorkshire Regiment
The West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) (14th Foot) was an infantry regiment of the British Army. In 1958 it amalgamated with the East Yorkshire Regiment (15th Foot) to form the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire which was, on ...
, 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 as a memorial to the 56 supporters who died.
The club's away shirt has traditionally been white and to a lesser extent also blue, but there has been a profusion of other colours and designs particularly in more recent years. The away kit for the 2008–09 season was all white.
For the 2009–10 season, the away kit was all black with a thin claret and amber stripe down the centre-left.
City scarves have also sold in large numbers in recent years to fans of ''
Harry Potter
''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
'', because the colours are the same as Harry's house scarf at
Hogwarts School.
A number of other clubs across the world wear claret and amber. They include Scottish club
Motherwell
Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...
, who originally wore blue and white until they wore claret and amber for the first time on 23 August 1913, against Celtic. It is erroneously believed that Motherwell chose the claret and amber colours because they were the racing colours of Lord Hamilton; it is more likely that Motherwell were influenced by Bradford City's English FA cup win in 1911.
The club's crest combines a series of logos from over the years. In 1974, City adopted a contemporary style 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 club relaunched the Bantams as the official identity with a bantam on the new crest. The crest maintains the club colours and also includes the words The Bantams.
Nickname
Bradford City have had a number of nicknames during their history. In their early years, they were referred to as the Robins or Wasps, taking over the nickname of Manningham FC, as a result of Manningham's claret and amber hoops.
Other nicknames have been the Citizens or Paraders, but the club is better known as the Bantams.
Stadium
Valley Parade
Valley Parade, known as the University of Bradford Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Built in 1886, it was the home of Manningham Rugby Football Club until 1903, when they c ...
was the site of a
quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envi ...
on the hillside below
Manningham, Bradford
Manningham is an historically industrial workers area as well as a council ward of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.
The population of the 2011 Census for the Manningham Ward was 19,983.
History
Manningham holds a wealth of industrial hi ...
, owned by Midland Railway Company, in 1886, when Manningham RFC bought one-third of the land and leased the remainder, because they had been forced to find a new home. They spent
£1,400 erecting a ground with a capacity of 20,000, club facilities and levelling the land.
When Bradford City were formed in 1903, they took over the ground at Valley Parade, which was also at this time the headquarters of
The 2nd West Riding Brigade Royal Field Artillery (Territorial Force), playing their first home game on 5 September 1903 against
Gainsborough Trinity
Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gainsbo ...
, drawing a crowd of 11,000.
Five years later, the club won promotion to
Division One
The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...
, and so commissioned football architect
Archibald Leitch
Archibald Keir Leitch (27 April 1865 – 25 April 1939) was a Scottish architect, most famous for his work designing football stadiums throughout Great Britain and Ireland.
Early work
Born in Glasgow, Leitch's early work was on designing tea ...
to redevelop the ground. The capacity was increased to 40,000 by December 1908 with a 5,300-seater main stand, a
terraced
In agriculture, a terrace is a piece of sloped plane that has been cut into a series of successively receding flat surfaces or platforms, which resemble steps, for the purposes of more effective farming. This type of landscaping is therefore ...
paddock in front, a
Spion Kop, and an 8,000-capacity Midland Road stand. Its first game against
Bristol City
Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...
on Christmas Day attracted a crowd of 36,000.
On 11 March 1911, Valley Parade attracted its highest attendance 39,146, for an
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
game between Bradford City and
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
during Bradford's
FA Cup winning run.
Until 1952, by which time Bradford City had bought the remaining two-thirds of the ground to own it outright,
the ground remained virtually unchanged.
However, twice during the next decade, the club's Midland Road stand had to be demolished. Club officials first closed part of the stand in 1952, as a result of the
Burnden Park disaster
The Burnden Park disaster was a human crush that occurred on 9 March 1946 at Burnden Park football stadium, then the home of Bolton Wanderers. The crush resulted in the deaths of 33 people and injuries to hundreds of Bolton fans. It was the de ...
six years earlier. Its frame was sold to
Berwick Rangers
Berwick Rangers Football Club is a football team based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, England, just south of the border with Scotland.
