By Jake Verity
Two months ago, I wrote a piece titled “It’s time for a serious conversation about Bradford City” which you may have read. In writing it, my intention was to be careful but balanced. Deep and honest in my assessment about the club’s current situation, but above all reasonable and thought provoking. I now want to reflect on that and outline where I think we are.
This isn’t a piece of pleasantries. It’s not an article of adulation. It’s not a letter of love. This is a fan who has had enough with the status quo, and isn’t willing to let things stay as they are. And in case you wondered, I began writing this before the Harrogate game.
I’m not even going to talk about the players, or the manager in this. They come and go, but we, the fans, will stay. This piece is about us.
You see, like many of you I’m not happy just ‘having a football club’ to support. Last campaign and play-off disappointment aside, I’ve given far too many seasons the benefit of the doubt. Like you, I’ve given my time, my money and my support to this club no matter what the situation has been and that’s because ultimately Bradford City will always play a huge part in my life. We don’t give up on our football clubs because they aren’t winning a few games, but things are about as bad as they can get at the minute.
The idea that our football club should merely survive and lack any ambition otherwise is tough to take. Why on earth do we travel the miles that we do, spend the money that we earn and give up our time to support this football club?
Well, it’s because we care. It’s a part of our identity. Like many of you, I am Bradfordian. I am a City fan. The lyrics of course then go “I know what I want and I know how to get it”.
But what is it that I want? That club back that we saw on the precipice of the Championship eight years ago. Proud of itself, confident in its identity. We had players who would do anything for each other in that squad. And some serious talent too.
Off the pitch we had a vibrant fanbase who were genuinely excited to watch us. Valley Parade was busy and bouncing. It was a source of pride to say you are a Bradford City fan to people and we were a club on the up. Nostalgia will do nothing for our future, but it’s a good blueprint to work off. And we’ll get that back, I truly believe we will, but we have to come together and make it happen.
But back to planet Earth and where we are now, which is in a bad place indeed. I’m very, very concerned about our future and a couple of wins between now and the end of the season won’t fix that (and I strongly doubt we’ll even get them if we keep playing how we are).
So…
Why am I worried?
We’re all thinking about it. Season ticket sales.
Our 25,136 seater stadium has been empty in previous weeks. I can’t ever recall seeing the stands so desolate for league football in the 18 years I’ve been following us. And wow, it hurts. I don’t even want to recall the one-offs like the scarf parade against Reading, the display against Sunderland or the home matches against Arsenal and Leeds where the ground was full.
I’d much rather use the 22,000 watching us last season against Colchester; a bouncing Valley Parade against Chesterfield in May 2016 before our play-off campaign; or even just look at the opener against Colchester this season, when we at least hoped we had another good season ahead – as a comparison point.
Instead, we see an empty Valley Parade against Mansfield and Notts County, and eight goals go into our net. Both of those things might well become a normality (the scorelines have already begun) if we continue how we are, and it’s a frightening prospect. What if a big section of our fanbase actually don’t want to renew their season ticket as some are suggesting?
Let’s look at the maths.15,000 season ticket holders at £198 for this year is roughly £3m. If that halves next season which is looking quite possible, that’s 7,500 at a new price of £249 – roughly £1.87m. That is a big, big difference and it will show.
For all our recent criticisms of the club, to keep football affordable in a cost of living crisis is admirable. But as I mentioned in my last piece I think we’ve been too focused on campaigning to sell season tickets because they are cheap, rather than making people want to come to Valley Parade and buy one.
With the football being as bad as it has recently has, fans have been doing other things with their Saturday rather than coming to Valley Parade and you can’t blame anyone for that. You have to remember fans have paid for this year and frankly they don’t have to pay anymore, so everyone can choose not to turn up and the club has the cash it needs.
The problem is now we have that disconnect which is growing with every game, it’s now time for renewal at a higher price. No surprise that people are seriously questioning parting with their hard earned cash.
That’s where change needs to come in. Make the season ticket an attractive prospect and people will buy it. This isn’t about last minute PR campaigns, bringing back old favourites or doing something the fans will like short-term. It’s about an honest conversation with supporters.
The way it might have a chance of becoming at least a half-attractive prospect is by asking fans what they want to see from the club. The dialogue is lacking, and it will only hurt the club if it continues. It’s a shame because I’ve never known so many people who go regularly, actively missing games as they are at the moment. And if they fail to renew, the ones who are usually there no matter what, then the club really is in big trouble.
So how can we make change?
I am not going to spend this article making the same arguments so many of you have about leadership. Largely because we’re more-or-less all in the same place and I agree, there needs to be a change at the very top of the club, or rather the multiple changes.
The fact there’s little-to-no relationship, communication or dialogue between club and fans is exactly what is hurting us at the moment. If that gets repaired, our club might be saved and I’m not going to let fans get blamed for ‘negativity’. We’ve done our bit for too long now.
We’re all sick of hiring and firing managers. The constant promises of promotion and inevitable “we’ve still got a chance” come March when we’re a million miles away. That’s why last season was so fun right? We actually did something.
The Valley Parade pitch is proving to be an excellent metaphor for how the club’s been operating the past few years. It starts out in the most excellent condition. Then as the season gets going and we start to form our opinions of it, the pitch looks a bit tired. Eventually you reach a point and everybody realises it’s a bit of a mess. That’s when the change comes (and carrying on the metaphor, inevitably the manager is sacked at this stage). Come a few months later, it’s basically unplayable and is in an absolute state – the season is over and the pitch needs to be relayed again. Repeat, every single time.
The basic functions of the club also don’t seem to be working. I went to buy tickets for an away game this morning (some of us have to) and I simply couldn’t, even a couple of hours after they went ‘on-sale’. It seems I wasn’t the only one. So much off the field stuff is a great indicator as to where we are on the pitch – not running well at the minute, let’s be honest.
There is nothing to play for between now and the end of the season. We’re thankfully very unlikely to go down, and definitely aren’t going up – but there is a chance for the club to lay the foundations for next season. This isn’t about the usual churn of changing players, maybe even swapping out the manger and pretending we’re on track for another big year. It’s deeper than that, our time and patience has run out as fans and rightly so.
What needs to happen?
