Tag Archives: League Two

League One is ‘miles better’ for Bantams

23 May

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By Phil Abbott

As the dust settles on the unforgettable 2012/13 season, plans for the new 2013/14 League One campaign are already afoot for Bradford City as contracts are beginning to be tied up, the ‘release list’ is in preparation and transfer targets are being discussed.

For the fans of Bradford City, even before we dared to pre-empt the outcome of the play off final against Northampton, rhetoric regarding the possible visitors to Valley Parade next season were being discussed. There was excitement at some of the more local fixtures that will now become a reality, such as visits to Bramall Lane and the New York Stadium, alongside big fixtures at Molineux and the Ricoh Arena.

On a personal level, I have put in more miles this season than ever before. I’ve been totally captivated by the efforts of our amazing history-making club and, this year, have attended not far off the sum total of the previous two season’s games put together, both home and away. Nothing too remarkable about that, you might say? Well, I guess not; but being a semi-exiled Bantam in North Nottinghamshire, putting City first every week isn’t quite as easy as it might be for local supporters.

Having clocked up over 6,000 miles in the car this season, following Bradford City at 42 games, I am sure I’m well down the mileage totals of some of the more ardent, affluent City followers, who have beaten a Claret and Amber track along many of the country’s far flung highways. Even with a 60-mile head start on native Bantams fanatics, Torquay and Plymouth were a step too far for me!

What makes it difficult for me personally, in some respects, is that for the average travelling fan, supporting City means you are on the road every other week. For me, the round trip of 130 miles and 90 minutes each way for home games makes some of the further away games less accessible in the family-orientated Abbott household.

But, there is good news for us all! For me, assuming I attend every league match next season and no cup games whatsoever, I would run in a total of 8,098 miles, which is a significant decrease on last year’s total had I have been to each and every game. But I’m in the minority in Nottinghamshire as a City fan, so Bradfordians will be pleased to note that their travels are also to be significantly reduced as a result of promotion to League One.

A round trip to every home and away game covered in 2013/14 will total 6,130 miles from a Bradford base. Had we have been in League Two at the expense of Northampton Town, the total travelling distance would have been 6,998 miles.

Mindful of a large geographic spread of exiled City fans, Nottingham-based Bantams could travel up to 5,200 miles to attend away games this coming season, whilst Manchester-based fans will need to cover 5,754 miles for the same matches. It’s only when you add in the travel to home games for exiled fans that the figures really begin to stack up! Poor old London Bantams would need to put in 10,024 miles to see every league game next year!

Whatever your means, whatever your commitment, City fans should be welcomed at every opportunity. The term ‘plastic supporter’ is one that really gets on my wick. We all know what we can manage, we all know what our priorities are, it’s just some fans find the pull of Bradford City too much to turn down on any one day; whilst others have work or family responsibilities, and some quite simply are in need of a day of rest.

And for those who will live the dream at every game next season, how will you spend your 15% saving on travel?

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Present perfect

18 May

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Bradford City 3

Hanson 15, McArdle 19, Wells 28

Northampton Town 0

(Bradford City promoted to League One)

Saturday 18 May, 2013

Written by Alex Scott

(Images by Jason McKeown)

They have done it. After six years of toiling away in the bottom tier, Bradford City have done it.

Saving their best performance for the most important moment, Phil Parkinson’s men were dominant upon the same Wembley turf which they were humbled not three months ago. I haven’t really bought into the redemption narrative (that never felt like the point of this journey), but for those that did, any demons haunting their dreams have been well and truly exorcised.

This season has played out like a novel. The story seemed predestined. The tracks were laid. It was meant to be this way. It wasn’t that “you couldn’t write it”, because you could. This is exactly how you’d write it. The weird thing is that it actually happened. To talk of fate diminishes the sensational reality these players have delivered, but how can you not think about it? Everything that happened today felt like a callback to a seed laid months before.

In their 64th and final game, City reached a level of performance they only ever hinted at amongst the first 63. I can’t remember a Bradford City team look that assured, that dominant. To a man, they were flawless.

Picking up where they left off against Burton, City rendered Northampton helpless. Bradford looked like a team that could have beaten Aidy Boothroyd’s men in any number of ways; Northampton’s cupboard was bare from the beginning.

It is difficult to separate the two moments which have defined this year, despite the fact they were almost polar opposites. Whereas the Swansea encounter felt like more of an ‘event’, today was a football game. This was a day for real football fans, the real reason we do all this, and it was a real football game. And what a game it was.

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From minute one City were on top, and by the time anyone had time to breathe, the game was over as a contest. The 90 minutes of football from half time at the Pirelli, to half time at Wembley may have been the best in 15 years. A combined 5-1 against two of the stingiest defences, and best teams, in the division. Especially in the manner it was done, with it always looking like there was more to come.

The opening quarter of an hour saw City begin to bang on the door; the second saw it irrecoverably blown off its hinges.

James Hanson opened the scoring with a wonderful looping header back across Lee Nicholls after the reputably dominant Northampton back line again failed to reorganise, leaving Garry Thompson uncovered at the back post before he picked out the big number nine with a delicate lob across the six yard box. The Cobblers demise felt inescapable already.

The big man was unstoppable today. From beginning to end he won everything in the air, and did so against the most aerially dominantly League Two side in years. Today James Hanson fulfilled his destiny, achieving the goal he could never reach, leading us out of League Two. We can no longer underestimate his value. He led. He dominated. He put in the best performance of his career.

City’s lead was quickly doubled as Nathan Doyle wonderfully picked out Rory McArdle who reprised, almost exactly, his goal against Aston Villa with a bullet header at the near post after losing his man. Boothroyd’s men were reeling, and City dropped the hammer not long later, with a typically predatory Nahki Wells finish. The game was over before the half hour mark. These players hit their ceiling, their apex. They could have won the game by as many as they wanted to. It will never get better than that.

