By Andy Carr
For me, Bradford City was not a team I chose to support. I was born in to it, and had it engrained in me from an early age.
For me, there was no choice.
I began going to games as a 6-year-old in the late 90s. A time where the club’s stock was certainly on the rise. Sitting bang on the halfway line in the Midland Road stand, with my Grandad to my left and my grandma to right. A cup of Bovril to keep me warm. In that moment, I knew that I was home.
We have all felt it. The goosebumps as you come out from the concourse and see Valley Parade sprawling in front of you. That glorious sight of the pitch. The wonderful sound of the fans. Seeing old friends talking, shaking hands and getting ready to be entertained.
During those early years of my attendance at games, I was spoiled. So many good memories. I enjoyed seeing City pit themselves against the best the Premier League had to offer.
That being said, straight after those incredible highs, I had to watch the agonising decay of the club I love. The sense of despair as it crumbled all around me. The very existence of the club in doubt. What was going to happen? Who would I support if they went bust? At 10 years old these were huge problems to me.
Following City in the subsequent years was a tale of mainly downward trajectory. Relegation after relegation. Poor season after poor season. But still, I would make the walk from Bolton Woods on a Saturday to watch my team, because despite results and frustrations there’s no where I would rather be at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon.
Valley Parade was home. And no matter how bad it got, or how bleak the future looked, it was where I was supposed to be.
That perseverance then paid off with exciting cup runs and a promotion. All of a sudden, the grey clouds that had hung over Valley Parade for so long seemed to be parting. Bradford City were on the rise once more. What a time to be alive!
But then, as quickly as those clouds parted, they came back with a vengeance. Promises of pushing back to the Premier League ultimately gave way to chaos and disappointment. Promises were broken, and with that trust was damaged. Upset and disappointment began to turn into resentment.
What has happened to my club? Why and how have we let this happen to us? What happens next? Where do we go from here? These are all questions I have been asking myself. And, to be bluntly honest, I always come back with no answers whatsoever.
Being a Bradford City supporter has never been plain sailing. Nor will it ever be. As the title of this piece suggests, its all peaks and troughs. Riding the wave of the good times long enough to get you through the bad times.
But right now this feels different
Our club is under the cosh. Fighting battles not only on the field, but upstairs in the boardroom. The hierarchy of our club seems to be in pieces, with no clear direction or vision towards the future. There has been nothing to help ease fans’ frustrations. The silence is deafening. This leads to supporters coming to their own conclusions, which have caused fractures and divides among the fanbase.
The once friends who sit next to each other and shared the matchday excitement now sit there in silence, divided by their own thoughts and feelings. This is not how it should be.
Like I have said in this piece, following Bradford City is all about the ups and downs. But even through those downs of the recent past, we as a fan base were largely still united. The current situation? Well that’s worse, because as a fanbase I have never seen us so fractured and divided. Change is not merely wanted right now, it is needed.
I for one want those goosebumps to come back. To feel as in love with the club as I felt when I was a kid.
I’m sure you do too.
Categories: Opinion
widthofapost.com 
I brought my boys up supporting city. “Get used to being disappointed” was my mantra! But as with any team there will be highs and lows. We still and always will support the city through thick and thin.
A really nice piece and thought-provoking.
I have often wondered about what it means to be a ‘supporter’. What does it actually betoken? Must it be a marriage for life or can it be a quick fling. Can you dally, like my grandson, with several clubs at the same time, currently Manchester City in this country but Liverpool not so long ago. If it’s the pursuit of pleasure that motivates you – then why not?
Like the writer I sort of inherited my club. It was there not far from my home when I was at an impressionable age and my father was happy to take me until I became old enough to go on my own. I loved the old ground, the unique colours, the players. Andy Carr encapsulates the feeling in the single image: goosebumps.
Bradford City’s team still tends to be the last thing on my mind at bedtime as I drift off to sleep, wrestling with team changes and tactical switches I might make. I wonder if this mirrors other supporters’ experiences.