Founded in 1881, they currently play in the , the fifth tier of Scottish football, despite hailing fr ...
and a replacement stand built in 1954.
Six years later, the new stand was itself demolished, and Valley Parade remained a three-sided ground until 1966, when the pitch was moved, and a new stand built.
On 11 May 1985, Valley Parade was the scene of a
fatal fire, 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
The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the ...
championship trophy. The fire destroyed the main stand in just nine minutes.
The club played its home games at
Odsal Stadium
Odsal Stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, is the home of Bradford Bulls Rugby League team. It has also been used by the Bradford Dukes speedway team, BRISCA F1 and F2 stock cars, the football team Bradford City, following the Valley ...
, a rugby league ground in Bradford,
Elland Road
Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England.
The g ...
, Leeds, and
Leeds Road
Leeds Road was a association football, football stadium in Huddersfield, England. It operated from its construction in 1908 until the Kirklees Stadium was opened nearby for the 1994–95 in English football, 1994–95 season. It was the home of ...
, the former home of Huddersfield Town, until December 1986, while Valley Parade was redeveloped. The club spent £2.6 million building a new main stand and improving the Kop, and reopened the new ground on 14 December 1986 for an exhibition match against an England international XI.
In 1991, the Bradford end of the ground 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
The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...
, club chairman
Geoffrey Richmond
Geoffrey Richmond (born March 1941) was a football chairman of Bradford City from 1994 to 2002, and previously chairman of Scarborough.
Career
Richmond was born and raised in Leeds, where he attended Roundhay Grammar School. After leaving school, ...
announced the construction of a 4,500 seater stand on the Midland Road side. Ahead of promotion to the
Premiership in 1999, Richmond spent another £6.5 million to convert the Kop into a two-tier 7,500-seat capacity stand.
A corner stand between the Kop and main stand was opened in December 2000, taking the capacity to 20,000 for the first time since 1970. The following summer, the main stand was also converted into a two-tier stand, taking the capacity to 25,136. Further projects were planned until the club went into
administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
in May 2002 so none have taken place.
The following year, Valley Parade was sold to Gibb's pension fund for £5 million, with the club's offices, the shop and car park sold to London-based Development Securities for £2.5 million, but these (club offices, shop and car park) were bought back by the club's joint chairmen in the summer of 2011. The club's annual rent and maintenance costs to Gibb's pension fund is £1.2m, and so as of February 2009, the club is considering a return to Odsal. The club and Bradford Bulls would share the new £50m complex, which would also feature
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
, cycling and
athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...
facilities. Valley Parade has had several other names under sponsorship naming deals. In July 2016 it became the Northern Commercials Stadium, and in July 2019 it became the
Utilita Energy
Utilita Energy is an electricity and gas supplier operating in the United Kingdom. Utilita began trading in 2003, specialising in pay-as-you-go metering.
As of January 2021, Utilita has over 800,000 customers, representing a 2.6% share in the do ...
Stadium. This partnership came to an end in July 2022. The
University of Bradford
The University of Bradford is a Public university, public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be creat ...
subsequently became title sponsor of Valley Parade.
Supporters
The club spearheaded an initiative in 2007 to slash the price of watching professional football for the
2007–08 season. As a result, season tickets to watch Bradford City were the cheapest in England at £138, the equivalent of £6 per match. When the offer finished, the club confirmed the amount of season tickets sold was 12,019. The scheme enabled the club to top the average league attendances for
Football League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
during the 2007–08 season, attracting more than three times more than any other club. The club won the Perform Best Fan Marketing campaign category in
The Football League Awards for the scheme and earned them an invitation to the
Houses of Parliament
The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank ...
. The club aimed to attract 20,000 fans for the
2008–09 by offering a free season ticket to anyone buying a season ticket as long as 9,000 adults sign up, but they fell 704 short of the target. Joint-chairman Mark Lawn announced in November 2008 that season tickets in the Bradford End for the
2009–10 season would be available for just £99 and £138 for the rest of the ground if bought in December 2008.
