Bradford City
| Bradford City | |||
| Basic data | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Surname | Bradford City Association Football Club |
||
| Seat | Bradford , England | ||
| founding | 1903 | ||
| Board | Stefan Rupp | ||
| Website | bradfordcityfc.co.uk | ||
| First soccer team | |||
| Head coach | Stuart McCall | ||
| Venue | Northern Commercials Stadium | ||
| Places | 25,136 | ||
| league | EFL League Two | ||
| 2019/20 | 9th place | ||
|
|||
Bradford City (officially: Bradford City Association Football Club ) - also known as The Bantams - is an English football club from Bradford and plays its home games at the Northern Commercials Stadium .
history
Originally the club was known as Manningham , rugby club and founding member of the Northern Rugby Union . They left in the season 1903/04 to rugby, to join the association football (after the addition Association , ie association was added to our club title). In 1903, the club then received an invitation to join the Football League , which in turn wanted to establish football in a rugby-dominated region, although Bradford City did not have a team at the time of the invitation.
Bradford's kit colors are burgundy with amber stripes and black shorts. This unique combination in English football usually has a very polarizing effect and won both the best and worst jersey awards in one year.
The club's nickname is "The Bantams " and goes back to a legend according to which a chicken was struck by the players' bus while the team was on its way to the FA Cup final in 1911 . When Bradford won the final in the replay on April 26 against Newcastle United 1-0 (first game 0-0), the club decided to name themselves after the event. According to another version, the name refers to an early version of the shirt that created a visual association with it. Bradford was also able to record its previous visitor record in this cup season: 39,146 spectators came to the four-round match against Burnley FC .
After the neighboring club and city rival Bradford Park Avenue is no longer active in professional football, the biggest local competitors are Leeds United , Huddersfield Town , and Halifax Town , and to a lesser extent also Sheffield United , Sheffield Wednesday and Barnsley FC . Games against these teams produced both great sporting moments and tragedies, as demonstrated by the example of the 1996/97 season. On February 1, 1997, Huddersfield Town defender Kevin Gray broke the leg of Bradford City striker Gordon Watson twice with a tough tackle from the side . At the time, Watson was the club's most expensive purchase with a transfer fee of £ 550,000 and had only played two games before. After a 15 cm long metal plate had to be fixed in the leg with seven screws, Watson was only able to return two years and five operations later, only to have to leave the club after only a few games. In January 1998, Watson was the second player in history to obtain £ 950,000 in compensation in Leeds for what became known as "The Most Expensive Tackle in British Football and Court History". The return leg against Huddersfield was again interesting from a sporting point of view, as a good performance by Bradford ensured the interim 3-0 lead, including a directly converted corner from former England international Chris Waddle . However, the game turned and Huddersfield was able to equalize 3: 3.
One of the greatest successes of the recent past is the double win against Huddersfield Town in one season. In the 2005/06 season, however, the club lost in the home game against Huddersfield. Since winning the FA Cup in 1911, the club has had less success. Bradford City was relegated to the minor leagues early on and played in the Third Division and Fourth Division from the 1940s to the 1970s .
A tragedy befell the club on May 11, 1985, when the main stand went up in flames and 56 spectators lost their lives. This was one of the greatest stadium disasters in British history. On the same day, the club had celebrated promotion to the Second Division in order to be able to play there for the first time since 1937 (see also Valley Parade fire disaster ).
Bradford City has had mixed success since then. They rose to the Premier League in May 1999 and played there in the following two seasons before they had to relegate back to the second division. The league in the first season was celebrated with a reception in Bradford and a car parade. At the same time, however, the financial problems of the club increased due to the higher budget and after the first division relegation the club faced bankruptcy in 2003 and 2004 . The need for austerity then led to a further relegation to the third division, from which the club was relegated in 2007 to the fourth-highest division Football League Two .
In the 2012/13 season , the club reached the final of the League Cup as the first fourth division since Rochdale in 1962 . On the way there, the first division side Wigan Athletic (away 2-4 on penalties), Arsenal (at home 3-2 on penalties) and Aston Villa (total score 4: 3) were defeated. In the final, Bradford City was clearly defeated by the first division club Swansea City 5-0. In the same season, after a playoff win against Northampton Town, they were promoted to EFL League One .
Similar to the successes in the League Cup two years earlier, the FA Cup 2014/15 won victories over clubs from the Premier League. In the fourth main round Bradford City won against Chelsea FC 4-2 at Stamford Bridge , in the following round Sunderland could be defeated 2-0 at home. In the quarter-finals, City was eliminated 3-0 away from the second division FC Reading.
League affiliation
- 1903–1908: Football League Second Division
- 1908-1922: Football League First Division
- 1922–1927: Football League Second Division
- 1927–1929: Football League Third Division
- 1929-1937: Football League Second Division
- 1937–1961: Football League Third Division
- 1961–1969: Football League Fourth Division
- 1969–1972: Football League Third Division
- 1972–1977: Football League Fourth Division
- 1977–1978: Football League Third Division
- 1978–1982: Football League Fourth Division
- 1982–1985: Football League Third Division
- 1985–1990: Football League Second Division
- 1990-1992: Football League Third Division
- 1992–1996: Football League Second Division
- 1996–1999: Football League First Division
- 1999-2001: FA Premier League
- 2001-2004: Football League First Division
- 2004-2007: EFL League One
- 2007-2013: Football League Two
- 2013-2019: EFL League One
- 2019- : Football League Two
successes
Partnerships
There is a partnership with the US club SC United Bantams, who play in the USL Premier Development League .
Web links
- Official Site of Bradford City FC (English)