By Jason McKeown

In many ways, the relationship between football club managers and supporters is akin to your everyday romantic, boyfriend/girlfriend relations.

It can be impulsive, passionate and emotional. You can fall out of love as quickly as you fell in love. Rationality can go out of the window. Break ups are often sudden, heated and bitter. And when there is a split, it can take time to heal.

The relationship between Phil Parkinson and Bradford City supporters can certainly fall into this type of passion. One that could for a while be given the immortal status “it’s complicated.” Parkinson and Bradford City was quite the love affair, with so many wonderful memories shared. We grew together, with nights no one will forget. The eventual break-up was swift and sudden, leading to a flurry of emotions.

This weekend, Parkinson makes only his second return to Valley Parade as an opposition manager since his 2016 departure, and it’s fair to say the reception he will get is markedly different from the first reunion. That first return had come in February 2017, only months after his shock departure, and the desire for City to defeat Parkinson’s Bolton Wanderers side was huge. I remember the giddy atmosphere on the concourse at half time, as City were 2-0 up and playing Bolton off the park.

Everyone was so happy about the path to victory the Bantams were following – jubilant at the idea of beating Parkinson, and that his more rigid and dull style was being bettered by the bright, more attractive approach of Stuart McCall. Typically of the man, he was not beaten, with his Bolton side coming back off the canvas to earn a point. We drew an awful lot of games that season, none were quite as painful as the two points City missed out on that day.

This Saturday, City fans of course want their team to win. But it’s more for run-of-the-mill, everyday reasons of wanting your football club to win matches. Parkinson will get nothing but a warm reception as he emerges from the away dressing room and walks to the visitors’ dugout. His crown of modern day Bradford City legend seems to be firmly restored, after an unsettlingly raw period where such lofty status briefly fell in doubt.

We’ve all moved on. For our part, not necessarily in a positive way. But we’re friends again. And it all means that Parkinson is certainly not the villain that for a short time he was painted to be.

***

The achievements are long and impressive. Keeping City in League Two over 2011/12 when our Football League status was in huge doubt. Rebuilding the team to add so much character and bravery. Notts County, Watford, Burton, Wigan, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Swansea at Wembley in 2012/13. Halifax Town, Dartford, Millwall, Chelsea, Sunderland and a quarter final at Reading in 2014/15. The 2012/13 play off success. The comfortable adaption to life in League One. Year on year league position improvement, culminating in making the third tier play offs in 2015/16.

So many superb and memorable signings. Stephen Darby, Andrew Davies, Rory McArdle, James Meredith, Gary Jones, Nathan Doyle, Will Atkinson, Kyel Reid…

[10 minutes later]

…Filipe Morais, Gary Liddle, Billy Knott…

[20 more minutes later]

…Tony McMahon, Reece Burke, Josh Cullen.

Parkinson was the special one. A true statesman, who led the club with such confident assurance. He developed a clear understanding of just what a challenging Bradford City public demanded. And he built teams who could stand up to the pressure and embrace the expectation. He transformed the mentality of the club, introducing greater professionalism and higher all round standards.

Crucially, Parkinson offered up commendable levels of resilience. There were tough moments – the Crawley brawl of March 2012, one win in 21 over 2013/14, iffy starts to the 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons. But when the questions began to get louder, Parkinson always came back with answers. In Parkinson we trusted. And in Parkinson we were rewarded.

The above barely touches on the remarkable adventures of the near-five years under Parkinson. 274 matches in charge. 101 wins. A 75% rise in attendances. There’s a book that still needs to be written on such an amazing era for the club. He completely changed Bradford City’s fortunes.

Until he suddenly left.

***

I can still remember vividly the day the news broke. “It’s happening folks” where the immortal, scarcely believable words from Simon Parker, as he tweeted Parkinson was exiting Valley Parade for Bolton. Rumours had swirled a few days earlier, but they seemed too far fetched to be taken seriously. Parkinson to Bolton? The Bolton Wanderers outfit just relegated from Championship and in dire financial straits? Not a chance. No way.