I think it’s fair to say many of our fans have been trying to make something happen now, or at least a sizable chunk have. I’ve seen countless groups of fans, bigger names on our hashtag all in agreement that we need to make change at the club.
I’m sick of us being the laughing stock, sick of the gutless performances and fed up with the constant churn of League Two. If a child was born in 2006 and hit its 18th birthday in the next week – they’ll only have ever known League One and Two football. Bar the cup runs, how depressing is that?
I’ve taken fans from a range of clubs, and across the country, to watch us play over the last few years too; Liverpool, Arsenal, Fulham, Brighton, Sheffield Wednesday, Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and many others. They all end up in the same place. They come to Valley Parade shocked that a club with a ground the size of ours, that used to be in the Premier League plays such awful football in such a poor league – but are even more surprised so many fans turn up to come see it.
If things don’t change soon, we won’t even have the fans in the stands to make things seem at least a bit better than they are.
I am completely understanding and sympathetic to the fact that other clubs are in much worse states than ours and rightly get national coverage. But I think it’s time that the rest of the country knows just how miserable it is to be a Bradford City fan. For all it’s great to get positive press about our fanbase and the fact a fourth tier club does so well in getting people through the gates, it’s only fair everyone knows the reality that a big ex-Premier League club is sliding down the football league and losing its character and identity
I don’t necessarily have the reach or coverage of some of our fan groups, but what I am like I’m sure many of you are, is utterly determined to make sure our club doesn’t slip away into obscurity. Or even worse, the National League, which I fear will break us financially.
I am, however, keen to engage in any conversation about what we can do next to improve things, because I am desperate to fix our club. I’m also happy to have a very honest and constructive conversation with the club themselves about what I think needs to change. There are some real, obvious and key issues that are a big problem – I think many of us see them now.
This isn’t about me though, as the more of us who come together, the better. And that’s what we must do, coalesce, as our power as fans will become ever more important.
I’m City ‘till I die, I just fear that if nothing is done soon, City might not be far off dying itself.
It’s time to save Bradford City.
Categories: Opinion
widthofapost.com 
Great report. Many thanks.
All things considered….
It’s time for GA to go voluntarily or to be sacked.
He is also a big part of the problem.
What is the point in sacking the manager now?
Do you trust Sparks to find a new manager?
It was hard enough to find a new manager after we sacked Hughes it will be near impossible now.
Can we afford to sack GA with 2 years left of his deal?
For me, all sacking another does is repeat the cycle. I agree that some of his team selections have been poor in recent weeks and his interviews come across as though he has been watching a totally different game to us, but he’s the best placed person to help us clear out a lot of dead weight in the summer.
We bring someone else in we have the same problem of a manager trying (and inevitably failing) to play their style of football with a group of players brought in by multiple different managers to play multiple different systems. A Director of football is crucial before we even think about jumping back in the managerial merry-go-round.
I’ve been following City mainly at home but occasional away matches foe over 50 years and our major problems stem from when we were taken over by the pension fund from Flamingo land or whoever it was. We had money in the bank, property all over the place and not too bad a team. Then they bankrupted the club. We now ay half a million or so to them in rent every year. We do not own our own ground. No right thinking new owners want to buy a club in name only. I was at the Lincoln match when we had the fire and understand completely the attachment we have to Valley Parade however the time has come to bite the bullet. We need our own ground again. We can’t afford to buy it back so need somewhere else and start again. New owner, New management on all levels which frankly is a joke and new stadium. Look at Wrexham, nearly all ex City management with their own ground and admittedly money behind them but would that money have come if the club didn’t own their own stadium?
I’m the same as you in so much as I’ve been following City for over 40yrs mainly at home – but with some occasional away games mixed in (not least when I lived away from the region in late 80’s and 90’s).
However where I disagree is that our issues all stem from the summer of madness from Geoffrey Richmond!!
That summer bankrupted the club so badly we are still feeling the repercussions to this day.
And what I mean by that is that yes we had the dream of playing a season in the premiership – managed by the skin of the teeth to stay up and then bang it all happened!!
Lets face it – we were never going to stay in the premiership for very long – so why did he gamble so big???
We’d have been better off having our season of staying up then get relegated back to the championship (as we did anyway) but without the summer of madness we’d have had the chance to build a few season in the championship (or Div 1 as it was back then) and at least had the strength in the club finances to try again!!
Instead we had 2 administrations and because of that local businesses turning their back on us as bad creditors etc.
And we get reminded every game exactly of that and when the money ran out when you look at the main stand 2nd tier!!
Ever since the downfall of the premiership because of what Richmond did we’ve never had more that 2 ha’ppenies to rub together – simple as!!
Unfortunately as I say below VP is killing the club.
The emotion attachment has been weaponised as a bargaining power, and with no realistic options to move away – which a lot of fans would naively even refuse to consider for a second – it’s suffocating the club.
It’s like still living in the family home as it’s crumbling down and you can’t afford the mortgage.
I’m not saying the history cannot be dismissed, but the reality is, like a mortgage we can’t afford, we have to accept that we can’t keep making the payments while every other spending and investment area has been squeezed completely dry.
Firstly let’s talk about Ryan. I don’t know him. I don’t care to know him. What I do know is that he sacked Mark Hughes in his own words to “save the season” – too soon in my opinion for what it’s worth. For that fact alone he has to admit to another dreadful error of judgement, compounding his failure and should hand over the running of the football side of the business immediately. He must admit openly to the fans that he has let this club down.
Can we talk about Gordon now? There is much discussion about owning your own ground.
Some years ago, outside of a work capacity, I had the opportunity to discuss the stadium with Dave Baldwin. I had worked with Neil Brackenbury (RIP), who was twice joint administrator of the club. It was time to approach Gordon Gibb, the Gibb family or the Trust, Flamingo Land or whoever Bradford City Limited’s Landlord is or was. Baldwin was at City and considering alternatives to remaining at VP. The conversation was along these lines and within this context.