For the
2015–16 season, the club announced its latest season ticket scheme aimed at continuing to make football affordable for fans. Season ticket prices were set at £149 for adults, senior citizens and students, while admission for under-11s was free when purchased with an adult ticket. An initial campaign target of 15,000 was set. On 6 July, the club announced a record-breaking 18,000 tickets had been sold following a successful campaign. The campaign was repeated for the
2016–17 season, where the club sold in excess of 17,000 tickets.
Bradford City have one official
mascot
A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...
, Billy Bantam.
Bradford City announced 'Own The Moment' 2022–23 season ticket sales of 14,190 in September 2022. The figure was a Sky Bet League Two record for the club. It surpassed the previous fourth-tier season-ticket sales record of 13,614 in 2019–20.
Rivalry
Bradford City have participated in the
Bradford derby
The Bradford derby is a football derby match played between Bradford City and Bradford (Park Avenue).
The derby has also been called the Wool City derby, referring to Bradford's history with the wool trade. The two clubs are the only two fro ...
with city rivals
Bradford Park Avenue
Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in , at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The name derived from their former hom ...
. The
West Yorkshire derby
The West Yorkshire derbies are a series of football matches or rugby league matches taking place between football or rugby league clubs from West Yorkshire.
In football History
Leeds United's relegation to League One in 2007 may have reignite ...
is held between City and local rivals
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...
and
Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...
. A "friendly" rivalry also existed with now-defunct club
Halifax Town
FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...
.
According to a survey conducted in August 2019, Bradford City fans also see
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
,
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
and
Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system.
The history of Oldham Athletic ...
as rivals.
European football
Bradford City's only participation in European football to date came in the
2000 UEFA Intertoto Cup
The 2000 UEFA Intertoto Cup finals were won by Udinese, Celta Vigo, and Stuttgart. All three teams advanced to the UEFA Cup.
First round
*Matches played on 18–19 June and 25–26 June
First leg
----
''The game was awa ...
.
Players
Current squad
Out on loan
Player of the Year
Staff
Current staff
:
Former managers
*
Robert Campbell (1903–1905)
*
Peter O'Rourke (1905–1921)
*
David Menzies (1921–1926)
*
Colin Veitch
Colin Campbell McKechnie Veitch (22 May 1881 – 26 August 1938) was an English football player in the early 20th century for Newcastle United and manager of Bradford City.
Playing career
Newcastle United
Veitch was born in the Heaton area ...
(1926–1928)
*
Jack Foster (Caretaker manager) (Jan–May 1928)
*
Peter O'Rourke (1928–1930)
*
Jack Peart
John George Peart (3 October 1888 – 3 September 1948) was an English association football, footballer who played forward (association football), centre forward for 13 different teams, in a career which spanned World War I. After he retir ...
(1930–1935)
*
Dick Ray
Richard Ray (4 February 1876 – 28 December 1952) was an English professional footballer and manager.
A left-back, he played for Macclesfield, before starting his career in the Football League with Burslem Port Vale in 1894. He switched to ...
(1935–1937)
*
Fred Westgarth
Fred Westgarth (July 1887 in South Shields, England – 4 February 1957) was an English footballer though he is more renowned for his role as a manager.
Career
Westgarth was a successful football coach after a playing career achieved little of ...
(1938–1943)
*
Bob Sharp
Robert Sharp (born October 1894, date of death unknown) was a football manager of Bradford City who also served as Deputy Lord Mayor of Bradford. He was a football visionary who called for the introduction of Third and Fourth Divisions 12 ye ...
(1943–1946)
*
Jack Barker
John William Barker (27 February 1906 – 20 January 1982) was an English footballer who played 327 league games for Derby County and won 11 England caps. He later managed Derby County and Bradford City.
Playing career
Derby County
Born in De ...