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The defence were magnificent in the face of constant aerial pressure. The past two games have seen Andrew Davies highlight exactly why he is so important to this team, in both games laying the foundation for the attackers to flourish. McArdle alongside him was as good as he has ever been, and in Stephen Darby (baby) and James Meredith, City may have the best young full back pairing outside of the Championship.

Gary Jones was majestic, again. He and Nathan Doyle controlled the middle of the field from beginning to end. Jones is the heart of the team, and in only a season has ensured his bust in the Bradford City Hall of Fame. Parkinson spoke about his attempts to install a new culture at the club last summer, and no one has been more important in that than Gary Jones. He is irreplaceable. He is magic.

The thing about this team which makes all of this so perfect is that the entire squad, each one of them, are so likeable. They give everything they have in every moment, they never know when they are beaten, and the morale, the atmosphere is fantastic. To see a man like Alan Connell, who has every right to be frustrated, be this happy is just a delight, and sums everything great about this squad up, These men have rewritten the destiny of Bradford City Football Club.

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Not many have played a more important role than Wells, who in perhaps his final act in claret and amber demonstrated everything that makes him so special, a phenomenal display, sealing another man of the match award. He finishes this marathon season with eight goals in the final eight games, and it speaks volumes for the heights he may be able to grace that he has come through so wonderfully when it mattered most. A fact true for the whole team, actually.

If this side were going to make the leap from good to great, it was always going to be on the shoulders of the Bermudian, and again he didn’t disappoint. Clarke Carlisle and Nathan Cameron were left tangled in his wake.

The outmanned central defensive pairing for the Cobblers epitomised their team’s performance. Never at any point did they threaten. Save a handful of impressive punches and catches from Northampton long throws, Jon McLaughlin was untested.

Boothroyd’s men were abject from start to finish and as a group of fans who know all too well about being outclassed on the biggest stage, there is sympathy with the Northampton fans, who really can’t have enjoyed that. Their team were set up in a way that (in hindsight) appears naive, and their players froze.

I’m not sure how much difference it would have made had their players shown up, as rampant as their opponents were.

There isn’t anything I can say about Phil Parkinson’s job this year that would do him justice. He has been vindicated in every decision he has made. He has been the catalyst that brought this club from the bottom of the Football League, to these magical heights in a matter of 18 months. Today will go down on the short list of our club’s greatest days, a short list within which he is already a frequent character.

As time passes and we look back, these players will go down in history amongst our pantheon of our greatest. To a man, they’ve all made a critical contribution at one point or another. But that isn’t really relevant today. What is relevant is that the club is now in place to keep its core, its young core, together and this wonderful story, this wonderful ending, may only be a beginning. The present is perfect; the future could be anything.

They have done it. They have really done it. And they have really done it in the best possible manner. They have earned it; they have deserved it. The gulf in class between the two sides on display at The Home Of Football was inescapable.

And in the end, the truth came through to the fore: it was a League Two team playing a League One team.

City: McLaughlin, Darby, McArdle, Davies, Meredith, Thompson, Jones, Doyle (Ravenhill 87), Reid (Atkinson 78), Hanson, Wells (Connell 85)

Not use: Duke, McHugh, Nelson, Hines

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Back to Wembley: Play off final song three: Bradford Calling

17 May

By Jason McKeown

West Yorkshire covers band have got in on the Bradford City play off act, with a superb re-working of The Clash’s London Calling – Bradford Calling.

Drummer Tino Palmer told Width of a Post the story behind the song.

“The idea for the song first came about for the League Cup final, but there were so many other songs about I thought it would get lost in the crowd…plus I’d just bought a cafe in Ossett and was a bit snowed under (pardon the pun). So when, on that strange Sunday I stood in The Northern with Lloyd and the other fans watching that great win against Burton – with their “road to Wembley” scarves – I thought perhaps I should finish it off.

“So home I went, messed around with the words a bit more then sent them off to the band’s singer Mik Raven. He came back with some changes – belters, I have to say – and on Monday, we agreed to get sorted with it. Two days later, a quick rehearsal, then on Thursday May 10 we trudged into Voltage Studios on Manchester Road and Tim Walker helped us to record and finish it within three hours. This is punk rock, baby, we don’t mess about!

“Jamie Fletcher from SMF Print was on backing, and he said we needed a video to back it up, so he contacted Fruition Media, who do a lot of work with/for the club, and he agreed to a quick video shoot on Monday 13th. Also in the studio the previous Thursday was Chris Cooper, ex Pulse sports commentator, now at Sky, and he put Sky in touch with me, arranging for their presenter Richard Graves to come and talk to us at the shoot.

“A full crew turned up, interviewing us and even taking part in the video…24 hours later, it was uploaded to YouTube as I sat in BCB’s studio waiting to tell them about it all and play the song. Then by Thursday it had over 4,000 views and was being universally well received, much to our satisfaction…and relief!!

“Plans are afoot for more City-based recording; I’m making a sort of career of it. After my first exploits with my old band The Negatives did “we are City” back in 2001…who knows what’s next?

“Watch this space…”

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Play off final: Width of a Post build-up

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Back to Wembley: A night at the movies with a Bradford Blockbuster

16 May
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Photo courtesy of Wendy Michallat

By Katie Whyatt

The 2012/13 season has brought us more thrills, spills and twists than anything that has been churned out of Tinseltown recently – and there’s still another chapter left to go.

The Bantams’ incredible year would form an ideal script for Hollywood executives to sink their teeth into, especially if the journey ends with victory in the play off final.

Bradford City sailed the crest of the League Cup wave, knocking out Wigan, Arsenal and Aston Villa en route to football’s home. Couple sheer determination, a pinch of Lady Luck and an underdog status with high-octane defensive battles and nail-biting penalty shootouts, and the club rapidly became the centre of attention, causing ripples in countries as far-flung as Japan and America.