The rent payable in the public domain is very onerous. The amount banded about is not an “actual”, “fair” or a “real” market value for its specific purpose. It is way too high. It is worth remembering that the initial rent and lease were agreed when Gordon Gibb had control of City’s business affairs. In 2002 Gibb said “Unfortunately the financial constraints are obvious. We have formulated a plan and it doesn’t involve huge acquisitions for the next three years”
Gibb resigned within two years but now he owned a football stadium receiving a high rental income still payable today. Make of that what you might. Bradford City had sold Valley Parade in a re-financing scheme to their chairman’s company in a £5m deal which they hope will secure their future. The ground will now be owned by the trustees of the Flamingo Land Pension Fund, a group headed by Bantams theme-park magnate chairman Gordon Gibb. As part of the agreement, London-based firm Development Securities will buy the offices, shop and a car park for £2.55m.
The proceeds from the £5m sale were meant to allow Bradford to repay the mortgage on the ground to finance company Lombard over the next ten years. Bradford had already paid a lump sum to Lombard, who could have seized the ground and forced City into liquidation.
The Bantams rented back the offices from Development Securities, and the ground itself from Flamingo Land Pension Fund. In a statement, City managing director Shaun Harvey said: “The directors felt this was the best option available to the club in the long term.”The aim is for the properties to return to the club’s ownership at the earliest opportunity when the financial strength allows.”The effect of this deal will be to release the stranglehold on the club’s cash flow. “With the final piece of the jigsaw in place we can concentrate on building a Bradford City for the future rather than concerning ourselves with its pure survival.”Do not get me started on Shaun Harvey, please………………………….
It’s also worth remembering that the ground is built on a former quarry and waste site, with no real scope for change of use within a residential area. The alternative rental value or freehold values are limited. It will never be a ‘ginormous’ retail store, restaurants, and aquarium, offices with a waterfall, a hotel or a museum. Nor will it be a venue for Gladiators or bull fighting. VP is not Highbury or Upton Park and could never be apartments where the field becomes a garden and portions of the stands, players’ tunnel and even halls remained intact as part of new flats. In a similar movement, West Ham, moved into a completely repurposed Olympic Stadium, plans gave its Upton Park venue a similar fate. London can make flats out of soccer stadiums commercial. Bradford cannot. We are more like Rotherham with Millmoor and likely to be with many others within the category of defunct football venues in England. All these leave the landlord with an empty football stadium with incredibly limited alternative use. How could Valley Parade be repurposed? Homes, water park, a church and even an outdoor events arena? No. Unused stadiums have a history of derelict tendencies and while one of the most common reuses for an unwanted stadium is demolition and then often parking, most venues have not seen a different fate come their way. As a city we are more familiar with that than most as the beautiful Park Avenue home was allowed to go to ruin
So renegotiation and reasoned argument seems sensible for all parties.
Perhaps by a ratchet reset payment depending upon which league the club is in for example. When the initial lease was entered into I believe when City were in the then first division, not the bottom league.
And here’s potentially why.
Rupp will be the major creditor of the limited company, possibly a surety on the lease. What if negotiations to reduce the rent take place but fail. The limited company ceases to pay the rent.
Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery (CRAR) is an enforcement action process to recover rent for commercial property leases. This procedure allows a commercial landlord to recover rent arrears from their tenant. It is a relatively quick and efficient process for a landlord to recover missing rent. A High Court enforcement agent will seize the tenant’s assets currently on the commercial property. They will then sell them, and the proceeds will go towards the rent arrears debt the tenant owes you. There are no assets or chattels to take control of.
Forfeiture is a way for a landlord to end a commercial lease if the tenant breaches the lease. This can be for anything from rent arrears to unauthorised subletting or insolvency. There are two ways that a landlord can forfeit a commercial lease: issuing forfeiture proceedings and obtaining a court order or peaceable reentry . Most modern leases will contain a right to forfeit
Would the landlord do this? Once a landlord has obtained possession of the property it will need to deal with the tenant’s fixtures and chattels, utility bills and possibly take steps to close existing Land Registry titles. Forfeiting a lease will end all future liabilities under the lease, including any guarantors and former tenants. It will also potentially expose the landlord to empty rates liability if the premises cannot be re-let quickly.
There are a number of ways in which the right to forfeit can be waived, for example: 1. By formally demanding the rent or agreeing a payment plan with the tenant for outstanding arrears; 2. By exercising Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery 3. Serving a notice to quit or s.25 Notice under the Landlord and Tenant Act.
A landlord also can have the option of issuing a petition to wind up that company in court, bringing about an end to that company. At this point an Official Receiver will be put into the company to collect up all assets, and repay its creditors as far as possible. We know all about this. So does Gibb.
Nonetheless, all these leave the landlord with an empty football stadium with incredibly limited alternative use. How could Valley Parade be repurposed? Homes, water park, a church and even an outdoor events arena? Unused stadiums have a history of derelict tendencies and while one of the most common reuses for an unwanted stadium is demolition and then often parking; most venues have not seen a different fate come their way and there is no reason to suspect it would in this scenario.
What are needed are alternative stadia to play at within the often bizarre by laws of the EFL. Maybe a ground share arrangement? Coventry managed it. City have done it before for horrible reasons. Then game on?
The collapse of ITV digital hurt us a lot more that the ‘summer of madness’.
The relationship between a football club and supporters is a bit like a marriage, you are introduced or meet, you court, you fall in love, you make your commitment ‘for better or for worse’, you build the trust and respect for one another in order to enjoy the good times and stand by each other when things don’t go well.
When a football club takes supporters for granted there is an inevitable feeling of neglect, trust evaporates, the relationship breaks down and without change, willing and / or in this case urgent intervention they fall out of love, separation ensues and tragically divorce.
I am new to Bradford Football Club, but a football fan all my life, attended the last 3 home matches and for my sins will be there again on Friday for the Tranmere match no doubt with a growing choice of seats. I appreciate I am therefore a comparative fledgling but am of a vintage where I can speak with authority drawn from years of experience that as people in any walk of society we should never lose the fundamentals that bind us all together …. ‘hope and belief’.
Football clubs are an extension and integral part of the DNA of the community they serve up a down the county. The heartbeat of any football club are the plainly the fans. It is common ground that Bradford City requires dedicated leadership who value the fan/club relationship, motivated to re-build that diminished trust and truly understands that a club without fans is like a disco without music.
