Bradford City A.F.C.
Bradford City ( officially: Bradford Association Football Club ) - also known as The Bantams - is an English football club based in Bradford and plays its home games at the Coral Windows Stadium (formerly Valley Parade ) from.
History
Originally, the club was known as Manningham Rugby Club and a founding member of the Northern Rugby Union. They left the rugby during the 1903 /04 season in order to join the association football ( after which the additional Association, so dressing was included in the team title ). In 1903 the club, then received an invitation to the Football League to join, in turn, wanted to establish football in a rugby - dominated region, although Bradford City yet, at the time of the invitation on any team.
Bradford's jersey colors are burgundy with bernsteinfarbenenen stripes and black shorts. This unique combination in English football usually has strong polarizing and won in a year, both to award the best and the worst jerseys.
The nickname of the club is "The Bantams " and goes back to a legend according to which a chicken was captured by the Spielerbus, when the team was in 1911 on the way to the FA Cup final. As Bradford in the final replay on April 26 against Newcastle United won 1-0 ( first game 0-0), the association decided to rename itself after the event. According to another version, the name refers to an early version of jersey that caused a visual association to do so. In this Cup season Bradford was also recorded his previous attendance record: In the fourth- round match against Burnley 39 146 spectators came.
After the neighboring club and city rivals Bradford Park Avenue is no longer active now in professional football, the biggest local rivals Leeds United, Huddersfield Town and Halifax Town, and to a lesser extent, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday and Barnsley FC. Games against these teams have both great sports moments and tragedies brought forth as the example of the 1996/97 season was clear. On 1 February 1997 broke Kevin Gray, Defender of Huddersfield Town, with a hard tackle from the side of the Bradford City striker Gordon Watson twice the leg. Watson was at this time with a release of 550,000 pounds of the most expensive shopping of the Association and had previously only played two games. After a 15 cm long metal plate in his leg had to be secured by seven screws, Watson was allowed to return only two years and five surgeries later, but then having to leave the club permanently after only a few games. In January 1998, Watson was in court in Leeds obtain as the second player in the history of pain and suffering of 950,000 pounds, which was known as " The most expensive tackle in British football and legal history ". The return leg against Huddersfield was back in terms of sport, interesting as a good performance of Bradford provided the interim 3-0 lead, including a directly transformed corner of the former England international Chris Waddle. The game turned, however, and Huddersfield was still able to compensate to 3:3.
As one of the biggest successes of the recent past, the two-time win against Huddersfield Town is considered in a season. In the 2005/06 season but the club lost at home to Huddersfield. Since the profit of the FA Cup in 1911, the club had less success. Bradford City rose from early in the minor leagues and played consistently since the 1940s to the 1970s in the Third Division and the Fourth Division.
A tragedy befell the club on 11 May 1985, when the grandstand burst into flames and 56 spectators lost their lives. This was one of the biggest stadium disaster in British history. On the same day the club was promoted to the Second Division celebrated to play there for the first time since 1937. (see also Valley Parade fire disaster. )
Bradford City had since changing success. They climbed in May 1999 in the Premier League and played there in the next two seasons, before they had to go back to the second division. The relegation in the first season was here celebrated with a reception in Bradford and a motorcade. At the same time, however, there were increasing due to the higher budgets the financial problems of the club and after Erstligaabstieg stood the club in the years 2003 and 2004, before the bankruptcy. The necessities of budget cuts then led to a further relegation to the third tier from which the club in 2007 and since then also descended plays in the fourth- highest division Football League Two.
In the 2012/13 season the club reached the final of the League Cup. On the way, among other things, the first division Wigan Athletic ( outward 2:4 on penalties ), Arsenal ( home 3-2 on penalties ) and Aston Villa ( total score 4-3 ) were defeated. In the finals, but Bradford City succumbed to the first division club Swansea City clearly with 0:5.
Squad for the season 2013/14
(Updated: October 4, 2013)
League membership
Achievements
- English Cup (FA Cup): Winners 1911