By Jason McKeown

Valley Parade stands 17.4 miles to the east of Skipton. But Turf Moor lies only 19.4 miles to the west.

It’s a strange quirk of the Yorkshire town that a Lancashire football club is probably the most well-supported professional side in the area. And it’s an unusual situation that spills out across the surrounding Craven villages, plus the nearby town of Keighley. Without a local professional club to dominate the landscape, support is divided between Burnley, Leeds United and Bradford City.

As someone who has lived in these parts for most of my life, City-Burnley is a rivalry that has always meant more than it probably should.

Especially given how long it’s been since Bradford City and Burnley met competitively.

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Heading to the village bus stop to venture to Valley Parade as a teenager, I’ve got plenty of memories of being jeered by locals sporting claret and blue tops in the nearby pub. And if City had lost, they’d invariably still be there to mock you on the return journey home.

In school, there were far more Burnley fans than City. It’s a trend that’s continued into the world of work, where I never seem to be far away from needing to interact with a Burnley supporter. In Skipton, there used to be a popular Burnley supporters club that would meet on Newmarket Street. The local paper, the Craven Herald, used to feature a weekly Burnley FC column.  

It’s obviously hideously wrong. That people who live in white rose county pledge footballing allegiance to the red rose. How can they bring themselves to cross the Yorkshire-Lancashire border every other week to treacherously support those Dingles?

Give these people a chance to defend themselves, and they’ll probably mutter something about their dad or grandad supporting Burnley. But that’s only because Burnley happened to be one of the most successful teams in the country in the 1950 and 60s. Glory hunters from a different era. The Manchester City fans of their day.

Still, it could be worse.

At least they don’t support Leeds.

Because of this unusual situation, Burnley has always felt like more of a rival than geography or league tables might suggest. While plenty of City supporters saw Leeds United as the natural enemy, those of us growing up on the western edge of West Yorkshire spent just as much time debating football with Burnley fans.

Which is why the prospect of the two clubs meeting in the cup this week carries a special appeal.

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You have to go all the way back to 2004 for the last time Burnley and City locked horns outside of a friendly. It came towards the end of the 2003/04 season with City on the brink of dropping out of Division One (now the Championship) and Burnley battling to avoid the same fate.

The former City favourite Robbie Blake put Burnley 1-0 up after just eight minutes. Danny Cadamarteri equalised 10 minutes later.

It was the cue for a City onslaught.

They absolutely dominated and created chance after chance. But the Burnley keeper Brian Jensen had the game of his life. Then in injury time another former City player had a painful say – Ian Moore heading home the cruellest of Burnley winners. “I feel very sorry for the players, they put so much into the game and deserved better than to end up with nothing,” rued the-then City boss Bryan Robson.

It effectively relegated City. It effectively kept Burnley up. I was devastated. Worse still, I’d offered to give a Burnley fan a lift home from Valley Parade. He was not gracious. He was not sensitive. It was a long, long journey.

Moore’s goal that day completed a full changing of the guard. Whilst Burnley have a stronger history of success than the Bantams, in the 90s City had overtaken them as a top two division mainstay, whilst Burnley floundered in the bottom two leagues.

But at the same time City were relegated from the Premier League in 2001, Burnley were promoted to Division One. Cue three years of intense divisional rivalry, which was only ended that March 2004 day. City have not since played above League One level, whilst Burnley have remained in the top two divisions.

Still, for a while it was intense and fun.

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My first taste of a City-Burnley fixture was a September 2001 meeting at Valley Parade. The recently relegated Bantams had started life in Division One well and boasted a 100% record, plus a side packed with the talents of Benito Carbone, Ashley Ward, Gareth Whalley, Stuart McCall, Eion Jess, Gary Walsh and Robert Moleanaar.

But inspired by the wonderful Glen Little, Burnley took the lead three times and eventually won 3-2 with a late goal. They brought a huge following to Valley Parade who didn’t stop singing all afternoon. City lost, but it had been some occasion.

Later that season, a more downtrodden City – on their way towards a first spell in administration – drew 1-1 at Turf Moor on a night where Paul Gascoigne made his Burnley debut after making a shock (and ultimately short-lived) move to East Lancashire. Nicky Law wasn’t impressed with the presence of Gazza. “He has still got fantastic touches but he doesn’t have the legs to get beyond defenders and having to sit there in the hole, he didn’t really cause us any problems.”

All in all it was quiet stuff compared to the next meeting – Saturday 21 September 2002.

Or, to use its true name, Michael Proctor Day.

That was the game where Mike Dean controversially sent off two Bradford City players – Mark Bower and Cadamarteri – to incense Valley Parade. Cadamateri’s red card was especially controversial. He was accused of elbowing Burnley full back Dean West, when replays suggest he was hit in the face with the ball.

Cadamarteri fumed after, “I never touched their player and he knows it.” Manager Nicky Law went further. “Someone of West’s experience getting a fellow pro sent off is just not on.

“Afterwards he was running up the touchline and couldn’t look right towards the dug-out because he knows what he has done and was too embarrassed. There was nothing wrong with him and then he was making gestures and putting his tongue in his cheek. It’s disgraceful.

“Bower’s sending off was equally ridiculous. The linesman flagged prior to that because Papadopoulos had elbowed him in the face and yet he only finds that one as a yellow card – strange.”

Simon Parker’s T&A match report said of the aftermath to the second red card, “The ground threatened to explode.”

City were leading 1-0 at the time through Andy Gray, but Burnley’s two-man advantage allowed them to claw back and go 2-1 up through Blake (again) and Gareth Taylor.

But with City at their mercy, Burnley weirdly sat back rather than killed off the game. They passed it around with no urgency and invited City encouragement. Which is when, deep in stoppage time, Proctor sparked scenes of utter delirium by equalising against all odds. It brought some of the wildest scenes of celebrations the ground has ever seen. The ultimate siege mentality game.

Later that season, City – who had an amazing away record under Nicky Law that year – triumphed 2-0 at Turf Moor. Claus Jorgenson was in the midst of an incredible run of scoring in eight consecutive away games, which saw him go one short of matching the all-time record set by Everton legend Dixie Dean. The Dane got the opener here, with Andy Gray sealing three points. It was City’s only derby triumph during those three years of sharing a division with Burnley over this period.

Certainly the next meeting was Burnley’s day. It came early doors in the 2003/04 campaign, where the claret and blues smashed the claret and ambers 4-0 at the Turf, with Blake (again Blake!) amongst the scorers. Burnley legend Marlon Beresford was between the sticks for City. It was not a happy East Lancashire return.

It was another nail in the Nicky Law managerial coffin, and a worrying sign of more troubles ahead for the Bantams. Troubles that bring us back to that last meeting in Spring 2004, where Burnley pushed them further over the relegation edge.

Since that day, City and Burnley have inhabited different worlds. Meetings have been restricted to pre-season friendlies. And that all helps to make this upcoming meeting all the more interesting and exciting.

At least for those of us of a certain age.

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If you’re young – firstly, congratulations, enjoy it. If you’re young and live in Bradford, the idea of a City-Burnley rivalry might seem curious. And sure, there won’t be quite the edge to this cup tie compared to what some derbies carry.

But make no mistake, in a small corner of the world – the Skipton area – there are some major bragging rights at stake. Upcoming classroom, workplace and pub banter has an awful lot resting on Wednesday’s encounter.

For the sake of Skipton and Craven, please City – pull off an upset.

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