When / if that new leadership arrives it will need to be supported / embraced to have any prospect of turning the fortunes of Bradford City around. The reality is that what is currently broken can’t be fixed overnight but when change arrives there should be ‘hope and belief’ that good times will return to Valley Parade.
Be part of the change.
What a depressing article. true but sad. I honestly don’t know what will happen apart from the player exodus again. Alexander has to go as the football is awful.
excellently put together, I’ve said for two seasons Sparks must go , we need to stop just blaming the Managers .My son and I have been season ticket holders for 30 years but not next season at this stage . steve
Alexander just blames the players and as a result they are not playing for him. He was the second best of a poor bunch and he is now realising his mistake in coming here and is waiting for his payout. But let’s be honest, the problems go much deeper – a disinterested owner and a lackey CEO without the nous or experience to run a football club
I used to joke that if I won the lottery I would buy Leeds and ruin them. It feels like that is exactly what Rupp has done,
I was only joking but the joke is on us now
I won’t be back at VP now until Rupp has gone
As a city fan of 30yrs, here is my two penneth worth.
Owner. He’s not the best, but by no means is he the worst. But he’s a business man. He will want a return on his investment. He knows he was sold a pup, and he knows that to sell the club he has one hand tied behind his back because we don’t own the ground. A ground that needs significant investment or knocking down and starting again. Plus it has a BD postcode, and no amount of city of culture glitter us gonna polish that.
Manager. Let’s be honest, they’ve all been rubbish since Parkinson. We get manager’s that are attracted to the ‘big club’ label and the nice paycheck, then quite quickly realise that we have very little ambition in the boardroom but a very loyal/vocal/inpatient fan base that like all fan bases, think they deserve better and should be playing at least a league above. No club succeeds by sacking manager’s every season. Find one we like and stick with him/her!
Fans. I fell in love with Bradford City club, not because of the owner, or the manager, or the players (ok, I did love Peter Beagrie a little bit!), I fell in love with the fans. Don’t worry, my 18yr old son loves our club as much as I do. Yes, season tickets will fall way, buy I truly believe the core fans will remain faithful and renew.
Does anyone actually like Alexander though?. His post match interviews on Radio Leeds are an embarrassment and as for Ritchie Smallwood, post the FG game admitting on the radio that he has been here for 18 months and he still hasnt worked out what the problem is!. He is one of the worst captains we have ever had.
Great article, you also spoke very well yesterday and I absolutely agree with everything you said. It’s a tough sell going to watch city. I go on my own as over the years the poor performances have driven away the people I went with, most of them lifelong supporters going home and away. I go for the football as there is no social aspect for me. We’ve not played good football since Stuarts 2nd spell so it’s tough to keep turning up when whats on show is so bad, particularly as I have to travel from the other side of the border. The players have downed tools and I can’t get on board with that, I can accept poor performances but not a lack of effort. There is still no structure, culture or plan. Where are the mccalls, duxburys, Hamiltons, O’briens coming through? There are no leaders on the pitch apart from Mcdonald. The silence from rupp and sparks is deafening and I fear that they are going to run the club into the ground.
the players know we ain’t gonna get promoted, or relegated, so they’ve essentially given up. I’d suspect most have spoken to their agents/Alexander and have already got themselves contracts for next year. If you knew your place of work was getting rid of you, would you put it an extra shift?
I’ve handed my notice in a few times and acted professionally carrying out my job until it was no longer my job. It’s about professional pride and having morals. If city are getting rid then the chances of moving higher are quite slim, the chances are that some of those players won’t be professional players so if it was me I’d be busting a gut to carry on being a footballer and not having to get a proper job.
It’s a pity that it has had to get to this stage for the more mainstream City social media outlets finally to come to this conclusion. This situation has been predicted and discussed at length on the more derided forums of the fan base for several years. Those in the discussions were simply derided as ‘white van man’, ‘ill-informed’ as well as being ‘a toxic stain on the club’.
Great article Jake, but prepare to be called an ‘onion pickler’, or worse, very soon.
Great summary of our dire, miserable situation Jake – I’m just sad you had to write it.
One of the many good points you raise is about the Season Ticket campaigns. Laudable as the lower cost is – I don’t like “affordable”, because they’re still not to many across Bradford – it’s become the sole defining objective of all club operations. It’s somehow become our main reason to exist. We are a Season Ticket selling company, not a proper football club.
The priority every season is to sell as many Season Tickets as we can, in order to raise the close to £3M you mention in the article. Fair enough. That’s the “war chest” for the next season, overhaul the squad (again), improve the pitch (again). As you say, “rinse and repeat”.
But what is the point of raising £3M if there is nobody in the building with the football know how to invest that money wisely?
The club focuses all of our its efforts on the Season Ticket campaign, to the point of hiring / firing managers every 9 months or so as the mood changes and reality sets in, not because it makes any football sense (see replacing Hughes’s possession game with Alexander’s kick-n-rush) but because it’s a threat to the defining objective – selling Season Tickets.
The Heir of Julian Rhodes, Ryan Sparks is rightly in the crosshairs for this. It may be his “dream job” to be our CEO, but he’s neither aware nor humble enough to see that his priorities are solely commercial, rather than sporting. Revenue up, business engagement up, sponsorship up, Season Ticket sales high and steady. Exactly what you would expect from a commercial director.
But he wanted the bigger job and that means being clear-headed enough to realise that the commercial side is just one part of things, a supporting pillar to what should be the main objective – getting football expertise into the building in ways that don’t rely on the next manager’s contact book.
Throwing a big budget at a new manager with no continuing of style, identity or purpose, and with no clear sporting structures running throughout the club is why Adams says we’re “a small club on the inside”, and will be why Cowley, Robinson et all walked away and Sparks ended up with his 5th choice in Alexander.
Rupp is culpable too, for sure, for allowing this situation to become embedded through his distant disinterest. But until there is a real management structure, shot through with footballing experience at every level of the club, we’re going to keep drifting downwards with any temporary uptick in outcome (see last season’s playoff finish) unsustainable.
So what do we need to do to save Bradford City?
Recognise that we are a football club, that the commercial side is vital but not the sole defining objective. Get some football knowledge, experience and contacts into the building and stop relying on the next manager to solve everything in the 9 months you’ll give them. And stop pointing to rising commercial revenue as your defence when challenged on the club’s performance – check the league table, that’s your indicator!