However, City crashed on the big stage as they were torn apart at the hands of the merciless Swansea City. It was the first time in the competition that Bradford had looked like a League Two side, and, gosh, it was crushing. It wasn’t how the narrative was supposed to end. It was anything but the perfect finish to the otherwise textbook fairytale.

After finding a bit of form in the League, City’s promotion chase was back on track, helped by a bit of good fortune with regards to Exeter and Fleetwood’s results.

It wasn’t exactly a coast to the capital, though. There were the horrendous officiating mishaps as Rotherham rocked up at Valley Parade, and, after the lacklustre first-half performance in the Burton home leg, there was a fear that Bradford had blown their chances of a League One place. But the team struck back in clinical fashion, roared on by an army of 1,500 travelling fans, to book a return trip to the place that is rapidly becoming a second home for City.

If Parkinson’s men win the play off final and snatch the promotion that has so far eluded them during the League Two stint… what a perfect end to the story that would be.

You can picture the movie’s tagline now: Bradford City’s story, a pulsating tale of grit and determination. Shatter the odds. Surprise a nation. Valiantly clamber to your feet after upset on one of the world’s biggest stages, and go on to achieve what you’ve spent years striving for.

All of that, against the backdrop of ten tempestuous years of constant decline and several successive relegation battles, and Hollywood bosses will be thinking that all of their Christmases have come at once.

Characterisation isn’t too difficult, either. City’s team is brimming with down-to-earth and gutsy heroes who will be the perfect protagonists for this exciting adventure: James Hanson, the former supermarket shelf-stacker whose blistering header stunned Aston Villa; Gary Jones, the midfield engine; Carl McHugh, the Donegal teenager; Matt Duke, Phil Parkinson, Rory McArdle. Include every single one of the Bradford City players, because they are all our heroes.

The squad is a motley composition of champions: our champions. Parkinson’s diverse mix of men, who have inspired an entire nation with their giant-killing odyssey. Even the Harry Potter series would struggle to provide you with more endearing stars.

Villains come in the form of the cynics, the Premier League big boys and the referees. And – shudder – Steve Evans.

Parkinson would be played by Hugh Grant, and Timothy Spall would star as Mark Lawn. Garry Thompson’s on-screen counterpart just about goes without saying (It’s Daniel Craig, by the way.), and Bantams Banter could make a cameo appearance. I could go on.

Whether any of these are actually apt choices remains to be seen, but it’s certainly a start.

If The Damned United can be turned into a book and a film, why not City’s story? It’s certainly just as enthralling a tale as that of Brian Clough’s ill-fated tenure at Leeds United.

Intertwine the main story – of City’s compelling exploits this year – with the players’ lives and the fans’ views, and boom: you’ve got compulsive viewing.

I’ll take my Oscar now, I think.

Who knows? If City win on Saturday, the idea of a movie won’t seem so far fetched at all.

Play off final: Width of a Post build-up

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Back to Wembley: We never do it the easy way, do we?

16 May

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By Will Rook

A Bradford City fan walks into a pub in Wembley, and the barman says, ‘The usual then mate?’

We’ve all heard the joke and many variations, but let’s not kid ourselves, it never grows tiresome.

To be a fan of Bradford City, one must be made of stern stuff and you’ve got to allow yourself to enjoy moments like these when they happen, and all the joviality which goes with it. Because they don’t come around often for anyone, let alone us.

It’s fair to say over the past 12 years we haven’t really had it our own way; after a slide from the Premiership to the wrong end of the Football League and being faced with such crippling financial woe, nearly ceasing to exist on two separate occasions.

As a collective we seem to stand by the motto of, ‘We always make it difficult for ourselves’ and this has rung true for the majority of the new millennium.

Relegation to League Two was the rotten cherry which topped the cake of anguish and pain for City. And even though it was expected it never really got any better after that, until now.

Last season, in my opinion, was a turning point. Peter Jackson started the season in charge and expectations had been lowered considerably from their normal ‘play off minimum’ standard after finishing 18th the previous season, briefly flirting with relegation from the Football League. Jackson had built a squad, with the help of Archie Christie, which he believed would be competitive. Although after a poor start and only one point to show from the first four league games Jackson and the club parted ways.

Enter stage, Phil Parkinson. A young, ambitious manager with experience higher up the pyramid, just what was needed to get a squad which according to Julian Rhodes “patently wasn’t good enough” firing. Parkinson was given a target of survival for the season which, despite some poor displays and grumbles from the fans, was achieved with games to spare leaving Bradford City in another 18th placed finish. Not quite hitting the dizzy heights of the top half, but the target set out from the board at the start of his tenure had been met, an important milestone in gaining trust.

A busy summer was ahead, and Parkinson was duly backed heavily by the club’s co-Chairmen in the transfer market, taking a £600k hit on the budget. Players like Gary Jones, Garry Thompson and Rory McArdle were brought in to replace deadwood from one of the biggest squads in the league.

The quality of football was incomparable, although the huge dent in finances to get this far once again highlights how nothing for us can ever be done the ‘easy’ way.

Even in our League Cup run, when the opportunity of a ‘glamour tie’ was there, we had to get past Burton Albion and Wigan before our plum draw at home to Arsenal.

In my opinion, the Arsenal game was when the majority really started believing that we had a special crop here at Valley Parade. We’d never in our wildest dreams thought we could beat Wigan, let alone a team of Arsenal’s prestige and quality. When Thomas Vermaelen missed his penalty to spark wild celebrations, people started to realise our fortunes may have finally turned.

This was confirmed after that glorious night at Villa Park which will live long in the club’s history and I doubt any fan who was there or watched on television will forget for as long as they live, it really was an ‘I was there moment’ and promotion or no promotion even the most ardent sceptics had to admit Bradford City’s stock was on the rise once again.

The run to the final of the League Cup had sparked optimism and belief throughout, not just the football club but the entire city of Bradford, but unfortunately with this distraction came a dip in the club’s league form which had been impressive up until then. The run of results in between the Arsenal victory and the cup final looked to have put the nails in the coffin for a promotion charge which had looked more than possible at the start of the season. Once again, ‘never do things the easy way’.

