Bournemouth

Once of a day every schoolboy used to pride himself in being able to recite the name of every Football League ground and all ninety-two club nicknames. It was of no consequence if you didn’t know whether Wellington was a famous general, a bomber or an item of footwear. However, if you didn’t know who played at Brunton Park, or know whom the Railwaymen were, your standing among your mates would plummet.
As soon as Manningham rugby club moved to Valley Parade in 1886 they were known as ‘the Paraders’. A nickname that continued when Manningham became Bradford City in 1903.
Though there have been other short-lived nicknames, the adoption of the ‘Bantams’ in 1908 stuck and, apart from occasional reversions to the Paraders, it has been City’s nickname ever since.
The reason why City were nicknamed the Bantams was lost in the mists of time. Some thought it was because a groundsman used to keep chickens under the main stand, others that City’s FA Cup winning team of 1911 contained so many small, but burly, Scotsmen that the name represented the fighting spirit of that team.
I was recently scanning through some old newspapers at the Central Library when I came across a report that gave the reason for the adoption of the Bantams nickname.
Apparently, City used to have a lucky silver horseshoe that they hung in their train carriage when on their travels. It had been with them when they won the Second Division championship in April 1908.
As we well know from recent experience, life for a newly promoted club in the top flight of English football can be tough in the extreme. By November 1908 City were firmly rooted to the bottom of the First Division. The free-scoring forwards of the championship season couldn’t buy a goal and there was a real fear City would be as good as relegated early in the New Year.
To add to their woes the lucky horseshoe had been lost. Up stepped the daughter of City director Tony Fattorini, whose company incidentally made the current FA Cup and Rugby League Challenge Cup. She gave the club a new mascot on the eve of their home match against league leaders Everton. The mascot was real live bantam. Its body was claret with an amber yolk, which matched the new shirt the club had adopted at the start of the season. The little bird even had white legs, the same colour as the player’s shorts.
As the Bradford Daily Argus commented: "Newcastle United have their magpie, Derby a ram, West Brom a throstle, Hull City a tiger and Leeds City a peacock. But now, Bradford City have a real live claret and amber bantam."
From that moment on City were known as the Bantams. It turned out to be a lucky omen. City saved their First Division lives with a dramatic last day victory over Manchester United at Valley Parade. The description of the tense scenes at that match reflect almost exactly those we witnessed on that unforgettable afternoon against Liverpool in May 2000, when David Wetherall’s header saved our Premiership status on that most dramatic of final day escapes.
One hundred years on, long after Miss Fattorini’s little bird has flown to that great hencoop in the sky, we are still the Bantams. Let’s hope the luck it brought a century ago remains with us through, what will hopefully be, a season that sets the club on the long road back to the summit of English football.