Bradford City Football Club

Bradford City Football Club was founded and admitted to the League in 1903 having never played as a football team.  It was originally Manningham Rugby Club and a fairly successful one at that.

Alan Biggin FCA
Bradford City Football Club

The Club’s most successful period was in the Edwardian era which to a large extent mirrored the success of the City it takes its name from and was the English Cup winner in 1911.  In those far off days Bradford claimed two successful premier division club teams in Bradford (Park Avenue) and Bradford City. 

The first world was the water shed and from that date and during most of the 20th century the club struggled both performance wise and financially.

Towards the end of this century the club recaptured its golden days and during the 1990s became a member of the English elite Premier League for two seasons after a never to be forgotten success at Molyneux to win promotion.

Unfortunately this 2 year sojourn in the Premier League ended in financial Armageddon with the club entering into administration with a combined debt of over £30 million.  A salutory lesson for all concerned.

However after a decade in the “doldrums” at the beginning of the 21st century the club’s star shone once again culminating in promotion to the First Division and a never to be forgotten experience of achieving a Wembley final in the Capital One Cup, which could only be equalled by that 1911 cup winning performance all those years ago.

Unfortunately and how many times in professional football in Bradford has that prefixed a sentence, the club has again experienced some turbulent times!  On a positive note as always however being a devotee of Bradford City AFC can never be described as boring, as we always look for that silver cloud set against the dark clouds that intermittently threaten us?

In more recent times, despite a plethora of celebrated and not so celebrated managers, the club has mostly tread water with a possibility of a promotion season tantalisingly near, but in reality a triumph of hope over expectation.