The crushing defeat in the cup final had people once again questioning Parkinson and some performances left a lot to be desired, notably the 4-1 defeat away at Exeter and the first half showing at home to Southend. Fans started to give up hope once again, as they had so often been used to doing towards the end of the season.

Somewhat aided by a complete capitulation from Exeter City and amazing form, the team managed to pull themselves back into the play off race, pulling back an eight-point deficit within a week and going on to secure the last spot in the promotion lottery with a game to spare. While it was wrapped up before the end of the season, it could hardly be described as easy having to make up so many points in so little time.

Finally, our play off semi-final against Burton. Such was the sense of optimism around Valley Parade for the first leg, no-one could quite have foreseen the display we were in the first half with Parkinson admitting it was probably as poorly as we’ve defended all season. Somehow though, owing to a Garry Thompson wonder strike, we were still in the tie at 2-3 going to the Pirelli Stadium.

The mood in the air was a little less of confidence and more nervousness for the second leg, with a goal deficit to overturn away at the team with the best home record in the division. Once again though, against all adversity, this team who simply refuse to lie down came out to win 3-1 and 5-4 on aggregate setting up a Wembley play off final with Northampton Town.

Now with the final so close and the game poised tightly, fans are once again getting excited. I’d say though, whatever happens come 3.30pm on Saturday afternoon, take a look where we’ve come from, not only in the past 12 years, but more recently. For our side to have such a turnaround in fortunes in such a quick amount of time is nothing short of incredible.

Also remember this: before this season we hadn’t been to Wembley to see our team 17 years, and now we’re going twice in one magical campaign. Sure, we’ve had to put up with a lot, but at the moment we’re pretty lucky really, aren’t we?

Come on City.

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Play off final: Width of a Post build-up

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Parkinson’s new deal is a rare victory for long-term thinking

15 May

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By Jason McKeown

I will be honest with you, I feared the worst when it came to this season – and the chief reason for that was Julian Rhodes and Mark Lawn.

The Joint Chairmen’s five-year dual stewardship of Bradford City can be characterised by the hurried implementation and quick demolition of structures and strategies; whilst quickly distancing themselves from any responsibility. Take Rhodes’ blaming of the 2011/12 underperformance on Peter Jackson, at the end of last season. Jackson may not have been up to it as manager, but the 14-game interim period he was employed for, after Peter Taylor quit in February 2011, offered the Chairmen plenty of time to make a considered decision on appointing him permanently.

Then there was the asking of Archie Christie to devise and implement a plan to improve the club, which was seemingly abandoned in the wake of the Scot’s departure. And it all left City going into this season with the pair going back to their Plan A of throwing all available resources at the first team in the hope of a promotion-winning side being instantly assembled – a Plan A that did not work when tried under Stuart McCall or Peter Taylor.

So I looked at this season, not so much fearing that the plan of overspending on the budget wouldn’t work – but worrying what the consequences of failure would be if it didn’t. More cut backs, another manager change – and then what? This season was Rhodes and Lawn’s last chance to prove to me that they do know what is required to produce a successful football club.

And so the news that Phil Parkinson has agreed a new contract to remain in charge of City – which will be formally signed next week – has me on my feet applauding Rhodes and Lawn. And I’m really excited about what this decision to stick rather than twist means for the club, and the position it leaves us going into next season.

Regardless of what happens on Saturday, we approach the summer in a position that we have yet to achieve under Rhodes and Lawn – having a consistently strong playing budget. McCall was afforded a contract beyond failing to take City into League One, after spending big in 2008/09; but rather than build on the positives, he had no choice but to rip it all down and start again due to huge cutbacks from overspending. Get rid of four high earners was the mission; but when two could not be pushed out the door, the resources left over, after paying the remaining pair, were too thinly spread for rebuilding a team. McCall could not make more from less.

This time around – and thanks largely to that cup run – Parkinson does not need to bulldozer his squad. He does not need to release half of the players who are out of contract. He does not need to make 10+ summer signings. Whatever the failings of this season’s team, they are relatively small compared to the sides of the three previous seasons. There is certainly nothing to suggest that this group of players would not be good enough for League One. Strengthen rather than rebuild.

The huge improvement Parkinson has delivered this time around, in relation to last year, offers encouragement that he can continue the upwards momentum.

To the joint Chairmen’s credit, talks did not stall even during that relatively rocky patch of form after Wembley, where a mid-table finished looked inevitable. Width of a Post was fortunate to have a close ear to the situation via a couple of well-placed sources, who continued to assure us that things would be okay and the deal would be agreed. Last week, I was invited to the Player of the Year awards by the Bradford City Supporters Trust, where I was privileged to spend the evening on Parkinson’s table and quizzed the manager on anything and everything. It would be unfair to make public the details of what was in essence a private chat, but Phil assured me the contract was close to being formalised and of his strong desire to stay.

Today’s confirmation that a two-year deal will be signed represents an all-too-rare victory for us long-term advocates. For years now – and beyond the full blame of Rhodes and Lawn – the latest form guide has been allowed to dictate major decisions. As I shake my head in despair at Manchester City and Chelsea, I feel a sense of pride that the owners of my football club have seen the bigger picture and were arranging a deal with Parkinson even before this late promotion surge – looking to retain him regardless of which division we are in. There may have been an air of uncertainty for us supporters over the last few weeks – but, importantly, that was not the case behind the scenes. This can only have helped during the run-in. 

Whatever happens at Wembley, the positives of this season outweigh any potential Northampton disappointment by a long, long way. Parkinson has built a team we can proud of and identify with. It isn’t perfect, and some of us might swap a player or two; but it is a heck of a lot more enjoyable to support these players than the dismal side built by Taylor in 2010/11, or even the one McCall constructed 2008/09. I still remember, with bitterness, travelling to Dagenham in 2009, with three games to go, and seeing our play offs hopes end with a tame 3-0 defeat – and then only Peter Thorne and McCall bothering to acknowledge us supporters at full time.

