By Jason McKeown
For the second Saturday in a row, Bradford City have been left kicking their heels after a late match postponement. But whilst there was plenty of controversy about calling off last Saturday’s away game at Barrow, this time there is little doubt it’s the right decision.
After yet another 24 hours of dreary winter rain, the Valley Parade pitch – already in something of a mess – appeared to be in no fit state to host a football match. Indeed, the only real question is why on earth they waited so long to declare the game was off. You have to feel for the Notts County fans who completed the 80-mile journey to West Yorkshire, only to discover it was all in vain. Given the extent the pitch looked unplayable, a verdict could surely have been delivered in the morning, before most of the visiting supporters set off. Just like last week, the timing of the match postponement does not reflect well on those involved with making a judgement.
For City, it’s a clearly blow for the game to be off. The momentum gained from three straight league wins – and an excellent performance in defeat, last time out, in the EFL Trophy – is slightly lost with two weeks of inaction. And given Notts County’s poor recent form, which included a midweek home defeat to bottom club Sutton, this seemed like the ideal time to host the pre-season favourites for the League Two title. City end Saturday afternoon eight points off the play offs, with two games in hand. It remains possible, but the scale of the task does look tougher.
Fitting in an extra midweek game is a problem too. If we don’t count the midweeks before and after Easter, where City have games on Good Friday and Easter Monday, there are only three blank Tuesday slots between now and the end of the season. Basically Tuesday 19 March, Tuesday 16 April and Tuesday 23 April.
Notts County already have a re-arranged match to play on 16 April, which means City will either play the Magpies in just over two weeks, or on the penultimate week of the season. Assuming it’s the latter (which seems more likely), it would mean City will end the season with two home games in a week. That could be fun, if City’s season is still alive then. But it does mean we face an even more congested run of fixtures between now and the end of the season.
What it also means is City really can’t afford any other postponements from here. The forecast does at least improve from Sunday, meaning Tuesday’s already re-arranged meeting with Doncaster Rovers should be on okay. The original aim of playing four home games in two weeks was always going to be a test of the Valley Parade surface. The last thing they need is for any of the Doncaster, Forest Green and Mansfield games to be called off.
There have to be serious questions asked about how it’s come to this. How has a pitch that underwent extensive work in the summer of 2022 turned into such a mess? A tough winter is part of the reason for sure. The decision to go ahead with the Stockport game in late December – when the weather was really poor in the build up – didn’t help. That night, City played on a pitch in a vulnerable state and the surface has not recovered since. The Salford home game in January was a similar situation – and completing that fixture added to the problems.
But still, it’s pretty embarrassing just how bad the state of the pitch is. It’s not exactly the case that winter only came to Bradford, and the rest of the country escaped the realities of challenging weather. Is there a pitch in the EFL as poor as the Valley Parade one? Why is our playing surface so much worse than everyone else’s?
Part of the answer comes back to the historic challenges of having a football stadium situated half way up a hill, in an open valley, in a city that is widely recognised as the highest in the UK. The fact that the ground’s two smallest stands are on the side of the open valley doesn’t helped either. The pitch is very exposed to the harshness of winter weather.
It’s not exactly the first season the Valley Parade pitch has proven problematic. The famous 2014/15 FA Cup run saw plenty of attention about the poor playing surface. Back in the 1998/99 season, which ended with promotion to the Premier League, the pitch was a big issue. From time to time, the club has put in a lot of investment into the playing surface to get it into a good state, but it doesn’t seem to be sustainable – at least with more run-of-the-mill, normal levels of maintenance.
It’s not easy, and as much as some fans are using this weekend’s postponement as another opportunity to have a go at Stefan Rupp and Ryan Sparks, it’s hardly the first time this has become a problem. The likes of Geoffrey Richmond, Julian Rhodes, Mark Lawn, Shaun Harvey, David Baldwin and James Mason have all faced this issue and received criticism for their supposed lack of action.