Finally, as you rightly say Jake, talk to fans properly. It’s no surprise, given what I’ve said in this longer-than-expected rant (sorry!), that the main consultation we’ve had as fans since Sparks took over was all about our brand identity! Sadly, I think we’re passed the point at which the club will engage with us, Sparks just isn’t going to do it.
So, again, what do we need to do to save Bradford City?
Time to wake up. The dream is over. Shut the door on the way out, Ryan.
Not a rant but well thought out and reasoned comment. Couldn’t agree more with your summation of the current state of the club.
This was a good read and I can understand where the views are coming from. However, I suspect most fans want the same, a team to be proud of, one that fights and hopefully have some form of success. The Club will already know this and the communications with fans could just become lip service in that case.
My opinion is that opening dialogue just isn’t going to be enough, we need actions now.
Sparks needs to go and an experienced CEO needs to be appointed as soon as possible. Whilst Sparks doesn’t help himself with some of his comments and what appears to me a lack of taking responsibility for this mess, I do have a tiny amount of sympathy for him as he should never have been appointed in the first place. He was out of his depth from day one and why wouldn’t he have been, there was always a high risk that things were going to pan out this way.
Then we have Rupp, he surely has to realise what a perilous situation his investment is in at the moment, he can’t be that naive to believe that he’s going to get all his money back. I keep hearing the figure of around £10m being his rumoured asking price, in what world is anybody paying that? We don’t own the ground, we don’t own the training facilities, the players are worth not even 10% of that. He needs to sell up for a reasonable price, I am not saying to sell for £1 but for current market value. A reasonable price would be in the £4-5m region in my opinion.
I don’t think we move forward until both of the above happen, we will remain in purgatory at best until then.
Time is up, Last order’s, It is now over…..
Very very sad times, the season ticket sales will definitely be at a all time low, I am not going to any of the remaining fixtures and I am considering getting another season ticket for next season and I think it would now take very exciting news from the Club for me to have a valid interest after all these years of being a season ticket holder.
Unfortunately it is reset repeat every season and it is very depressing, we have never recovered from the Rahic demise and the only way forward is new owners, unless Rupp states of massive investment for next season for new CEO, new manager and Quality new players, but I cannot see that when He is trying to recoup His losses…..
😞😔☹️😔😞☹️😔😞😩😩😢😢😭😭😭
The club has no foundation, it’s been that way for years, decades, and it’s catching up with us because of the way we’re being run under Rupp and managed and directed off the field.
We know we dont own anything. We’re at a point where we’re trying to swim with a weights tied to our feet, and half the battle is just trying to stay afloat nevermind going in a direction.
It’s like we’re trapped in a cycle of renting a house, a car, everything on credit… even for the lack of overall investment, we’ve ploughed millions and millions into deals we can’t get out of, poorly judged contracts and firings,
VP is a huge weight. Can we really tie ourselves into another 25 yeats of paying approx £500k a season? It’s an enormous, huge discussion that can’t be limited to a comment section, but the reality is the current arrangement is strangling the club and a hindrance to any future stability or foundation development.
Even if we get success, we’re like the clichéd household that’s one paycheck away from poverty; not in the literal sense, but one bad season and we never, ever bounce back. 6 years last time, it looks like at least another 6 now.
I don’t think I’m being melodramatic but unless there’s big changes in the next 12-18 months or so the club could well be in another relegation fight in the next year or two. The direction from the top has been too wrong for long and I don’t think they can recover it.
All that is left is for Sparks to go full Rahic and make himself manager. And start to shout at the players; ‘I don’t accept mediocrity…’ (In my head it’s in a sort of high pitched Darlek voice)
A heartfelt cry, Jake, which reflects the feelings of so many fans. We are as stuck with Rupp as he is with us until a bid comes in that he finds acceptable. What is within his immediate power is to terminate the contacts of failing employees. Sparks would normally be sacking the manager after four such abysmal defeats and I am reading many calls for him to do this. Is that really the answer, notwithstanding the football being terrible. I suppose it’s logical since City are in 17th place, only one position higher than when Hughes got the bullet. Personally, I think if Rupp has anything about him he will probably sack Sparks before Sparks sacks anyone else. It will not solve the problems at a stroke, but it will rid us of a man who judging by results is clearly not up to the job of choosing a new manager. It would be a start. I’m not going to waste words rehashing the many things Sparks has said and done which prove his lack of suitability. They’ve all been said. Anybody who needs further explanation will never know. That would be my first priority.
This is the first time I have ever commented on any BCFC website, but I honestly feel that change at the top would be a positive thing, however, I do not think that getting rid of the manager is a sensible move. He took over when we were a mess, we have had too many short term managers, because if there isn’t a miraculous instant recovery social media takes over screaming that they have got to go. Sustainability and improvement takes time, as has previously been said Parky didn’t have a great start, Nigel Clough has taken 4 seasons to turn his team around, so I believe we need to stick with Alexander and see what he can do in the close season, though decent recruiting could be difficult if the funds from season ticket sales drop significantly, but we could blood some of our youth players for the remainder of this season and see if they can hold their own as I have always felt we don’t have that dynamism in the midfield too many old, slow players.
Nothing will change while Rupp owns the club & Sparks is CEO. Simple answer. Rupp needs to call David Baldwin get him in this week, appoint a DOF and task David Baldwin with the task of finding the next owners.
While Ryan Sparks ‘lives his dream’ it will only end in a nightmare for City. The NL is calling, lets remember we need another 3 points to stay up this year.
Why would Baldwin come back here?
He’s had better career moves since leaving and is MD at Huddersfield.
So probably on a higher wage, better facilities, bigger budget, better infrastructure… what, if anything, is the appeal of coming back?
Baldwin left Huddersfield earlier this season.
*I stand corrected on Baldwin being at Huddersfield.
I still don’t think he’d want to come back here. With his employers since leaving City, his future aspirations would have to be higher than dropping down to the bottom of L2 and the stress/demands being here would bring.
There are deep rooted problems that we supporters will never understand, but we have seen that replacing countless managers isn’t the solution. Until and unless the CEO accepts responsibility for the overall situation, nothing will change, unless Rupp realises Sparks isn’t up to the job.