(1946–1947)
*
Jack Milburn (1947–1948)
*
David Steele (1948–1952)
*
Albert Harris (Feb–May 1952) (interim manager)
*
Ivor Powell
Ivor Verdun Powell, MBE (5 July 1916 – 6 November 2012) was a Welsh football player and manager. He won eight caps for Wales.
A wing half, he began his professional career with Queens Park Rangers in September 1937. His career was interr ...
(1952–1955)
*
Peter Jackson
Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...
(1955–1961)
*
Bob Brocklebank
Bob Brocklebank (8 April 1908 – September 1981) was an English footballer and manager.
He played for Aston Villa and Burnley, where he was top goalscorer in 1937-38 before becoming a manager, at Chesterfield, Birmingham City, Hull City and ...
(1961–1964)
*
Bill Harris (1965–1966)
*
Willie Watson (1966–1967)
*
Grenville Hair
Kenneth Grenville Arthur Hair (16 November 1931 – 7 March 1968) was a footballer who played his entire professional career for Leeds United between 1948 and 1964. He later became the manager of Wellington Town and Bradford City. He died of a ...
(1967–1968)
*
Jim McAnearney &
Tom Hallett (Joint caretaker managers) (Mar–May 1968)
*
Jimmy Wheeler
Ernest Alfred Henry Remnant (16 September 1910 – 8 October 1973), known professionally as Jimmy Wheeler, was a British variety theatre comedian and pioneer of radio and television. Earlier in his career he worked with his father in the double ...
(1968–1971)
*
Ray Wilson (Player/caretaker manager) (Sep–November 1971)
*
Bryan Edwards (1971–1975)
*
Bobby Kennedy
Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, a ...
(1975–1978)
*
John Napier
John Napier of Merchiston (; 1 February 1550 – 4 April 1617), nicknamed Marvellous Merchiston, was a Scottish landowner known as a mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. He was the 8th Laird of Merchiston. His Latinized name was Ioann ...
(Feb–October 1978)
*
George Mulhall
George Mulhall (8 May 1936 – 27 April 2018) was a Scottish football player and manager. Born in Falkirk, Mulhall played as an outside left for Aberdeen and Sunderland. He was capped three times for Scotland. He became the manager of Bradfor ...
(1978–1981)
*
Roy McFarland
Roy Leslie McFarland (born 5 April 1948) is an English former football manager and former player. With Derby County, he played 442 league games, helping him to earn 28 caps for England.
Playing career
Born in Liverpool, McFarland was a player f ...
(1981–1982)
*
Trevor Cherry
Trevor John Cherry (23 February 1948 – 29 April 2020) was an English footballer who notably captained both England and Leeds United. A defender, Cherry also played for Huddersfield Town and Bradford City, and managed the latter club.
B ...
(1982–1987)
*
Terry Dolan (1987–1989)
*
Terry Yorath
Terry is a unisex given name, derived from French Thierry and Theodoric. It can also be used as a diminutive nickname for the names Teresa or Theresa (feminine) or Terence or Terrier (masculine).
People
Male
* Terry Albritton (1955–2005), A ...
(1989–1990)
*
John Docherty (1990–1991)
*
Frank Stapleton
Francis Anthony Stapleton (born 10 July 1956) is an Irish former professional football player and manager. He is best remembered for his time at Arsenal, Manchester United and as a pivotal player for the Republic of Ireland national team. H ...
(1991–1994)
*
Lennie Lawrence
Robin Michael Lawrence (born 12 December 1947) is an English former football manager, player and football consultant who is non-executive director at EFL League Two side Hartlepool United.
Lawrence was a semi-professional at Croydon, Carshalt ...
(1994–1995)
*
Chris Kamara
Christopher Kamara (born 25 December 1957) is an English former professional football player and manager who worked as a presenter and football analyst at Sky Sports from 1992 to 2022.
As a player, he was known as a tough-tackling midfielder. H ...
(1995–1998)
*
Paul Jewell
Paul Jewell (born 28 September 1964) is an English football manager and former player, who was most recently director of football at Swindon Town.