That all said, right now, I think it’s fair to say the club owes supporters a clear and fair explanation of what’s gone wrong with the pitch this season. Honesty would be nice, not excuses. At the end of the day, late postponements have all sorts of different impacts on supporters’ lives, and we deserve to know more about what’s happened here and the events that led to another late call off.
Equally, it would be good to have a bit more confidence in the club’s ability to complete their final seven home games this season. The weather should naturally improve as we finally move into Spring, but just how bad is the playing surface – and will it be able to cope with any further adverse weather from here? The rain of the last 24 hours was hardly so significant to normally cause a game to be called off. And so for this game to fall victim to the conditions does not offer us brilliant confidence about future bouts of bad weather.
Instead of pitting their wits against Notts County, the City players spent their Saturday afternoon training at Woodhouse Grove. And assuming Tuesday’s game goes ahead as planned, they will begin a period of playing 13 games in the space of 53 days.
In the meantime, as you wait for a game of football to watch and debate, please take a look at some of our articles this week if you’ve not had chance to read them.
The race for the League Two play offs is wide open – can Bradford City make it?
Can you win promotion without the ball?
Categories: Opinion
widthofapost.com 
The groundsman said pre-Christmas that the decision to play the Liverpool U21 cup game caused massive damage to the pitch which would take 2-3 months to recover (with decent weather). Guess he knows his stuff better than us know alls!
With wetter Winters being forecast by the ‘expert’s, is it time the EFL allowed 4G pitches?
Not long ago we’d played more matches than most: now fewer than many. Looking on the bright side, we will possibly have a couple of good players back from injury when we play Barrow and Notts County. Having a crowded fixture list can sometimes generate momentum. Had we been able to just about get a game on, it would have messed the pitch up even more. You have to feel
sorry for all fans, our own and the opposition’s, who were already in transit when the announcement was made. It’s a terrible feeling when the news comes in.
Its not the turf or underlay (?), nor the location on the valley side…
It was originally built on rubble, that was then filled in with cement…
I researched it as part of Geography A-Level essay 30 years ago. There is simply nowhere for water to go in a short period of time
I’ve not heard this explanation before and I am grateful for it. It would explain a lot.
Yes, I remember Edin Rahic referencing that in an interview, when they last had a run at fixing it in 2022. And the chat at the time was it was quite bad in the north west corner, due to a “shelf” below. He said they’d explore doing some excavations to deal with that, bit the cost and practicality of getting the necessaryheavy machinery into the ground were prohibitive.
The playing surface, quite frankly, is an absolute embarrassment. The state of the stadium and pitch is a reflection of this football club – we should absolutely consider a ground share for the remainder of the season. Let’s consider the facts; we don’t own the stadium yet it costs a small fortune to rent each season (therefore impacting the playing budget). The pitch can’t handle a small amount of Winter rain before turning into a bog by January…which impacts on the visual appeal of watching Bradford at home.
Why on earth do we persist on playing at VP? Just relocate and start afresh with a smaller stadium and a quality playing surface. We could create a more intimidating atmosphere in a packed 10k stadium and attract players that want to play football as a result.
Valley Parade is holding this club back and needs to be resolved as an absolute priority.
I totally agree, buying land in the local area with a better grass growing climate and then developing a brand new 10,000 seater stadium while adding the infrastructure for fans to attend would definitely push us forward, I also think that adding Haaland would be beneficial
In my opinion Mega, 10k would not be sufficient, I would say to double that.
Our average attendances of approx. 17k (allegedly) would back that up.
Add the occasional 20/22k ie play-off’s etc would justify that.
Totally agree VP is a noose around our necks. I love the place and I know it has extra significance for many including myself but we have to move on others or we have no club at all. This ground has been at the centre of our financial issues for years. The same goes for the Bulls at Odsal – it’s an absolute hole of a ground and I don’t care that 100k people once went there for a game.
Now don’t ask me who funds this or where it goes and I certainly wouldn’t trust the council to make it happen but we need a 20k (10k is too small) multi purpose new stadium for Bulls and City – Bradford Sports City or something similar. Build a big permanent memorial to the 56 at the VP site or the new place.