Over 65 years there have been a few peaks and rather more troughs and at times it has seemed totally illogical and self-punishing to carry on. Yet, it is in my case after investing so much emotional capital impossible to give up. Once a Catholic … except this is a religion that does not promise salvation. It’s one that regales you in a claret and amber garment, that after a while can seem like a hair shirt, a symbol of self-sacrifice for the long sufferer.
When City made it to the Prem, suddenly everybody was wearing one. Friends and neighbours, blokes at the bus stop, barbers and postmen, all of whom you knew with certainty had never shown the slightest interest in the club, were overnight its fervent fans. The entire city seemed to sport the claret and amber and not just on match days. Of course, they’d never heard of Bronco or Banny, Flockett or Rackstraw, Jimmy Rollo or Jimmy Cuthbertson … Mitchell Downie and Ken Leek, Stowell and Stokes … the great players, the great triers, the great character, even though many were of an age to remember them if they had ever taken an interest. What did they know of the ground when it only had three sides because of subsidence or three floodlights standing or attendances barely reaching 2,000 after 7-nil defeats? Those who did have such painful memories welcomed the new hordes, thought the Millennium had arrived.
Most of the oftcumdens didn’t stay much beyond the fleeting glory years – but we can’t dismiss them, can we. The club needed them then – and would like them back again. They pursued a perfectly sensible course of buying a product that appealed to them. They should not be condemned for their transitory loyalty. They gave the club their tangible support, paying on the gate for something they wanted. Success can bring them out again.
Then there’s the other type, like the estimable Andy Carr, who began his apprenticeship at 6 and has stayed the course. To him the ‘fan base is fractured’ and change is urgently needed. Ominously he sees the current malaise as different from the others, thinks this is no ordinary trough. The Club must listen to voices like this and do something. I suspect Andy will stay on but a good many more from his generation and their sons and daughters may be lost if Bradford City continues to drift.
We have an absent owner and grossly inexperienced CEO who do not understand seemingly the first thing about running a football club. It is a unique type of business, yes, which has no guarantee of sucess, but they just seem to be patronising, belittling at times towards the fans.
You can accept to some extent the standard of football isn’t great, and hasn’t been for years, for various reasons we all know.
One thing, is the people in charge and who are making the big, long-term, strategic decisions are treating the fans like idiots, just thinking if they throw anything at us we’ll lap it up. I think a lot of fans are starting to see that now, and while the football un L2 under ML and JR was terrible, you had the feeling as fans they had more intelligence with how to speak to fans and how to handle certain situations, especially with Baldwin and Mason around.
Off the top of my head, in recent months –
• The whole Kadima episode and subsequent dismissal of discussing it at the last supporters board meeting
• Stefan Rupp’s only comment since a T&A interview two years ago being the distasteful and brainless ‘for the doubters’ instagram post after the Newport victory
• RS telling everyone GA was first choice, despite him still being employed at MKD two weeks after we fired Hughes. Come on, that’s really insulting to our intelligence
• The club’s charter saying we should hold two fans forums a season (which we do not) and we have the half-arsed compromise on BBC Leeds
• RS’ recent interviews in the T&A and ITV, the latter in particular just seems to have generated more anger, especially the comments about it being a dream job. It’s like giving a child a train driver job as it’s their dream
• Constant contradictions – ‘leaner and meaner’ squad size, then we have a squad of 30+ players, some on long contracts we’re desperate to offload
Combined with how they are wasting a lot of our money on hiring and firing managers and long contracts on plauyers (thanks Ryan for telling us how little Rupp has actually invested since December 2020), I don’t trust them with what they say, do and how they spend significant amounts of our income.
That’s the trust that’s errodiing, that the club is not in good hands.
Life is full of ups and downs, but it seems like we’re stuck in a never ending rut at the moment. It’s funny because I was just talking to my 10-year-old about this the other day. He’s been coming to games since he was 5, and he still loves it just as much. Yes, he’s disappointed in the results, but he looks forward to the next game. Ahh, the innocence of youth.