But then he was off. And within a day or two he was paraded at the Macron Stadium as the new Bolton Wanderers manager. Why Phil, why? Journalists quizzed him over his reasoning at the unveiling press conference and he barely said anything beyond wanting a new challenge.

No words of sadness about leaving Valley Parade. No message for Bradford City supporters. From Bantam to Trotter without the slightest show of emotion. What on earth was happening?

It was hard to make sense of it, and as the coaching staff that Parkinson had assembled at Valley Parade decamped to Greater Manchester with him, Bradford City suddenly looked to be in a bit of trouble. Edin Rahic and Stefan Rupp had just bought the club a month earlier. Now they had no manager – and only kitman John Duckworth remained from off the field staff. There were just eight contracted players on the books. And the new season was just weeks away.

As City picked up the pieces, the bitterness began to grow. Stories emerged of Parkinson and team taking all the scouting files with them as they headed out the door. Players like Jamie Proctor, who had impressed on loan at City under Parkinson, were off to Bolton too. Attempts to keep the excellent young loanee Josh Cullen for a time fell in doubt, because Parkinson also wanted him.

Reality weighed down heavily. Parkinson was no longer the special one. He was a rival.

The conflicting emotions were huge. I wrote at the time about the surprisingly poor legacy of Parkinson. It was harsh angle and drew criticism, but it reflected how a lot of us felt at that moment. The way the optics of it all looked. I tried to balance it quickly by adding about the surprisingly strong legacy of Parkinson too, but it was hard not to feel let down by the ex-manager.

The bottom line was that Parkinson’s defection – and lack of emotion at leaving us – hurt every City fan.

The first reunion was in Bolton, in late September. More than 5,000 City fans made the journey. Pre-match talk centred on Parkinson and whether the away end should applaud or boo him. One of my best friends was so torn that he elected to go down to the concourse just before kick off and avoid it completely. He didn’t want to clap. He didn’t want to boo. He was completely torn.

As it was, most of us clapped him – and then got a proverbial slap in the face. No one had really thought about how Parkinson would react back to us. But as the sound of applause travelled his way, the reaction shocked everyone.

He, he…ignored us.

Something snapped in me. In others too. The game itself – a drab 0-0 – was almost completely overshadowed by Parkinson’s non-reaction. How could he look like he cared so little about us? What had we, as City fans, done to deserve this cold shoulder? Did the good times not mean the same to him as they had to us?

The debate continued all the way to that February re-match at Valley Parade. Parkinson finally spoke about City, via Parker and the T&A. Started to put things right. He hadn’t actually heard us applauding him that day, was his less-than-convincing claim.

As Parkinson stepped out at Valley Parade as Bolton manager that day, the City fan focus was purely on his replacement, Stuart McCall. Chants of admiration and love for Stuart, with Parkinson ignored. And when Charlie Wyke netted a quick fire double, a truly stunning Valley Parade atmosphere began even more special. “Parky, Parky what’s the score?” echoed around the ground. The half time whistle sounded. Bradford City 2 Bolton Wanderers 0. Take that Phil!

***

He was clever, of course he was clever. Just before the teams came back out for the second half, Parkinson emerged early to the dug out. He walked down the touchline and began clapping the Valley Parade crowd. The anger eased. The tension disappeared. We clapped back. Our guard dropped.

You could argue it helped Bolton come back. The hostile atmosphere was quelled, and Bolton scored twice to earn a 2-2 draw. All square, shake hands – but undeniably a missed opportunity. The race for automatic promotion continued, but Parkinson’s Bolton finished seven points ahead of McCall’s City to earn second spot. Play off final heartache awaited City, with Parkinson watching his old club lose at Wembley from inside the Sky Sports studio.

Parkinson was now a Championship manager. Bradford City were still a League One team.

Eventually the truth seeped out. The reality of what Rahic was doing to Bradford City began to become clear to all watchers. Here was a guy ripping up the structures of the club, driving good people away. Operating well beyond his own abilities to try and control the club on the field as well as off it. City were crumbling, and Rahic was the guy holding the sledgehammer.