Jewell began his playing career with Liverpool, continued at Wigan Athletic and concluded in a t ...
(1998–2000)
*
Chris Hutchings
Christopher Hutchings (born 5 July 1957) is an English former footballer and manager. He played for a number of clubs including Chelsea and played more than 100 games for Brighton & Hove Albion and Huddersfield Town. He has managed in the Premie ...
(June–Nov 2000)
*
Stuart McCall
Andrew Stuart Murray McCall (born 10 June 1964) is a professional football coach and former player. He is assistant manager at Sheffield United.
McCall played in a total of 763 league games and in 40 full international matches for Scotla ...
(Player/caretaker manager) (Nov 2000)
*
Jim Jefferies (2000–2001)
*
Steve Smith Stephen, Steve, Stevie, or Steven Smith may refer to:
Academics
* Steve Smith (political scientist) (born 1952), British international relations theorist and senior university manager
* Stephen Smith (journalist) (born 1956), American journalist, ...
(Caretaker manager) (December 2001)
*
Nicky Law (2002–2003)
*
Peter Atherton,
Wayne Jacobs
Wayne Jacobs (born 3 February 1969) is an English football coach and former professional player who is an assistant manager at Sheffield Wednesday under Darren Moore.
Career
Playing career
During his career he played for Sheffield Wednesday, Hu ...
,
David Wetherall
David Wetherall (born 14 March 1971) is an English football coach and former professional footballer, who is as head of youth development with the Football League.
As a player, he was a central defender, he played most of his career in the Pre ...
and
Dean Windass
Dean Windass (born 1 April 1969) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He played spells at Bradford City and contributed to his hometown team Hull City's promotion to the Premier League in 2008.
Windass started ...
(player/caretaker managers) (November 2003)
*
Bryan Robson
Bryan Robson OBE (born 11 January 1957) is an English football manager and former player. He began his career with West Bromwich Albion in 1972, where he amassed over 200 appearances and was club captain before moving to Manchester United in ...
(2003–2004)
*
Colin Todd
Colin Todd (born 12 December 1948) is an English football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Esbjerg fB. As a player, he made more than 600 appearances in the Football League, playing for Sunderland, Derby County, ...
(2004–2007)
*
David Wetherall
David Wetherall (born 14 March 1971) is an English football coach and former professional footballer, who is as head of youth development with the Football League.
As a player, he was a central defender, he played most of his career in the Pre ...
(Player/caretaker manager) (Feb–May 2007)
*
Stuart McCall
Andrew Stuart Murray McCall (born 10 June 1964) is a professional football coach and former player. He is assistant manager at Sheffield United.
McCall played in a total of 763 league games and in 40 full international matches for Scotla ...
(2007–2010)
*
Wayne Jacobs
Wayne Jacobs (born 3 February 1969) is an English football coach and former professional player who is an assistant manager at Sheffield Wednesday under Darren Moore.
Career
Playing career
During his career he played for Sheffield Wednesday, Hu ...
(Caretaker manager) (February 2010)
*
Peter Taylor Peter Taylor may refer to:
Arts
* Peter Taylor (writer) (1917–1994), American author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
* Peter Taylor (film editor) (1922–1997), English film editor, winner of an Academy Award for Film Editing
Politic ...
(February 2010 – February 2011)
*
Peter Jackson
Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...
(March 2011 – August 2011)
*
Colin Cooper
Colin Terence Cooper (born 28 February 1967) is an English football manager and former professional footballer.
As a player, he was a defender who notably played in the Premier League for Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough. He played over 5 ...
(Caretaker manager) (August 2011)
*
Phil Parkinson
Philip John Parkinson (born 1 December 1967) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is currently manager of National League side Wrexham.
Parkinson is the only manager to take an English fou ...
(August 2011 – June 2016)
*
Stuart McCall
Andrew Stuart Murray McCall (born 10 June 1964) is a professional football coach and former player. He is assistant manager at Sheffield United.
McCall played in a total of 763 league games and in 40 full international matches for Scotla ...
