History
Bradford City were formed in 1903 as a result of a series of meetings called by James Whyte, a sub-editor of the Bradford Observer, with Football Association representatives and officials at Manningham F.C., a rugby league side.[2] The Football League saw the invitation as a chance to promote association football in the rugby league-dominated county of the West Riding of Yorkshire. It duly elected the new club into the Second Division, in place of Doncaster Rovers. Four days later, at the 23rd annual meeting of Manningham FC, the committee decided to change codes from rugby league to association football. Bradford City Association Football Club were formed without having played a game, taking over Manningham's colours of claret and amber, and their Valley Parade ground.[3]
Robert Campbell was appointed the club's first manager and with the help of the new committee, he assembled a playing squad at the cost of £917 10s 0d.[4][5] City's first game was a 2–0 defeat at Grimsby Town on 1 September 1903,[6] six days before their first home game attracted 11,000 fans.[7] The club finished 10th in their first season.[5] Peter O'Rourke took over as manager in November 1905, and he led City to the Second Division title in 1907–08 and with it promotion to the First Division.[8] Having narrowly avoided relegation in their first season in the top flight, City recorded their highest finish of 5th in 1910–11.[9] The same season they won the FA Cup, when a goal from captain Jimmy Speirs won the final replay against Newcastle United.[10] City's defence of the cup, which included the first Bradford derby against Bradford Park Avenue, was stopped by Barnsley after a run of 12 consecutive clean sheets.[11][12]
City remained in the top flight in the period up to the First World War and for three seasons afterwards, but were relegated in 1921–22 along with Manchester United.[13][14] Back in the Second Division, attendances dropped and City struggled for form,[15] with five consecutive finishes in the bottom half of the table. They suffered a second relegation to the Third Division (North) in 1926–27.[13] Two seasons later, O'Rourke, who had initially retired in 1921 following the death of his son, returned and guided City to promotion with a record haul of 128 goals.[8][16] O'Rourke left for a second time after one more season, and although City spent a total of eight seasons back in the Second Division, they rarely looked like earning promotion back to the top flight. Instead in
After the war, City went through two managers in the first two seasons,[19] and were consistently in the bottom half of the Third Division (North) table until 1955–56. After three successive top half finishes,[20] City were placed in the new national Third Division in 1958–59. Bradford spent just three seasons in the Third Division, but during their relegation season in 1960–61,[21] they upset First Division side Manchester United in the inaugural season of the League Cup.[22] With 34 goals from David Layne, City nearly earned promotion the following season 1961–62, but did also suffer a record 9–1 defeat to Colchester United.[21] Layne left for Sheffield Wednesday,[23]
City failed to win promotion for three successive seasons, until the board appointed former England centre back Roy McFarland as manager in May 1981. McFarland won promotion in his first season, but was poached by his former club Derby County just six months later.[25] City won compensation from Derby and installed another England international Trevor Cherry as McFarland's replacement.[26] Cherry, with former teammate Terry Yorath as his assistant manager, failed to win for two months, but eventually the pair guided City to safety from relegation.[27] During the summer, however, the club chairman Bob Martin had to call in the official receivers. The club was saved by former chairman Stafford Heginbotham and former board member Jack Tordoff, but to ensure the club could start the new season, prize asset, striker Bobby Campbell was sold to Derby. City struggled but so did Campbell, and when he returned, the club went on a record run of ten successive victories. Although they missed out on promotion, City won the league the following season 1984–85, to return to the second tier of the Football League. However, City's triumph was overshadowed when the main stand at Valley Parade caught fire during the final game of the season, killing 56 people.[28]
City played games away from Valley Parade for 19 months.[29] But just ten days after the new £2.6 million ground was opened, Cherry was sacked.[30] His replacement, Terry Dolan, steered City away from possible relegation,[31] before he mounted a promotion challenge the following season. City went top of the table in September 1987, but fell away during Christmas and missed out on promotion on the final day of the season. Instead, they entered the play-offs but were defeated in the semi-finals by Middlesbrough.[32] Two years later City were relegated back to the Third Division. For three seasons, City finished mid-table in the third tier, which was renamed Division Two following the formation of the Premier League in 1992.
In January 1994, Geoffrey Richmond came from Scarborough to take over as chairman,[33] and promised to guide City to the Premier League within five years. He cleared the debts and after four months sacked manager Frank Stapleton to appoint his own manager, Lennie Lawrence.[33] Lawrence left after little more than a year to join Luton Town but his successor, Chris Kamara, took City to the play-offs and their first game at Wembley Stadium. They defeated Notts County 2–0 in the final to earn promotion to Division One.[33] City avoided relegation the following season by winning their last two league games, 1–0 against Charlton Athletic and then beating Queens Park Rangers 3–0 on the final day of the season, but Kamara was sacked in January 1998.[34][35]
However, Jewell left shortly afterwards. His assistant Chris Hutchings was promoted to the manager's position,[39] and despite a series of new expensive signings,[40][41] he was sacked by November 2000, with City second from bottom of the league.[42] Jim Jefferies took over but could not save the club from relegation.[43][44] At the end of the first season back in Division One, City were placed in administration with debts of nearly £13 million.[45] Two years later, the club suffered a second spell in administration and a second relegation.[46]
In September 2011, the club became linked with American amateur side SC United Bantams.[53]
In January 2013, City became the first club from the fourth tier of English football since Rochdale in 1962 to reach the League Cup final, and the first fourth tier club ever to reach a major Wembley Cup final. They defeated three Premier League sides en route to the final – Wigan Athletic 4–2 on penalties in the fourth round, Arsenal 3–2 on penalties in the quarter-finals and Aston Villa 4–3 on aggregate over the two legs of the semi-final. They met Premier League side Swansea City in the final at Wembley but lost 5–0.[54] The run to the final is thought to have been worth at least £1.3 million to the club, with joint chairman Mark Lawn stating that the final itself could be worth an additional £1 million, taking the club's total earnings to £2.3 million during their cup campaign.[55] On 18 May 2013, the club returned to Wembley where they defeated Northampton Town 3–0 in the League Two play-off final to secure a place in League One for 2013–14.[56]
On 24 January 2015, Bradford City caused an upset by beating Premiership leaders Chelsea 4–2 away in the FA Cup. The victory sent Bradford through to the fifth round for the first time in eighteen years.[57] They beat Sunderland, another Premier League club, 2–0 at home in the next round on 15 February 2015.[58] In the quarter-finals, the Bantams faced Reading at home, in a game that ended in a goalless draw. The replay was played on 16 March 2015 at the Madejski Stadium, where Reading won 3–0.[59][60]
The club was relegated to League Two at the end of the 2018–19 season.[61]
In December 2021, the club was approached by American investors known as WAGMI United (who use cryptocurrency and NFTs) about a possible buyout.[62] The offer was rejected.[63]
On 24 February 2022, Mark Hughes was appointed manager of the club on a contract until the summer of 2024.[64][65] He was sacked on 4 October 2023, with player Kevin McDonald becoming player-caretaker manager.[66] Later that month, assistant manager Mark Trueman replaced McDonald as caretaker manager.[67] On 6 November, Graham Alexander was signed as manager until the end of the 2026–27 season, with Chris Lucketti as assistant manager.[68]
Bradford City were promoted to League One on the last day of the 2024–25 EFL season after their victory over Fleetwood Town which secured the third-place promotion place.[69]