I agree that the expected drop off in season ticket sales could have an impact, realistically that is the only way we supporters can affect anything.
Planned protests are all well and good but won’t really change much.
sadly, I will probably renew my season ticket to help keep the club afloat (big up to me!) but I’ll be choosing to stay away if nothing else changes.
Investment is what is required and when i say investment i mean investment spent in the right way with real planning from someone who wants to really succeed. Now is the time to buy land from a council that is bust, a new ground which includes training facilities. That would bring the support back, because one would expect that in doing these things would also mean that investment is spent in other areas ie players etc or else what would be the point. For valley parade, a lasting monument to the dead should be left and whatever is built there would have to be done around it. Bradord has always had ten bob millionaires so where do we find such a person or company? City of culture, so now is the time for us fans to sell this club with so much potential and for the long term, if the above was done. Alas like odsal its never going to happen and i feel that we are going the same way as the northern. What is it about Bradford in general, cheapness, snobbery regarding our past in the wool industry but its mistake after mistake that gets me. If only outsiders knew, that the people of Bradford have always been lovely, the friendliest in Yorkshire and deserve the best for a change. Rant over, sorry !
Thanks, Jake, that’s a proper ‘cri de coeur’ if ever I read one. A couple of thoughts. Yes, Alexander has to go. But let’s not forget that he’s got considerable experience at this level, and still wasn’t able to turn things round. So who’s next? A unity candidate would be good, an ex-player, for example, someone who knows and loves the Club. But also, were we better at holding our nerve back in the day? Aiming to compete at a level to get into the Championship is a noble ambition, but cast a glance across the city to Odsal and look at what’s happened to the Bulls, tearing up the Super League not so long ago. Be careful what you wish for. And a boycott? Would it gain anything? I would imagine SR has been trying to find a buyer for some time, to recoup his investment, but they’re not knocking his door down with sensible offers. We go again in August – new manager, new squad, full of the hope that kills you … alongside a few thousand equally deluded fantasists, convinced this will be the season we get out of L2!
A great but sad piece Jake , we all know that things have to change but how do we help to do it ? As Mick says planned protest may not change anything , but maybe it’s time to try . At least protests get the attention of main stream media ,more questions being asked of the people that run the club . It’s a dilemma isn’t it , buy a season tkt to keep the club afloat or don’t and the club slides further into the mire Or we buy a ticket , go and protest and do our damndest to get the club back !
the facts are that Rupp isn’t really bothered as long as we don’t get relegated and we stay in the black. He doesn’t ‘get’ football and living in Germany is pretty isolated from what happens at VP. He probably doesn’t even watch the games on iPlayer. As CEO Sparks is out of his depth and isn’t a football man and has zero charisma and connection with the fans. If we had a DoF then he doesn’t necessarily need to be but as we don’t and Rupp doesn’t see the need to fund one then again we’re stuck with what it is. So we need Rupp to either employ a new senior management team with a proper football club structure or sell to someone who will. And this is the nub of the problem, Rupp can only sell if someone is willing to buy. But there doesn’t seem to be anyone willing to buy let alone at a price Rupp will sell for. So we are stuck with Rupp at least for the immediate future therefore he needs to be pressured to make the changes. Unfortunately that’s going to require him to ‘invest’ more money which it would seem he’s reluctant to do and as a businessman he could even decide it’s time to cut his losses and walk away. No easy answers but clearly something needs to happen. Either or all of …… Rupp funds the changes needed. Rupp finds a buyer and sells or he finds new investors to join him preferably with football backgrounds. Not buying season tickets is one way of applying pressure, however could be counterproductive if he decides to walk away. Whichever way there’s no easy answers to the issues we face at Valley Parade.
An earlier comment was quite right: the deficiencies in the club’s structure and finances go back decades. The brilliant “loss leader” initiative on cheap season tickets introduced to woo people back, morphed into an all-consuming pillar for the club’s very existence. Big crowds for the levels of football but no way to run anything other than a bargain basement club. Lack of capital means a permanent inability to bring in quality players, quality staff, refurbish and buy back the stadium, seriously address the deficiencies in the playing surface. We got lucky with Parkinson and then our luck ran out.
Rahic came up with a scheme to tempt Rupp to invest:- buy or produce youth to sell on. Masterly if you’re a third or fourth tier German club but not when you’re a proud league club with some historic moments of your own in a large city.
Rupp isn’t interested but most owners aren’t. Look around. But neither is he a successful businessman as far as I can tell. His dad was.
You are right to point out how we are now in a double bind over tickets, prices and product. A start would be to trim the current squad and use monies saved to invest in better players. Less is more.
While cheap season tickets were applauded and praised by many, in and out of our club, the reality is they never caught on anywhere else.
Other clubs knew it could never be more than a one season deal, usually tied into an occasion like a centenary or major anniversary. Over the long term cheap tickets have become the norm, not an incentive.
The problem being cheap devalues them so much, you can have situations where barely 6,000 turn up for a Tuesday because 11,000 think they’re not really losing much. Then they miss another game here and there, and you get a growing mentality of being able to live without live football.
Great read Jake and pretty much sums up the general consensus. I’m a fan who’s held a season ticket for 25 years and this season will be the first time I don’t renew. This is solely down to the the ownership and board, and the realisation that we will do nothing more than tread water whilst in their control. What’s the point?
I have 3 year old twins. I have better things to do now. If indeed there is a change in the near future I’ll return to VP and I’ll probably renew not only my ticket, but I’ll get one for the boys. As it stands now, there’s no incentive for me to do so. There’s nothing to get excited about or look forward to with regards to Bradford City. A sad indictment, for a club that is so important to so many on a personal level and to our community.