Look at Wigan, Huddersfield, Hull – they all do it in towns of a similar size – Bradford is not a big city (I know the geeks will tell me it is) – most of the people who live in skipton and ilkley that I know support Leeds. And half the city are not engaged with the football team at all. Its a large town, a run down and working class place – Leeds and Manchester have a big city feel, Bradford does not. And I don’t think visiting teams have ever felt intimidated at VP. Probably just A bit surprised at how big it is.
Let’s get real and move on.
Would it not cost far more to build a new ground than to buy back our existing one? In moving to a new ground might we not lose more supporters than we gained? Where might the new ground be sited, given the view that ‘half the city is not engaged’ with City? These, I think, are legitimate questions to raise whenever there is talk of relocation.
No NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!
ITS OUR HOME!!!!!
Another great debate taking us away from formations & results, but let’s face it this has been an issue since the new build of the main stand & kop for the Premiership days and unfortunately blocks a lot of sun out with the over hang however having said that this is also a land mark site now of our theatre of screams, sorry dreams 🤞🙏 across the City to view when driving around and is central for all to get to the stadium via car, train, bus or foot which I think should stay for all fair access to all and VP is a special place for 56 souls that we all stand proud in remembrance.
Time has moved on since the Premiership days and again we find ourselves in the bottom division with a Premiership Stadium, is the playing surface part of the reason to this ? Most Bradford fans know this was built on concrete and has had a few drainage seasons completed, but the reality is, it only has a shelf life of a season and if we get a bad winter with rain like this one it’s not fit for purpose, we are now living in 2024 surely they must be some drainage system that can be implemented to drain away successfully towards the Midland Rd end, I am no expert but have put guttering up at home and you put the drain on a slight decline towards the lowest point, it only can come down to one thing and that must be 💰 so we need to spend money on a pitch we don’t own and that’s the great debate.
All I can think of at a this moment in time is to start a go fund me page and fans can donate as and when they want with no pressure as everyone would not agree stating it’s a Club issue but it costs money the Club does not have to invest, so at least this way it would be a start for how long it took to raise the amount and you never know we may get support from other businesses in and around and the Club maybe impressed and add a substantial amount, even if this took 5 year or 10 year surely it would be worth it for the future of the Club.
so you want to ground share else where , which will incur costs and we would still have to pay the rent on VP, as contracted. Where is the money coming from to build this new stadium that will have half the capacity of the current ground and thus reducing income for the club, we have has many attendances of 20000 over the past few years.
Some people need to engage their brain before making comments that are way off the mark.
We are stuck with VP. We somehow need to regain ownership and then invest in the facilities.
This will cost money , but a lot less than uping sticks.
If the cost of season tickets has to rise to pay for this, then so be it. A gradual year on year increase, until we pay like most of the comparable football fans.
Ring fence this money towards this goal.
Unless a sugar daddy is on his way, which currently looks very unlikely.
This question will on the ground will come back when the latest lease expires in a couple of years. Sparks did say there is no plan to buy Valley Parade in the car crash interview on Radio Leeds. In hindsight maybe not buy a squad of 30+ substandard players and spend some money on the pitch. Next time around I would ensure the lease’s wording ensures that any improvements to the ground including the pitch is the landlord’s responsibility.
Is there a mitigation plan in case we can’t get games on like Newport the other year. We are at home a week on Tuesday again and while not heavy there is rain forecast from Saturday onwards.
Odsal the obvious option but could we enquire about whether Headingley could host games? For a lot of Bradford fans it might be easier for travel.
Interesting points raised by all.
Is VP the millstone holding us back?
Very much like renting a home, do you only do what’s necessary to live/stay there? The rent and operating costs have always been sky high.
Would a renegotiation be possible before the current deal runs out in a couple of years to help improve the financial picture?
Does the grounds staff team have enough bodies ? Does it have the correct equipment/training of staff?
Can supporters volunteer their time to help in any way? Is it worth asking for a second opinion, help from other grounds staff/sports around the country?