Once Parkinson formally signs up next week, the focus will move on to those players he wishes to retain. I personally don’t think we’ll have any problems keeping hold of anyone, other than perhaps Nahki Wells (he will not want to be a League Two player next season and who can blame him, so promotion is surely a must). And for those who do leave, it will be our choice to let them go. Let go not because we couldn’t afford them (the cup run means we can), not because they let us down (not a single player can be accused of that), but because we are a club finally moving in the right direction – and sometimes that means leaving good people behind.

Rhodes and Lawn went back to Plan A and it has worked well enough to be continued. More crucially, they have acted before waiting to see if the ultimate aim of promotion would be achieved. Retaining Parkinson might have been the only decision to make; but given the recent history of the club, they still deserve a well done for actually making it.

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A rollercoaster week for Bradford City

8 May

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By Phil Abbott

There are fanatics the world over who travel inordinate distances, splashing exorbitant cash, to enjoy the exhilaration of the world’s fastest, longest and most white-knuckle generating rollercoasters imaginable. These apparently eccentric, irrational and somewhat maverick thrill seekers often give their right arm for dream trips across the globe to experience the best of the best, ultimately ending in a feeling of utter satisfaction and a ‘I survived the ……..rollercoaster’ car sticker as a material souvenir.

When you think about it, many parallels can be drawn between these high-octane sybarites and many thousands of pleasure seeking football fans. This week has been a perfect time to draw such a comparison.

Like the libertine coaster-holics, Bradford City fans have been dragged through the most incredible gut churning feelings in the two play-off semi-final legs with Burton Albion.  The four-day ride has given Bantams fans many incredible ups and downs, some that we saw coming, others that came out of nowhere.

At times, you’d be forgiven for thinking the wheels had come off, or the brakes had failed, and at other times, you’d be shouting in ecstasy on top of the world. For many, the contemplation of a ride cut short in its prime was too much to contemplate after such a magnificent season, but following the monumental efforts on Sunday, the coaster-cars have driven straight through the station in anticipation of one more gripping sortie on the incredible journey this season has taken us on.

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In the run up to the first leg at Valley Parade, there was huge optimism and even greater anticipation of another extraordinary push for Wembley glory. In truth, and I still believe it, I was sure that City were the best team left once Rotherham sealed their well-deserved promotion via the automatic route. The previous week, I was unimpressed by a promotion chasing Cheltenham side who had offered a stuttering, low energy performance against a City side who had already secured a play off berth. Having had the better of Burton and Northampton during the season, I was quietly confident that this year would be ‘our year’.

As seems to have become a habit, my trip from Nottinghamshire to evening fixtures at Valley Parade was only punctuated by a quick stop off for a pre-match bite, before dropping down into Bradford for the opening gambits of the League Two play offs. The guy who served me asked of my thoughts for the game, and flippantly I explained that I thought we’d win through in the end, but such is the wont of the celestial script-writers, we would do it the hard way. He looked at me strangely! But, how right such prophecy was!

A big City crowd waited patiently, with audible excitement for the Bantams to emerge from the dressing rooms at Valley Parade in the first leg, but unlike the rollercoaster aficionados waiting for their ride, City’s course had still to be plotted and nobody had a clue what was going to happen next. The teams paraded onto the pitch to a triumphant chorus, the home crowd in unison, rhythmically  accompanying ‘Take me home’, much akin to the sounds of a rollercoaster climbing its first slow ascent.

The whistle blew, the screams hurled and we were off, racing down the track at 100mph. The opening salvos were a blur, with excitement and nerves getting the better of City in particular. The Bantams were dealt an early blow as Calvin Zola outleapt the bamboozled defence to bury a powerful header, and the tie was alive.

City needed a shake up, and if that sudden baulk wasn’t enough to rattle them into action, a 2nd goal for Burton left Valley Parade in almost silence, apart from the 600 or so Burton fans who could hardly believe their eyes.

When Burton defender McCrory went down like Gordon Banks to block Garry Thompson’s powerful drive, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that City were deserving of a penalty and had been thrown a huge lifeline in the fixture. For this moment, there was real hope that City could get back into the game, and indeed Nahki Wells coolly slotted the ball home to draw the Bantams to within one goal.

Was the comeback on? We all hoped so. But no sooner had the City faithful enjoyed an upturn in fortune, than they were picking themselves up again when Robbie Weir plunged in a low cross to restore Burton’s two goal advantage and stun the Kop once again as half time arrived. I was shaken, I have to admit. It was like I’d been dragged through the loop the loop with my hands tied behind my back.

2013-05-02 21.07.44

The City fans needed some extra impetus from somewhere. This was not a ride that anyone sporting the claret and amber colours was enjoying. It was clear that a two goal deficit was, even by Bradford standards, a seemingly insurmountable task. With City’s backline leaking like a dismembered brake pipe, there was a danger that the rollercoaster ride would stop halfway through, the passengers disembarking, not to return to the queue for the next pass. Then, halfway through the second half, a moment of brilliance from Garry Thompson immediately restored the waning faith and City’s bandwagon was back on track.

The final minutes, despite constant City pressure, yielded no extra goals, and so, feeling like we’d in some way escaped a catastrophe, off trudged city fans to contemplate the game and mull over our strategies for acquiring the golden Burton away tickets.

Anecdotally, the highs and lows in emotion for those beating the harshly cold and uncomfortable overnight queues are remarkable in their own right. It was only when the holder of ticket number ‘three hundred and something’ was ushered onto the Sunwin stand concourse and the doors slammed shut behind him, just under two hours before tickets went on sale, that the level of support this club enjoys was truly quantifiable. One would be forgiven for thinking that this was some sort of holding pen at Sangatte!

