By Karen Bennett

I don’t think anything will ever come close to the elation I felt singing at the Bradford City promotion victory parade in Centenary Square, 6 May 2025. Singing a solo to around twenty thousand fellow city fans was the kind of stuff dreams are made of.  Wearing a claret and amber “we’re on our way” bucket hat in front of a crowd waving flags and brandishing smoke bombs made me feel like I was a headline act at Glastonbury. 

The best part was this I was singing one of the crowd’s favourite songs. As they repeated a chorus back to us, “Take me home Midland Road, to the place I belong” it only exacerbated that pop star vibe – they loved our music!

I never had a club to support growing up. I wasn’t taken along to my dad’s club.  When I was 13, Euro ’96 fever swept the country and I totally fell in love with the beautiful game. I yearned to have a love for a local club like I saw others have. I grew up in Dartford, Kent. All of my friends supported different teams – mainly in London, but nothing really drew me in. 

After moving to Bradford in my early twenties, I soon made friends with many Bantams fans and started going along to the odd game with them. I finally started to feel that love and attachment to declare myself a Bradford City fan and that love was confirmed when I went to Wembley in February 2013 for the Football League Cup Final. I soon became pregnant with my son Laurie and so when he was born, I had to take a little hiatus from going to the game. I still followed the team, but just couldn’t get myself down to Valley Parade. 

When Laurie turned 7, I decided we had waited long enough to get him his first season ticket. I’ve brought him up on his own since he was born and feel that without a dad around, it’s my job to take him along to his local team and watch the love blossom. I didn’t want him to miss out like I did. 

Let’s not beat around the bush, the first three seasons were bloody hard! There were seldom wins to celebrate and I was beginning to worry that love between my Laurie and Bradford City would never grow. Week by week we’d walk back along Midland Road with his head hanging down, disappointed with another result. I was determined I’d get him to love his local side and grow up with a sense of passion and pride.

The 2024/25 season started much the same, but Laurie was older now and enjoyed the games so much more. When I found out about the ‘Bantam of the Opera’ project I just knew I had to apply! I used to work as a Butlins’ Redcoat and loved being up on stage performing. Although I’d never done anything classical – let along opera!  These days my performing doesn’t really get more exciting than a bit of Bonnie Tyler on Karaoke. 

The BBC asked in the application what my motivation for joining the choir was and it really made me think about what being a Bradford City fan means to me.

Football is a gel that brings mine and my son’s relationship closer together like nothing else. It’s our thing. We go to all the home games and this season even started doing a few away days (he really gets into some of those chants not suitable for the family stand!)

We talk team news, tactics, console each other through the loses and celebrate when results go our way. After every goal we embrace tighter than any other time.  Throughout that 90 minutes we watch that game together. In my quest to give him the football childhood I never had, I’ve become a much bigger Bradford City fan and finally found that passion for a team my 13-year-old self longed for!

So, when Kammy called out for Bantams to come and sing opera, I applied straightway and was delighted when I’d been selected. Laurie was excited too! 

The whole experience has surpassed any expectations I had. As a choir we’ve all grown so close. There’s a genuine level of support and encouragement too. We celebrate our successes and put an arm around each other when there are tough moments. 

Many of our group were directly affected by the fire in ’85 and for those of us who weren’t there or who didn’t lose loved ones, we’re right there with that support. We have a lot of fun too! Every rehearsal is an absolute scream, and we continue to build close connections on a very busy WhatsApp Group or at pre/post-performance drinks! 

Like any Bantam, Saturday 3 May will forever be etched in my memory. The day meant so much more to me because I am part of the choir, however. Laurie and I bumped into fellow singers along the march to the stadium via Manningham Lane. That sense of togetherness you get when walking with people who wear the same colours of you is amazing, but when those people are also in a choir with you, it’s a feeling that can’t be beaten.

Singing at half time was an honour. We were asked to do a rendition of Midland Road to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the disaster and Lesley Garrett and Chris Kamara joined us on the pitch. Of course we were all a bit nervous, probably more for the end result, rather than the performance, but we had each other’s backs, and the team spirit was high! It went down a treat and I’ve probably re-watched it about 90 (+6) times!

That second half was rather difficult, wasn’t it? Especially when news travelled around the terraces that Walsall had scored. It just felt like it wasn’t going to be our day. Time ticked down and it felt like we’d blown it. When the goal finally trickled into the back of the net jubilation was high around the ground, of course I reached for Laurie and gave him that tight hug I always give when we score, but on this day I had 49 other city family members to celebrate with too. (Of course, it was quite hard to see the goal down in the TL Dallas – our temporary home for the day – we had to rely on the Kop’s reaction!)

We waited in anticipation for that final whistle after what seemed an eternity and when Depeche Mode blared out around the stadium, I grabbed Laurie’s hand and raced to the pitch! We bumped into so many other Bantams singers out there and I just grabbed them and jumped around for joy. Had we been in our usual seats up in the top tier of the family stand we would have had to settle for watching from above. I am so glad we got to experience the carnage of the pitch invasion and with such good friends too.

Our project is nowhere near done and we have some very special gigs coming up. As a group, we’re already planning some away days next year and where we can meet before and after the game! One thing for sure is: I’ve made 49 new mates for life and become an even bigger Bantams fan in the process.

And after that weekend we’ve just had, Laurie’s love for Bradford City has been cemented. 

Categories: Opinion

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