Where could you develop a shared ground that wouldn’t offend supporters from all sides of the sporting teams of Bradford? Only really Odsal would have enough space to do this plus parking. The council cannot even sort out a crumbling bus station so I wouldn’t even trust them to agree to any planning for it without some brown envelopes being passed around and it would then be massively over budget and outdated. Where indeed would the cost come from?
The short term is to try get the pitch ready for the next home game but the long term future of the club and its revenue stream need to be explored further. Sometimes I feel like there is no long term thinking and planning and that everything is for this season or next season. Not for 5 to 10 years etc. I appreciate its difficult not knowing what league you’re going to be in but you need a long term operating and footballing plan so that everyone is pushing towards the same goal.
Anyway, here’s hoping for a strong run in and that the two weeks off give our players a bit more freshness to push on towards the play offs.
Up the chickens !
We are ‘The Bantams’.
There has to be a clearly defined plan or aim laid out by the very top of the club.
We learned recently that survival in L2 and sustainability was the mandate given to our CEO by the owner.
That does not sell season tickets.
Surely we need an aim at the very least even.if the detail of that plan.is changed as we move through it.
Fail to plan.equals plan to fail.
Everybody knows that.
For every club the new season.has to be ‘The year’.
That applies equally to Manchester City and Hartlepool.
Can we please drop this bloody awful chicken thing. Harry Lewis is history and as Mark says we are the Bantams. Simon Parker still adds it to his T&A updates online and it’s pathetic really.
I didn’t like it even Lewis was here and don’t like it now.
We are the Bantams.
James Lovedale
One or two odd comments from folk regarding concrete under the pitch. As far from what I know over the years, from known publications etc the land that Valley Parade stands on was originally a small quarry worked out by the mid 1800s, purchased by the Midland Railway, then progressively filled in by tipping until the ground was rented by Manningham RFC, and levelled and tons of earth placed on top to provide a playing surface etc. Mid Victorian rubbish was dug up in 85 and 96 during construction works also backs this up. I think people are getting confused, as its known old footings from the 1908 main stand’s paddock, are under the edge of the pitch on the current main stand side, but only so far, probably only a few yards at best. Also, footings and foundations of the original Midland Road stand were removed in ’96, even though down the years the pitch had been moved between 54-66 on that side towards the main stand, hence the old paddock being reduced in size, around that period. (Hence the narrower Midland Rd stand) What I do believe from the pitch relaying a few years back, was that the deep drainage was not fully addressed, and it was also said that it had last been done 30 years previously, and it would have cost over 1M to do properly, and that is the true issue, despite the club spending 500k that Summer. Successive wet winters and then certain matches in bad weather have destroyed the top suface again, and it will happen every season until that work is properly seen to, and a modern hybrid pitch is laid, 30% fibre, 70% grass, like most Prem and Champ clubs have. Its nothing to do with concrete under the pitch.
Would under soil heating help? Or is that purely to prevent frozen pitches? Also it’s common knowledge that ICI in Huddersfield dumped a load of waste on the now new football ground before it’s construction!
I think undersoil heating is more for frost prevention, but most of the new generation hybrid type pitches that are laid at big grounds usually have it as well anyway. It certainly wouldn’t harm it. I’ve also had in the back of my since posting , that hundreds of tons of Victorian rubbish compacted down wouldn’t be ideal for drainage either, I suspect not being very porous, Obviously concrete/cement that people have suggested isn’t that great also! Funnily enough, I did an article for the City Gent when The then Named Mcalpine stadium opened, on that very subject! There was actually a mill on the stadium site that was taken over by ICI just on the outbreak of WW2 to make base chemical components for RUNCOL A and RUNCOL B , ICI code name for Their Mustard Gas programme. I have seen published ariel photos of railway tank wagons in the sidings aside the mill. It was then taken across to ICI Wigg Island at Runcorn for the mixing process, and then stored in a highly secret depot at Rhydymwym near Mold in North Wales, not far from me as I write this, for distribution to Forward Filling depots if needed. 20000 tons of the stuff. It was only finally disposed of in the early 50’s. So, yes, Town’s then lovely new ground was built on a mill that produced Chemical Weapons!