The tableau of impeccable patronage was strewn across the concourse, deckchairs, sleeping bags, empty food containers and cold, tired bodies littering the well-ordered waiting lines. It was all in search of a golden ticket – the ticket that would see the City charges plot and execute a tremendous ‘job’ on Burton and begin the trek onto Wembley for a second time. No big dipper the world over could come close to matching the thrills of the unprecedented chapter still to be told.

2013-05-05 13.55.45

After exchanging equal blows in the opening stanza, there was little to separate the two teams, and even less to suggest to the fans of either side that their team was in the ascendancy. The tension was high and it was no surprise that it was a mistake that allowed the next phase of this epic tie to take another course. With Nahki Wells stealing in on an increasingly familiar defensive slip up, the City fans went delirious, suddenly daring to believe that they could be visiting Wembley for the 2nd time this season.

There would be many City fans who would have broken the heart rate or blood pressure monitor had they have been plugged in at the stage when James Hanson fired in a delightfully crisp half volley to put City two up, and, for the first time, ahead in the tie. However, with the way things had gone in the first leg, many around me were still cautious, if not a little more optimistic. They knew that, like the most temperamental pleasure park ride, the well-oiled machine could, at any time, come grinding to a halt.

Indeed, there was to be a temporary fault that had the potential to put the City machine out of service. When Stephen Darby missed a tackle on the wing and the outstanding Jacque Maghoma was allowed to run towards the penalty area, a tenacious Garry Thompson came haring back in defence, only to bring him down, for a penalty. The undulations in this epic trip were beginning to come too quick and my stomach was feeling physically churned. The successful strike brought the game back to evens and did nothing but add to the torture the City fans were going through.

With tension at an all-time high in the away stands, so soon after the team had been victims of their own tenacious tracking back, Wells eased some of that tension with his second goal of the game and at that stage, it seemed that finally, the Burton challenge had been thwarted. Whist there was far from a relaxed attitude amongst the City faithful, it was clear that the goal, so soon after their penalty lifeline, knocked the stuffing out of a quickly tiring Brewers team. With time running out, the pendulum had, perhaps, for the first time swung well and truly in City’s favour.

Unable to see the clock count down behind the goals, the majority of away fans were supplied with regular time updates by a very accommodating steward. Time seemed to stand still, and even though City were well in control, the thought that there were yet more twists in this crazy season to manifest themselves before the clock ran out tempered nobody’s heart rate.

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After the shrill blast of the final whistle, delirious celebration erupted both in the stands and on the field. Voltage Cherry shirts were launched into the crowd, proud chests displayed by the Bantams hero’s sapping every moment of adulation from their terrific fans. It was to be the first time I had seen a team respond to an encore call and only a full 30 minutes after the final whistle did we leave the ground to begin to rack our brains as to where we had left the car in our pre-match haze of excitement.

On getting back to the car, physically exhausted, I had the white knuckle feeling. Prizing my tightly bound fingers away from my palms, I reattached them around the steering wheel and gently – ever so gently – hit the road for home. Dazed.

No sooner had we arrived home, news broke of the ticketing arrangements for Wembley, and, with many still suffering the blur of a hangover, fans embarked on the conundrum of gaining tickets online with a distribution system that could teach even the best timewasting goalkeeper a thing or two about time management!

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Bradford City bring back good times with Wembley return

5 May

2013-05-05 13.56.28

Burton Albion 1

Maghoma 55 (pen)

Bradford City 3

Wells 27+57, Hanson 50

(Bradford City win 5-4 on aggregate)

Sunday 2 May, 2013

By Jason McKeown

Supporting Bradford City has never been easy. You are mocked and pitied by others. You endure lots of terrible football. Disappointment becomes second nature, because it seems like, wherever you place the bar of expectation, the club will usually fall well below it. The glory days had become something from a different era. We’ve experienced some very difficult and dark times.

Which makes days like today so much more special. After enduring years of failure, testing your faith and testing your sanity, today City got their day of celebration. Today, years of frustration, heartbreak and so, so many home defeats has been rewarded. Today, every reason for supporting Bradford City was vindicated. Today.

The scenes at full time, after Bradford City had defied the odds, once again, to book a second trip of the season to Wembley, will live in the memory forever. They were every bit as electrifying as the best ever moments supporting the club. Some who were there for Blackpool 17 years ago stated this was on a par. Being at Villa Park in January may or may not have shaded this, but it’s all academic. For a club that has achieved no success since 2000, to have two occasions like this in one season is astonishing.

Astonishing because of how good it tastes. The memories of Wolves, Blackpool, Liverpool etc were beginning to fade. The mind plays tricks – were they really that good, or have we just built up a halcyon recollection of emotions that we could never possibly hope to relive again? The truth is we’d forgotten what this felt like. How amazing it is to feel this happy following your football club.

Supporting Bradford City has never been easy, but on days like this it is impossible to imagine ever wanting to do anything but.

All of which masks what was, in truth, a terrifying ordeal. Three days on from seemingly throwing promotion hopes away with that dismal first 45 minutes at Valley Parade, hope had been allowed to grow and theories of how we could turn it around given wings to fly. Beforehand I was hugely confident that we could do it, but as soon as the match kicked off I instantly questioned my stupidity in what I had been thinking. Have I just set myself up for another terrible let down? As Burton charged forwards in the opening minutes, the temptation to run out of the stadium and go home there and then was strong.

Even when City took the lead 27 minutes in, my nerves only increased when they should have eased. A horrendous misjudgement by Burton defender Marcus Holness – an attempted back header to keeper Stuart Tomlinson falling well short – allowed Nahki Wells to steal in and tap the ball home. Everyone went barmy. I could not jump up down myself, as I was hugged by people either side of me and from the row in front. Manic, but brilliant. From being 3-1 down at half time on Thursday, City had pulled the aggregate score back to 3-3. That’s why my anxiety grew. It was now in our hands. That was scary.