Sparks was a gamble at best when Rupp appointed him. I will admit that, on the commercial side, he has been a success, That he what he is good at and that is the job he should have filled. The CEO of an organisation needs to have far more abilities and skills than Sparks has shown in his tenure. He was appointed at too young an age with NO relevant experience and without a strong team to help him. It’s no good “learning on the job”, It leaves the club exposed and ready to fail. There is no leadership, no proper engagement with the fans and the petulance shown when quizzed about the comments Derek Adams made, was quite frankly, childish and showed his lack of maturity. Sparks ahs to go but who will replace him? I hate Alexander’s tactics and post match interviews but is sacking him the right answer? The players have to take some responsibility for the position we are in. Not being in the right place, not able to trap a ball, two yards too slow, aimless balls into space where none of our players are, no intelligent running off the ball etc, etc. I have already bought my season ticket for next season but am fearful of where we are headed. Sparks need to come out and communicate with the fans, engage and explain. Sadly, I don’t believe that he has the bottle or ability to do so. Sparks was promoted via the Peter Principle. “The Peter Principle is an observation that the tendency in most organizational hierarchies, such as that of a corporation, is for every employee to rise in the hierarchy through promotion until they reach a level of respective incompetence”. This is where we are and it saddens me to say so. Obscurity awaits us unless someone has the b…s to put their head above the parapet and COMMUNICATE!!!
I Firmly believe that Sparks should move sideways into the corporate side of the club Rupp should put a D O F in to run the club in his absence, The director of Football is responsible for everything football related. That would be a start for next season A man like Wharnock would be a great addition to oversee signings . Watching the last 3 games it looks as if the players are not up to it and have stopped playing for the manager we all know our midfield is poor are passed their sell by date I would leave Alexander as manager ,let’s give youth a chance next season lads that will give there all for the cub .I can tell you now if wharnock was in charge boy would he be kicking some Arses.
a huge loud and vibrant protest needed on Friday ..
if several thousand are outside the main stand during the start of the game , Sparks will have to fall on his sword ..
Brilliant article.
You ask fans write a comment. WHY?
No one of any influence or the ability to create change is LISTENING.
Both extremely grateful and slightly overwhelmed at the comments and response this piece has received so far.
This is about trying to get Bradford City back to where it needs to be. A club for supporters, and a club that feels supported. All of us together, working in lockstep.
Not a single one of us doesn’t want Bradford City to succeed and thrive. In fact, that’s why it hurts so bad. We’re desperate for success.
This piece can truly be the start of something; the moment finally as a collective say enough is enough.
If anybody wants to get in touch with me to discuss where we’re at, or how we can move forwards, always happy to have a conversation.
Why on earth would anyone want to give a thumbs down to Jake’s post of 11.03? What possible reason might there be? Might it be the same two or three individuals who seems to take a dislike to all posts? I wonder who they might be.
Sparks and Rupp must have been reading the comments and pressing the dislike button this week because there’s been plenty of dislikes on some great comments. Very strange.
Thank you Jake. Absolutely great article. We are all hoping the darkness is before the dawn and that Rupps attendance at Mansfield game was his moment of realisation that he needs to do this great club the honour of writing off a few million and accepting a deal. Jake you say you would welcome a chat, could you give me heads up as to how I can make contact with you? Or Jason could you facilitate this somehow? Best wishes Rich
Ryan Sparks as got a lot wrong over the years and especially over the last season but the thing that as really riled me is his lack of communication. The reason that rules me so much is because that is supposedly one of his skill sets, we originally employed him because of that but when the club and fans need some communication the most he’s just hid away. Good leaders communicate when things aren’t going well, not just when things are going great.
Can you imagine being on a cruise ship, it starts to sink and the captain just hides away in his cabin rather than leading the ships crew and passengers?? If Sparks as lost the ability to communicate with out fans then his job is untenable, he should realize that and walk away.
This week we’ve messed up with the new ticketing system, it’s not showing people’s points, people managed to buy tickets to Grimsby and Salford with our enough points, others with enough points couldn’t buy them. Again the communication from the club was none existent.
last week they decided to move the atmosphere section from the corner to the kop, the communication with the fans in the seats affected by the move in the kop was none existent, they might not be enough seats in that block for the people moving from the corner but again the club have just been silent. Both these two things are minor in the grand scheme of things but the club just don’t seem to think anything through or get anything right these days and the lack of communication just adds to it further.
A new regime with a complete re-set of the club is THE only way forward.
A complete change into the structure and ethos of the club.
Something for club and fans to work towards.
It’s the only way that the required number if fans could be persuaded to re-new next season.
There are the three ‘thumbs down again.
It can only by Rupp, Sparks and Gent!!
I notice Zayn Malik is due in town soon. Perhaps he could team up with Dynamo and put a local boys bid in. Millions of dollars and a guy who can do magic are the bare minimum of what’s needed to get out of this mess
Genuinely always wondered about Zain. He’s a massive city fan, big ambassador for bradford and could buy us and the stadium with his pocket change.
Great article Jake and I share the hurt that many fans feel. I stood with Harrogate fans yesterday and kept very very quiet – simply embarrassed by what we served up.
The sad reality is this. Power and influence as regards BCFC resides, in the main, with two people – Sparks and Rupp. The history of humanity, not just football, tells us that people with power and control do not readily relinquish it. As fans we can talk, complain, write letters, protest outside the ground but ultimately we do not have sufficient weight to change the fundamental power dynamics of the club. I would love to have something to look forward to next season but, sadly, my money is on little change, however much we huff and puff. But let’s keep talking and maybe we’ll hit on something that could bring about change.
As the great Abraham Lincoln once said. All men can overcome adversity, if you want to see the true character of a man, give him power…
you hit our problem on the nail with regards our current situation but what can we actually do? Our problems actually go back as far as our drop from the premiership and the fact that we did not receive any parachute payment from ITV Digital who went under owing 180 million to the football league. Had we received payment then perhaps we would have enjured a more fruitful future.
That created immense pressure on the club with us carrying high earners on a lower income and no real time to carry them until they could be unloaded. If you remember Carboni did the honourable thing and walked away. Debt ridden by 2003, It was then that flamingoland acquired our stadium on the cheap and from that moment on we have become tenants.
It’s a real shame that this deal wasn’t scrutinised more closely but panic had set in for the clubs survival, i remember that day when we went under, I was on holiday in Jersey, and then we suddenly came back from the brink. This was a good bit of business for the Gibb family who to my knowledge have never given any comment as to how the ground can reasonably go back into club ownership. We bought the club offices, shop and car park back in 2011 but the 2.5 million that Gibb put into the club will now cost someone quite a lot more to acquire. It’s just a shame that it wasn’t done as a commercial mortgage with the end goal of the ground been handed back to the club. But being debt ridden would affect the chances of a mortgage greatly, that said perhaps Gibb could have structured something similar.