(June 2016 – February 2018)
*
Greg Abbott
Gregory Wayne Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and former jurist serving as the 48th governor of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 50th Tex ...
(Caretaker manager) (February 2018)
*
Simon Grayson
Simon Nicholas Grayson (born 16 December 1969) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Indian Super League club Bengaluru.
As a player, he was a right back, but he was also utilised in m ...
(February 2018 – May 2018)
*
Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to:
* Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician
* Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and Ge ...
(June 2018 – September 2018)
*
David Hopkin
David Isaac Hopkin (born 21 August 1970) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player who was most recently the manager of Ayr United.
As a player he was a midfielder from 1989 until 2003, notably in the English Premier League i ...
(September 2018 – February 2019)
*
Martin Drury (Caretaker manager) (February 2019 – March 2019)
*
Gary Bowyer
Gary David Bowyer (born 22 June 1971) is an English professional football coach and former player who is the manager of Scottish club Dundee.
As a player, he made 52 league appearances for Hereford United, Nottingham Forest and Rotherham United ...
(March 2019 – February 2020)
*
Stuart McCall
Andrew Stuart Murray McCall (born 10 June 1964) is a professional football coach and former player. He is assistant manager at Sheffield United.
McCall played in a total of 763 league games and in 40 full international matches for Scotla ...
(February 2020 – December 2020)
*
Mark Trueman
Mark Trueman (born 7 February 1988) is an English football coach and former player who is assistant manager at Bradford City.
Early life
Trueman was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire.
Playing career
Trueman played youth football for Bradford Cit ...
and
Connor Sellars (caretaker managers; December 2020–February 2021)
*
Mark Trueman
Mark Trueman (born 7 February 1988) is an English football coach and former player who is assistant manager at Bradford City.
Early life
Trueman was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire.
Playing career
Trueman played youth football for Bradford Cit ...
and
Connor Sellars (February 2021 – May 2021)
*
Derek Adams
Derek Watt Adams (born 25 June 1975) is a Scottish football manager and former player who is currently manager of Morecambe. Adams played professionally for six clubs, including Aberdeen and Motherwell, where he made over 300 league appearances ...
(June 2021 - February 2022)
*
Mark Trueman
Mark Trueman (born 7 February 1988) is an English football coach and former player who is assistant manager at Bradford City.
Early life
Trueman was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire.
Playing career
Trueman played youth football for Bradford Cit ...
(caretaker manager; February 2022)
*
Mark Hughes
Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh football coach and former player who is the manager of Bradford City.
During his playing career he usually operated as a forward or midfielder. He had two spells at Manchester United, and a ...
(February 2022 – Present)
Honours and records
Honours
League
*
English second tier (currently
Football League Championship
The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...
)
:''Winners (1):''
1907–08
:''Runners-up (1):''
1998–99
*
English third tier (currently
Football League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
)
:''Winners (1):''
1984–85
:''Play-off winners (1):''
1995–96
*
English fourth tier (currently
Football League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
)
:''Runners-up (1):''
1981–82
:''Promoted (2):''
1968–69,
1976–77
:''Play-off winners (1):''
2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
*
Division Three (North)
The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...
:''Winners (1):''
1928–29
Cup
*
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
:''Winners (1):''
1910–11
*
Football League Cup
The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...
:''Runners-up (1):''
2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
*
Third Division North Challenge Cup
:''Winners (1): ''
1938–39
:''Runners-up (1): ''
1937–38
*
West Riding County FA Challenge Cup
:''Winners'': 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909
Records
* Record league victory: 11–1 v
Rotherham United
Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...
, Division Three (North), 25 August 1928
* Record FA Cup victory: 11–3 v Walker Celtic, First Round Replay, 1 December 1937
* Record League Cup victory: 7–2 v
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town.
In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...
, Second Round Second Leg, 25 September 2000
* Record league defeat: 0–8 v
Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
, Division Two, 7 May 1927 / 1–9 v
Colchester United
Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...