The goal had followed a half hour of nothingness. Andrew Davies, back from suspension, handled the still-strong Calvin Zola excellently, and Jacques Maghoma was kept quiet by a much improved Stephen Darby. Jon McLaughlin made one good save, but Phil Parkinson would later talk about the huge psychological advantage City gained from Burton resorting to 4-4-2 mid-way through the half, as the Brewer’s first leg tactics were nullified.

Indeed Burton were on the ropes. Wells’ goal unravelling their composure and revealing their insecurity. A few seconds later a scramble in the box resulted in the referee Graham Scott blowing for a City penalty and it seemed like we had one foot at Wembley. Alas, Wells was ruled to be offside in the build up and the linesman persuaded Scott to award a Burton goal kick instead. But it was still a blow of some sorts to Burton. They were hanging on, and we had nearly exposed the thinness of the margins.

Five minutes into the second half, and Gary Jones – back to his magnificent best after a no-show Thursday – sent Wells away down City’s right. He was challenged, but the ball ricocheted central towards the edge of the penalty area where James Hanson was charging forwards. A powerful low finish – Tomlinson could not get near it – and the back of the net ruffled. A huge roar. The celebrations were immense both on and off the pitch. In a season of incredible moments, this was right up there with the best.

A fitting goalscorer too. Hanson had played well Thursday but was widely criticised, as usual. Today he was unplayable. Sensational. For how much Zola has been praised over the last few days and Hanson compared unfavourably, today James’ critics must once again eat their words. He and Wells gave the performances of their lives, and Burton could not cope. Hope was turning into realism. Wembley on the horizon.

A scare came five minutes later when the home side finally came to life. Maghoma got away from Darby, and Garry Thompson’s desperate lunge to deny him a shot on goal resulted in a penalty. It is claimed that the challenge was outside the box. It is also claimed Thompson was the last man and should have gone. After the handball antics of the first leg, Burton were in no position to take the high ground on the latter point.

So just like on Thursday, the 2-0 down home side pulled one back from the penalty spot – Maghoma doing the business – but just like Thursday, the away side responded quickly. It took all of two minutes for Wells to restore City’s lead with a clever turn and shot that Tomlinson might have made a better fist of keeping out. The ball trickled slowly over the line and we were in dreamland.

Looking from the outside, the last half an hour must have seemed curiously routine for City. Burton were shot to pieces. Their attempts at coming back lacked confidence or conviction. A couple of half chances were dealt with by McLaughlin, but for the most part City reduced them to pot shots from distance that were so wayward they flew out of the ground. Meanwhile City continued to attack in a measured way, looking more likely to score.

Being on the inside, however, the last half an hour was utter torture. Burton only needed one goal to force extra time, and the minutes ticked by painfully slowly. My heart was beating so fast. My breathing got heavier and heavier. At times I had to turn the other way and stop watching the game. From being all over at half time on Thursday to the brink of Wembley, the prize was too important for anything but total devastation to occur if we let this slip from our grasp. City had two very, very strong penalty appeals turned away that might have made it safer. Where six minutes of injury time came from is a mystery.

But we were magnificent. Nathan Doyle’s return to the starting XI bringing calm and rational-thought to City’s play. Davies – complete with a head bandage in the second half – sensational at the back. Jones, Meredith, Darby, Reid, Thompson, Rory McArdle – pillars of strength. For how brilliant Burton were on Thursday, City were doubly impressive today. For how much we froze on Thursday, Burton were now the ones who had bottled it.

Finally, the final whistle. Cue the celebrations. Me and my wife hugged each other and I realised that she was in tears. The last time she had cried at City, we were 4-0 down to Swansea at Wembley. I started supporting City in 1997, so have seen some good times at least. She saw her first City match in 2002 and unfortunately could not join me at Villa Park. I’m so glad that she has at last experienced this kind of magical moment.

Some fans invaded the pitch, but the police’s heavy handiness discouraged others from joining. Instead the players were able to party in front of us. Dancing up and down to our chants, throwing their shirts into the crowd. The highlight for me – and it was possibly the highlight of the whole day – was Parkinson’s pumped up celebrations as he ran around the pitch. It’s no secret that I am a big, big Parkinson fan to the point I irritate others. I’m so pleased for him. He endured some strong criticism post Wembley that was undeserved. Please, dear reader, join me in rugby tackling Parkinson and not letting him back up until he signs that bloody contract.

The players went inside, but we were not going home until they came back out. In the meantime Mark Lawn leapt from the director’s box to pitchside and was hugged by fans at the front of the stand. Finally our heroes came back. It was still early afternoon, and the party was just getting started. Talk of Wembley is great, but let’s enjoy this achievement first.

“We’re proud of you” was the chant from the City fans and how well deserved it was. As fans we’ve spent years booing and jeering, singing “you’re not fit to wear the shirt” and, once, “love the club, hate the team”. “We’re proud of you” is praise indeed and the players and management deserve every bit of credit coming to them and more. Magnificent. Thank you.

But football supporting is, first and foremost, a selfish thing, and today belonged to us, the fans. It has been an incredibly difficult 13 years supporting Bradford City. The bad times have completely outweighed the little good. That we still have a club to support has been our biggest – neigh, our only – achievement. And it is for days like this that we put in all their effort, spend all that money, and sing all those songs following the club up and down the country.

Days like this, when, for once, the sun shines on our wonderful football club.

City: McLaughlin, Darby, Davies, McArdle, Meredith, Thompson, Doyle, Jones, Reid (Atkinson 73), Hanson, Wells

Not used: Duke, Nelson, McHugh, Ravenhill Hines, Connell

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2013-05-05 14.14.02

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They think it’s all over…not just yet

4 May

burton old

Burton Albion vs Bradford City preview

@Pirelli Stadium on Sunday 5 May

By Mark Danylczuk

It could have been worse. It could have been better. But I think we will take the one goal deficit at ‘half time’. Indeed, Garry Thompson’s 25-yard screamer could prove pivotal in keeping the tie within City’s reach. Time to believe? Well you wouldn’t count City out.