On the other hand, I’m seething, and it’s not even because of the performances on the pitch. It’s what goes on behind the scenes that infuriates me. We have no direction in anything. Every successful business (and let’s be honest, that’s exactly what we are to Rupp & Sparks) has an identity, a vision, and values. We change more than the wind. I feel for Sparks in some ways; he’s pretty much a fan living out Football Manager in real life, but he’s clearly out of his depth.
I have no doubt he’s trying his best for the club, but he’s not competent at his job. He has no vision, and he changes his mind depending on the mood in the stands. When things are going well, he’s quick to do an in-person Q&A. When things are going poorly, he stays away from people and vets questions. It’s all so obvious that it’s on the verge of being insulting.
Again, it’s nothing personal against the guy, but from a business perspective, he’s not a leader. He seems to take zero accountability and always pushes the blame onto others. What kind of leader goes on television and plays the victim? Until we have real leadership, a real vision, real values, and a real plan, and have the patience to see that plan through, I don’t see this trough ending. I just don’t think Sparks has the bottle of falling on the sword or Rupp having the interest in making a change. Our biggest loss in the last 10 years? In my opinion losing David Baldwin.
The true reality has now dropped in the junk mail inbox this season just like Mark Hughes CV, but unfortunately for him and his previous form at the highest level it has not worked out for promotion to then in desperation bring in a manager who was available and ready for the next challenge as they all are when they come to this big club ( Fan Based ) in a lower division, they all say the right things then after the Emperor’s New Clothes timeframe ends, we are where we are and let’s face it GA has not ripped up trees previously and has repeated the same results here as his last departure within the same timeframe, so I do not blame him this was a hard gig to follow and required some serious consideration from the board to get someone in with good experience of promotion from L2 whatever style of play by hook or crook.
Fans are disgruntled and were very quiet on Saturday against Wimbledon and rightly so, I am just worried that a divide within the club and fans is quietly creeping in unless results pick up.
I think it’s time now to sell the club and let someone else have a go who maybe interested in taking us forward, come on Stefan take the money and cut your losses for the sake of the future of Bradford City 🙏
Unfortunately I can’t see results changing dramatically between now and the end of the season. The loss of Walker and (even though we’ve seen little of him) Patto I think is huge. Hopefully that’s where we’re going to see the biggest change in the next window. Play through teams rather than trying to go over the top. I just hope we have the nerve to stick with GA for the remainder of this season.
Three codgers are we, one of us has been supporting since 1975, is other two since 1980. Long in the tooth but feel we’ve seen a thing or two over the years. I and my two ‘comrades in arms’ had a discussion about this EFL cup on Saturday surrounding whether we’d even bother going to Wembley should that opportunity arise. Trips to Wembley are supposed to be a celebration and a sense of hope, sometimes against the odds (Swansea). Our conclusion? I suppose we’d go but it would be a ‘day job’ and going because we feel we ought to and not because of any affiliation to this hideous cup. Never, in all our time supporting City have we ever felt so disaffected and separated from the club. We have even considered not renewing tickets next season. The likelihood is we will renew but, it would be with a sense of loyalty rather than enthusiasm. Please Ryan Sparks, do something to give the fans hope. Running a football club is more than being a ‘commercial success’. Unfortunately, our owner is not a fan of football so will not direct his efforts or enthusiasm towards propelling the club forward. Three balance sheet is important but looks at the amount of money thrown into the wind to pay off contracts. The salary of employing somebody in the David Baldwin category to take the club forward. You must get the supporters back onside, not by gimmicks such as under priced or free tickets for cup ties but with a long term strategy in place. Unfortunately, it may be too late for some supporters who may just have drifted away until the there are successes in the board.
I’ve been supporting City since 1962 and I am not a codger.
Another great article and the comments once again show the writer as got it spot on. The latest articles in WOAP are just mirroring how I feel and going by the conversations I’ve had how most city fans I know feel.
