By Jason McKeown  

Saturday’s Bradford City triumph over Leyton Orient at Valley Parade had an unlikely driving force.

Anger.

So here’s my question to you – did the anger you felt at referee Ollie Yates on Saturday spoil your afternoon, or make it better?

It might sound like a stupid question at first glance. Yates seemingly did everything he could to spoil the day. And who wants to get worked up and angry?

But the outpouring of fury the hapless ref triggered did have some positive effects. It brought the Valley Parade crowd together with the team and heightened our engagement with the match.

Anger isn’t a helpful emotion most of the time. In our own lives, getting angry at someone or something usually leads to regret. Even if you were given justified reason to be upset, it never feels nice to look back on losing your temper. The damage can be huge.

But watching a football match? Getting angry rarely has any consequences. It isn’t something you wake up the next morning feeling remorseful about. It’s an environment to let things out. You can’t scream and swear at people in the street. But at referees like Yates, you can let rip – and thousands join in with you.

We all hate a bad referee, but on some weird level it’s also kind of fun to be outraged by appalling officiating. It connects you to the game, inviting you to be active in events rather than a passive spectator. It stokes the atmosphere. It encourages you to get behind the lads. And when the players overcome the considerable hurdle of a referee getting it wrong, the joy is even greater.

After 74 minutes on Saturday, City were toiling hard but struggling to overcome a resolute Leyton Orient side. The red card to Aden Baldwin seemed to boost the visitors’ hopes of claiming something.

But it changed the game in an unexpected way. Instead of giving Orient the upper hand, it completely galvanised Bradford City and their frothing public.

It generated a loud, frenzied atmosphere as the crowd roared on the players. City completely dominated the rest of the game, despite having one fewer player – even after they’d scored and might have been expected to retreat into a defensive holding job.

It was a truly extraordinary end to the game.

City found higher gears. The crowd found another volume level.

Valley Parade became a cocoon of anger, fuelling resilience and determination.

Orient could not live with them. In hindsight, they would probably have had a better chance of claiming something had Yates not taken the action he did.

Of course there is another multiverse on Saturday where Yates does his job properly. He sends off Josh Koroma – if not for the awful tackle on Bobby Pointon, then a second yellow for the kick on Curtis Tilt. City build on their one-goal and one-man advantage to win much more comfortably. It would have made for a calmer, less blood-pressure-raising afternoon for all of us.

But it would probably have been much more quickly forgotten.

Instead, we were served a huge pile of injustice that brought us together in a special and meaningful way. And in a season of many good atmospheres – but quieter some weeks – the noise in the final 15 minutes was as raucous a Valley Parade occasion as we’ve experienced since Fleetwood last season.

And going through such a special moment could have huge consequences. Valley Parade flickered into full life, and with 11 games to go it seems likely this is just the start.

This time a year ago, City were in the thick of their League Two promotion run-in and there were some huge Valley Parade occasions that will live long in the memory. The 4-1 smashing of Colchester. The 2-0 success over Crewe. And of course, that astonishing final-day drama.

Each home game became a huge occasion where everyone turned up determined to play their part. It was so special.

We could be about to see a repeat. With a play-off place to claim, City have five huge games left at Valley Parade – three of them against top-six rivals. The players will need to continue their brilliant home form.

And us fans – we’ll need to do our bit too.

Saturday’s final 15 minutes underlined this. When the team needed us, we absolutely stepped up to create an intimidating cauldron of atmosphere that helped the players bridge the one-man deficit.

The mission is simple – do it again.

If last season is anything to go by, these players will respond to that kind of backing. And if they do, Valley Parade could yet host a few more special afternoons before this season is done.

So maybe the anger at Ollie Yates didn’t spoil Saturday after all.

Maybe it unlocked that extra level of just how much this place can rock when everyone truly pulls in the same direction.

Because if City are going to finish inside the play-offs, moments like those final 15 minutes might just prove the difference.

Categories: Opinion

Tags: BCAFC