Great and true assement of City’s situation. if Sparks is the problem then Rupp must get rid. We need a CEO who knows football and has good contacts. I personally feel annoyed with the team’s performances, team selection, tactics and substitutions. The team no longer fights for the club but get picked week in and out. I would prefer to see the club perform and work hard and lose but we just give up when we go one down against teams below us or on a long run of poor form.
IT’S hard work watching this team every week. I have no faith in Alexander. He refuses to acknowledge his short comings or self criticises his mistakes just lays it on the team. It’s unsurprising that they will be over half season ticket holders that will not renew unless the club gives us a plan to move forward. It must be measurable and have consequences should the plan not work. Rupp will not quit unless he gets the right offer. Unfortunately, as a club at the moment, we are a poor investment. We are stuck! Change is needed but who has the brains and desire to make it happen?
it is basic commercial leadership, which this club lacks.
Anything that involves putting bodies in seats /beds/aeroplanes works on occupancy v rate
The hotel industry is built on it. For some reason, club management cannot figure this out.
You sell 12,000 season tickets at £190, not 6,000 at £300 or whatever.
You are spot on in what you say.
I was a season ticket holder for years, but moved away about 8 years ago. I have been to 2 home games and it felt the set fron 28 Days Later. All we were missing was tumbleweed in the Midland Road stand
It’s time for the fans to unite and buy the club ourselves. Wrexham & Exeter amongst others have done it. Why not us?
I think we should be protesting to get rid of Sparks because that’s a lot easier than getting rid of Rupp. Also it’s Rupp that will need to replace Sparks.
Julian Rhodes again if he’ll come back for a year, instead Ryan Sparks, then Neil Warnock supported by Stuart McCall (worked well before at Sheffield United) instead of Alexander/Lucketti, then a top 3 budget provided by Stefan Rupp and an overhaul in the summer and next January. Give the promotion push complete funding and focus for 2024-25. Achieve that aim, and then Rhodes can be replaced and Rupp can put the club up for sale.
You’ll never in a million years get Rhodes back at the club in that sort of capacity!!
best scenario for the club is for the owner to owner finance the sale at a realistic price to the supporters. Same for the land lord. If city go under, they will get next to nothing.
we need to find a hard assed negotiator to spell it out to both of them.
The supporters are the only true constant. Salvation lies within.
A well written thoughtful piece. A lament of our position which will be almost unanimously felt I’m sure. However, let’s just take a step back and think of the position we are in and why we are in it.
1. The owner is what he is. You can criticise him all you like for not being hands on but why should he be? It’s not like he’d be more hands on if we were 20 points clear at the top. You also can’t criticise him for not investing more than he wants to. As far as I understand, we are not in a precarious financial position, despite all the usual Gibb, Odsal, VP millstone lines being bandied around in the comments. We would be in financial peril if he wasn’t here. Do I want a new owner? – of course I do. I want one that’s interested and prepared to back us to the hilt but until that person steps forward, there is no point in discussing it.
What I believe you can criticise him for is allowing the poor decision making on the football side. After all the buck stops with him. That’s the crux, don’t shout “sack Rupp” as it cannot physically be done and is a nonsense.
2. The CEO is in a difficult position, there’s no denying it. I don’t think any of his appointments have been bad appointments (except for Trueman) but the fact is that he shouldn’t have been making appointments because he didn’t need to sack the manager. I have read so many times that we have no foundation, we have no structure- well we did have didn’t we and it was all thrown away because of a substitution gone wrong and a dip in form. I wasn’t enjoying the style of play under Hughes but I could see what he was trying to do. It just wasn’t happening. We’d just missed out in the playoffs and we were showing flickering signs but it was a new team and a new formation. We needed to give him time to put it right. If it got to February then OK start to consider it but the timing was ridiculous and has cost us so badly. For all his successes in marketing, I think Sparks has made huge mistakes.
As for the communication – I’m not sure what people expect – why should he come out and say anything? He’s damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t at City. He got vilified the last time he spoke. I know what I want him to come out and say and that’s no3 below.
Also I see ‘he promised us promotion’ trawled out every so often – regurgitating that one just shows a total lack of sporting awareness. You cannot promise anything in sport.
3. The manager – ok I admit it, I’m a hypocrite for saying it, after saying we sack our managers too quickly, but Alexander has to be sacked. He is completely clueless and I for one, do not want to watch kick and rush football. There’s an old saying that the definition madness is to do the same thing repeatedly and expect different results- surely as he subbed Ridehalgh off early for the 3rd time in 4 games to change the shape because his system doesn’t work, we had that feeling. And that’s not a criticism of Ridehalgh in particular as once again he was playing an unfamiliar role because the manager refuses to play a system that suits the players available.
4. The players obviously have to take some blame but seriously what chance do they have under Alexander? Cook may have improved his high jump ability. Oduour may have improved his chest control. Wright may have realised that unlike under Hughes he has got to jump and bring the ball down before he can run at defenders. We have got decent players and I for one am not looking forward to them playing against us next season.
That’s where I stand. If the crowd protest on Friday then make it loud and heard. It may make the owner/CEO hear it but I can’t see anything changing on the pitch with Alexander in charge.
Excellent article Jake , great reading time people at the top woke up .
We as fans need to step up here and the best solution I can see is to buy the club.
20,000 shares at £500 each = £10,000,000, get Rupp to be reasonable to leave some spare cash for investment, the 20,000 share holders hold votes with the majority decisions final, agreeing CEO, Manager, Director of football.
My household would definitely buy 2 shares, some households may buy 4 shares, some businesses may buy 100 shares and could use as a incentive for employees on bonus schemes.
it would not be 1st club to do this and at least majorly of fans would be invested and would have control of the club’s day to day running until Mr Big comes along and buys the shares.
🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
Last four games
P4 W0 D0 L4
GF1
GA 13
These so called footballers should hang their heads in shame and donate the last four games wages to the Bradford burns unit.
How galling is it that if those four losses would have been wins we’d be sitting pretty in the play offs now, the mood around VP would be buoyant season tickets would be selling.
Enough said