Think back to 1996 and it was a similar story. 2-0 down at home to Sam Allardyce’s Blackpool after the first leg of the old Second Division play-off semi, and then the famous 3-0 win in the away leg. We could do with City’s players watching that footage to encapsulate the spirit of the squad of the 1995/96 season, as we mount on the push to get to the final.

For City the approach is simple – attack, attack, attack. We need the goal, and if we can get it early you feel could change the momentum of the tie in City’s favour. You would think Kyel Reid, if fit, would come in for Atkinson to penetrate the wings and perhaps Parkinson should also consider giving Connell more of a cameo role if things are not working out up front. With Nakhi Wells not at 100% mentally, you feel, a fresh Connell could give the Bantams some fresh ideas up front.

In terms of tactics, we need to adopt the approach of getting it down and playing on the floor. As good as James Hanson was in terms of winning balls and bringing others into play from our direct approach, it simply wasn’t working and Burton physically matched us. Nathan Doyle had a good impact on Thursday in partnering Gary Jones to shore up the midfield and getting a grip on the game, and I think Parkinson should consider Doyle as a starter for Sunday.

For Burton, it’s tough to know what their mindset is. Will they feel the nerves as they seek to build on their best ever league finish? A one goal lead you feel won’t be enough in Burton manager Gary Rowett’s mind, and he will be urging Jacques Maghoma and Calvin Zola to repeat an impressive double act in tearing City’s defence apart. Burton were also excellent in pressing, closing the ball down and forcing City into mistakes – and this tactic will surely be employed again for the game.

It’s not going to be easy on Sunday. Burton have the best home record in the division, winning an impressive 17 of their 23 home matches and only losing three. City, on the other hand, have far from the best away record but should not be underestimated. On a journey that has taken us, a League Two team – 75th place in the Football League, to a League Cup final, who knows which City team turn up on Sunday? The class of 2012/13 are not ones to give up (note the Watford and Burton cup comebacks to name a few), and it all makes for a tasty encounter at the Pirelli Stadium.

Arguably this has been City’s best and most exciting season for over a decade. Let’s hope (especially for the fans who have spent overnight sleeping and queuing at VP for Burton tickets) that the Bantams can finish the job and take us to Wembley.

Get energised with a good breakfast tomorrow and cheer on the lads. Your Sunday Roast could taste all the better if a second trip to Wembley beckons…

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The play offs: This is it

2 May

2013-04-20 17.03.24

Bradford City vs Burton Albion preview

@Valley Parade on Thursday 2 May, 2013

By Luke Lockwood

So here we go. At least two more games in what has been a marathon of a season, but the two more games that we all hoped for. If most City fans are honest, 10 games or so ago, we had all given up on the hope of these additional games.

However, much like the end of last season – although in very different circumstances – the team rallied and lifted themselves; so much so that we went into the last day of the season unconcerned by any scores elsewhere and just happy to enjoy the day. It was nice to have that weekend of being relaxed about all things claret and amber, but now it all starts again and I for one am relishing every last nail-biting, leg-shaking moment of it.

It’s almost two decades since City were last in the play offs and, for me, it’s my first real experience of it. I’ve heard many fans talk about the second leg and final of that season as their favourite memories as a Bradford City fan – better than Arsenal and Aston Villa – it makes me green with envy. Even worse than how my dad feels the need to tell me (immediately after another penalty shoot out defeat) that he’s ‘seen England win a World Cup’ is the empty feeling of not knowing what it’s like to see City win at Wembley.

Still there is a long way to go before I should even start thinking about that. A two-legged semi final to navigate our way through. And, if 20 years ago is anything to go by, we won’t make it easy – but then City never do!

Even last week, when we just had to turn up and the score was irrelevant we still managed to throw a spanner in the works and lose our finest player for the first leg.

Was Andrew Davies a silly boy? Or was Parkinson at fault for not taking him off following the initial booking? Probably both. Parkinson has made his defence, explaining how he wanted to test Davies’ fitness over 90 minutes and give Rory McArdle a full break after his marathon of a season.

Understandable – and yes Davies should be wise enough and experienced enough to keep himself out of trouble for 45 minutes – but even so, no gambles should be taken over your prized asset. Fortunately, having avoided Northampton, Akinfenwa and their direct style, the absence of Davies may not be as critical as it may have been.

With the exception of the suspended Number 5 and a late sweat over Kyel Reid’s fitness, Parkinson has a full compliment to select from. Following reports from the final game at Cheltenham it would appear that – despite a satisfactory performance – none of the replacements will have put excessive pressure on those players that guided City into seventh place over the final few games

I would be very surprised if the team sheet did not read as simple as Jon McLaughlin, Stephen Darby, Michael Nelson, McArdle, James Meredith, Garry Thompson, Ricky Ravenhill, Gary Jones, Reid, Nahki Wells and James Hanson. It says a lot that these players have started to select themselves, despite a bench including Matt Duke, Carl McHugh, Nathan Doyle, Zavon Hines, Will Atkinson and Alan Connell – all of whom have been prominent figures at some stage of the season and four of which were in the starting 11 at Wembley.

So what of City’s opponents over in the next two games? Parkinson should know them well having faced them on three occasions this season and, most recently, just under a fortnight ago. Of course during that match Ricky Ravenhill’s good friend, Lee Bell, was sent off and misses both legs.

In City’s favour is Albion’s form away from home. The only team from the top half to have picked up less wins on the road than the Brewers is Northampton. Burton were very recently humiliated 7-1 by Port Vale. Bradford have, of course, already beaten them twice at Valley Parade.

The stats would indicate that it is vital City make the most of their home advantage and take a lead into the return fixture – no side has a better home record than Burton.  After a weekend to relax the pressure is well and truly back.

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