At times on social media our fans have always seemed a bit bipolar overly excited when we win a few and then overly negative when we lose a few, but this last few months things have just seemed different, things have seemed so much deeper. I think whilst we have been in the fourth division the fans have overall been amazingly patient. The fans have stuck behind them in ridiculous numbers. I honestly don’t think any other fan base averaging over 10,000 a game would have been as patient with their club stuck in the bottom division with no progress like we have.
I think after the club nearly went bust after the itv collapse for a long time supporters were understandably happy just to have a club to support, but since our troubles you look at clubs like Bolton, Portsmouth and Luton who has similar if not worse trouble than us and how they’ve progressed where as we’ve gone backwards if anything.
Some supporters say that historically the fourth division is our natural level but I hate that mindset, maybe with how Bradford underachieves as a city in general we’ve become accustomed to always accept second best, at times it feels like we are a big city population wise with a small village mentality. The club mirrors this, in the past when we only got attendances of 2000 then maybe we couldn’t complain about playing at this level, but the clubs grown and it’s unsurprising that expectation levels have risen as well.
Excellent post, superbly written Andy.
Your comments show the general feeling of most City fans I’m.sure.
We all appear to fear for our future under the present regime.
I’m sure you are right JT.
Geoffrey Richmond used to call Bradford the biggest village in the world. A rumour gets round the city in five minutes but to.drive round it takes an age!
It’s now amazing that lots of fans feel very disconnected to the club.
It’s also very worrying.
Soon.Rupp will recieve the open letter and 100s of signatures, courtesy of the Indrpendent Supporters Club.
Will it change anything?
“Its all about drawing and losing”….not sure who said that but it was very apt for where the Bantams find themselves today. I would love to have belief that with still a single figure gap to the play offs we could go on a run and make a miraculous recovery but nothing at the club gives me that belief at the moment. If Sparks thinks an appearance on Leeds radio will salve his conscience and be effective in answering fan disquiet, he is sadly mistaken. Get down to the St Georges Hall Sparky and face the fans in person and answer their queries properley. GA getting a lot of flak but there are really only a couple of culprits for where we find ourselves just now.
11/11/95. My 1st City game. FA Cup against Burton Albion. We won 4-3. I stood in the Kop with my mate who dragged me along ’cause he was too hungover to drive.
I was hooked. I’d found my club.
Peter Beagrie was my man. The tricks, the turns, the celebrations. I loved him.
I became a father and told my son he could support any team as long as they wore claret and amber and had a BD postcode. He found his club as well.
Mr Sparks and Mr Rupp, this is our club. Please don’t destroy it. 🙏
We have reached the point of no return for Sparks now. If Rupp is serious recovering his money back, he needs to invest in bringing in professional and experience to the back office. David Baldwin, a DOF & head of fitness just be the first items on his ‘to do list’. This will cost money, but it’s time for BCAFC to start acting like the ‘big club’ it projects itself to be.
Hate to say it but may be Derek Adams was right! Biggest crowds, but smallest club in the league.
Wednesday’s ‘fans forum’ with no fans will be the final nail. It will be the last in the line of the failed PR campaign to get support for Sparks. The pre-prepared Exclusives with the T&A, the ‘please be sorry for me, living my dream’ ITV interview and now a fans forum with no fans. It’s an insult to the supporter base.
The club is one game away from a Wembley final (tinpot cup yes but…) and let’s be honest the supporters are that jaded that the majority have no interest and don’t care.
Part of me thinks that sparks must realise that he’s that is job is untenable and he’s already gone. Just his actions over this last few months have seemed half hearted to me because when we’ve needed leadership he’s just hidden himself away. In my opinion we needed a proper fans forum with fans in attendance a couple of months back. Instead he’s just allowed the anger and discontent to build and grow, so it’s like he’s either just given up and doesn’t care or hasn’t got a clue about how the fans are feeling at the minute.
If he was serious at fighting for his job then the communication and the work to repair the damage he’s caused should have started months back, He’s got season tickets to sell soon.
The minute you become scared or unwilling to communicate with your customers in any business then it’s probably not going to end well.