In time, we learned why Parkinson had run a mile from this. How one meeting with Rahic – where the German’s transfer approach was outlined – was enough for Parkinson to realise his future must lay elsewhere. He didn’t want to rock the boat, and so saying nothing was better. Far be it from him to decry that Rahic’s way was wrong and would lead to Bradford City’s decline. Rahic’s strategy might very well have proven to be a good approach. It just wasn’t for Parkinson. It wasn’t how he operated.

So Parkinson left to work in an environment where he could manage in the way that he thought best. To preserve his reputation, to an extent. And yeah, he could have looked more sad at walking away from us. He could have done a better job at showing us that he did really care. But as the Rahic crisis grew deeper, there wouldn’t have been a City fan left who didn’t get why he walked away.

And that thawed any remaining resentment over how Parkinson left.

***

For both Parkinson and City, the path of separate lives has not been smooth. Parkinson performed small miracles at Bolton, but was never fully appreciated by Wanderers fans. Eventually he left, rocking up at a Sunderland outfit floundering in League One. Parkinson deserved a shot at a big club like Sunderland, but it didn’t work out. He failed, as did others, to take the Black Cats to promotion. His style of football wasn’t winning him friends or patience.

When in 2021 Parkinson dropped down to non-league to become Wrexham manager, there was a huge shock. You’re better than that, Phil. In time, as Wrexham’s rebirth under Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took shape, the fit has made a lot of sense. If you’ve watched the Welcome to Wrexham docu-series, you’ll have seen how Parkinson initially didn’t want to know – and that McElhenney virtually had to beg him to take the job.

Just as City were floundering as a club in 2011 – ripe for a reawakening – so too were Wrexham. Parkinson has worked a similar type of magic in North Wales, leading Wrexham to National League promotion last season, and even adding some more up giant killings along the way. And though many City supporters find aspects of Wrexham’s Hollywood rise distasteful, we can’t be anything but delighted for Parkinson.

Thanks to the Disney Plus series, Parkinson has become something of a global star. The on-running joke in the series – as they show lots of clips of him swearing during pre match and half time dressing room team talks – is a counter measuring Parkinson’s ‘passion’ levels. When he’s calmer and interviewed on camera about his approach to managing Wrexham, that stateman version of Parkinson we know and love so well is back. He gets what it all means to true Wrexham fans, just as he got what it all meant for us City fans.

While Parkinson’s career has been up and down since 2016, City’s path has been largely downwards. McCall did really well before he was unjustly sacked. What followed was Simon Grayson, Michael Collins, David Hopkin, Gary Bowyer, McCall again, Mark Trueman, Derek Adams and Mark Hughes. In the unlikely event the current managerial vacancy at Valley Parade is filled before Saturday, Parkinson will be coming up against the 10th different permanent Bradford City manager appointment since he left seven years ago.

This manager turnover has played out with City slumping down the pyramid. Back into League Two. Back to struggling for promotion. Back to exactly where they were when Parkinson took charge.

The Parkinson years at Bradford City will never be forgotten. And we know too – thanks to the brilliant efforts of Dom Newton-Collinge, Tom Fletcher, Katie Whyatt and Andy Taylor, who produced the superb When History Was Made film that was released in the summer – that Parkinson has not forgotten that special period either.

Parkinson had a starring role in the film. During the must-watch film he talks about how the atmosphere at the Arsenal game “will take some beating whatever we do in our careers”. On building a winning culture, “We made sure the players understood the club they were representing and the people they were representing.”

He admitted that just talking about the nights like Villa Park gives him Goosebumps. How his family were behind the goal that James Hanson scored in, and how they still talk about the atmosphere.

He reveals the Burton play off away leg was the best performance of any season he and Steve Parkin have ever been involved in and managed. And how his time at Valley Parade helped him to see just what a football club could do to a city – the way he would walk around Bradford and could sense people walking a bit taller.

“You could see people had just got pride in their team again.”

Parkinson will return to Valley Parade this time as the hero we badly miss. The guy who reset and fixed the club. The guy who gave us some of our greatest ever memories. The guy who supplied moments and emotions that we’ll be talking about until the day we die.

It wasn’t easy getting over Phil Parkinson leaving as Bradford City manager. And if we’re completely honest – we’re still not fully over it.

Categories: Opinion

Tags: BCAFC