, Division Four, 30 December 1961
* Record FA Cup defeat: 1–6 v
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
, Third Round, 7 March 1963 / 0–5 v
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
, Fifth Round Replay, 3 February 1960 / 0–5 v
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
, Third Round, 7 January 1970
* Record home attendance: 39,146 v
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
, FA Cup Fourth Round, 11 March 1911
* Record gate receipts: £300,000 v
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
, Capital One Cup Quarter Final, 11 December 2012
* Longest unbeaten run : 21 1968 to 1969
* Longest run of wins: 10 1983 to 1984
* Most appearances : 574
Ces Podd
Cyril Casey Marcel Podd (born 7 August 1952) is a former professional footballer who played as a right-back. An international for Saint Kitts and Nevis he spent his professional career in England. He was one of the first black players to establi ...
* Most league appearances: 502 –
Ces Podd
Cyril Casey Marcel Podd (born 7 August 1952) is a former professional footballer who played as a right-back. An international for Saint Kitts and Nevis he spent his professional career in England. He was one of the first black players to establi ...
* Most goals scored : 143 –
Bobby Campbell
* Most league goals: 121 –
Bobby Campbell
* Most goals in a season: 36 –
David Layne
David "Bronco" Layne (born Sheffield, 29 July 1939) is an English former footballer most famous for playing for Sheffield Wednesday and his involvement in the British betting scandal of 1964.
Playing career Rotherham United
Layne started his ...
,
1961–62
* Most goals scored in a match: 7 –
Albert Whitehurst
Albert John Whitehurst (22 June 1898 – 1976) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Bradford City, Liverpool, Rochdale, Stoke and Tranmere Rovers.
Whitehurst played for five professional clubs during his career an ...
v
Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...
, Division Three (North), 6 March 1929
* Highest transfer fee paid: £2.5 million –
David Hopkin
David Isaac Hopkin (born 21 August 1970) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player who was most recently the manager of Ayr United.
As a player he was a midfielder from 1989 until 2003, notably in the English Premier League i ...
, from
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...
, July 2000
* Highest transfer fee received: £2 million –
Des Hamilton
Derrick Vivian "Des" Hamilton (born 15 August 1976) is an English former professional footballer and was assistant manager of Eccleshill United.
As a player he played as a midfielder from 1994 to 2010. He started his career with his hometown c ...
, to
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
, March 1997 /
Andy O'Brien, to
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
, March 2001
* Most team league goals in a season: 128 – Division Three (North),
1928–29
* Most points (three points for a win): 94 – Division Three,
1984–85
* Most points (two points for a win): 63 – Division Three (North),
1928–29
''All records from Bradford City F.C. official website''.
Sponsors
Kit and main sponsors
Tables of kit suppliers and shirt sponsors appear below:
Stadium
* 1995–1999
The Pulse
* 2005–2007
Bradford & Bingley
Bradford & Bingley plc was a British bank with headquarters in the West Yorkshire town of Bingley.
The bank was formed in December 2000 by demutualisation of the Bradford & Bingley Building Society following a vote of the building society's mem ...
* 2007 Intersonic
* 2007–2016 Coral Windows
* 2016–2019 Northern Commercials
* 2019–2022
Utilita Energy
Utilita Energy is an electricity and gas supplier operating in the United Kingdom. Utilita began trading in 2003, specialising in pay-as-you-go metering.
As of January 2021, Utilita has over 800,000 customers, representing a 2.6% share in the do ...
* 2022–present
University of Bradford
The University of Bradford is a Public university, public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be creat ...
See also
*
Football in Yorkshire
Football in Yorkshire refers to the sport of association football in relation to its participation and history within Yorkshire, England. The county is the largest in the United Kingdom and as thus has many football clubs professional and amateu ...
References
External links
Official siteSite of Bradford City's bantamspast museumPlay-off record
{{Authority control
Association football clubs established in 1903
1903 establishments in England
Football clubs in England
Premier League clubs
English Football League clubs
Football clubs in West Yorkshire
FA Cup winners
Sport in Bradford
Companies that have entered administration in the United Kingdom