The return of home fans to the Bradford End of the ground has undoubtedly improved the atmosphere in the ground. Today it is the TL Dallas Stand, but to many it will remain the ‘Shed’ or ‘Bradford End’.
Though corporate sponsorship is now an essential part of every clubs income, the frequent re-brandings can cause confusion. A national newspaper journalist once rang me requesting directions to the Bradford and Bingley Stadium and asked why we had left Valley Parade.
Of course, traditions have to start somewhere. The Carlsberg Stand is still known universally as the Kop. Almost exactly 100 years ago the Bradford Daily Argus began calling the terrace the ‘Spion Kop’. Until that point it had been known as ‘Nunn Kop’ after its creator, City director John Nunn.
Nunn had commenced work in 1906 when he persuaded several companies to use the plateau at the top of the terrace as a free tip for ashes. Tipping continued for several months at a rate of 40 loads a day. Nunn’s Kop was finally completed in February 1907, when some 16,000 loads of rubbish and ashes had been tipped.
The complete rebuilding of Valley Parade in readiness for top-flight football in the summer of 1908 saw the Nunn Kop receive the latest concrete terracing. Probably because it was now one of the biggest and best terraces in the country, it was given the title ‘Spion Kop’ which it retained for the best part of eighty years.
The name Spion Kop hailed from the South African hill where a large number of northern troops had died during the Boer War. The odd name hails from the Dutch language, Spion is ‘spy’ or ‘look out’ and kop means ‘hill’.
Though the British actually won the battle of Spion Kop, they suffered such heavy casualties that the order was given to withdraw. After so much blood had been spilt, it caused a huge controversy, so much so that the Government of the day nearly fell.
The event was still fresh in the collective memory when it came to naming the many large terraces being built across the north of England and beyond. Whether the name was inspired by respect for the dead, or contempt for the General’s who ordered the retreat, is a moot question.
Today, the word Kop has entered modern language as an automatic reference to football terraces, whilst the battle itself is largely forgotten.
Saturday, 4 October 2008
Saturday, 20 September 2008
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.
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.
Saturday, 9 August 2008
Notts County
Put those long lazy summer days behind you. The football season is back. The fixtures are in the diary and that age-old Saturday routine begins once more.
With Premier League teams jetting off to all corners of the globe, to fulfil fixtures that are focussed more on replica shirts sales rather than meaningful preparation, it was good to see City playing Bradford Park Avenue and our claret and amber cousins Motherwell.
The Bradford derbies have a rich history, one that raged across all four divisions of the Football League. Given that friendlies against Halifax, Huddersfield and Leeds are now non-starters, thanks to policing bills and the like, I would like to see the Avenue game expanded into a mini-Bradford Championship. Involving a City XI, Avenue, Eccleshill United and Thackley. We have the Tom Banks Trophy, formerly played for between City and Avenue, in the museum and we would be delighted to make it available as the Bradford Championship trophy.
Of course, the traditional curtain raiser used to be the West Riding Cup. It heralded the coming season with its optimism, fresh faces, newly painted grounds and lush green turf. Inevitably, that bright feeling of innocence was soon tainted as the season got underway. But, in the bright sunshine of late summer, the West Riding Cup seemed to epitomise the rebirth that every new campaign brings.
After near one hundred years of competition it died an almost unnoticed death in 1999. It had become a Cinderella competition. A glorified pre-season kick-about, barely tolerated by the clubs, often featuring disinterested or second string line-ups. A shame really, as the cup itself was huge and beautifully detailed. My theory is that the more obscure the competition, the larger the cup is likely to be. Anyone who has seen the Zenith Data Systems Cup will be with me on this one!
We’ve had a quiet summer in the museum. Our small band of volunteers have been getting on with their lives, so at present very little has changed.
With Premier League teams jetting off to all corners of the globe, to fulfil fixtures that are focussed more on replica shirts sales rather than meaningful preparation, it was good to see City playing Bradford Park Avenue and our claret and amber cousins Motherwell.
The Bradford derbies have a rich history, one that raged across all four divisions of the Football League. Given that friendlies against Halifax, Huddersfield and Leeds are now non-starters, thanks to policing bills and the like, I would like to see the Avenue game expanded into a mini-Bradford Championship. Involving a City XI, Avenue, Eccleshill United and Thackley. We have the Tom Banks Trophy, formerly played for between City and Avenue, in the museum and we would be delighted to make it available as the Bradford Championship trophy.
Of course, the traditional curtain raiser used to be the West Riding Cup. It heralded the coming season with its optimism, fresh faces, newly painted grounds and lush green turf. Inevitably, that bright feeling of innocence was soon tainted as the season got underway. But, in the bright sunshine of late summer, the West Riding Cup seemed to epitomise the rebirth that every new campaign brings.
After near one hundred years of competition it died an almost unnoticed death in 1999. It had become a Cinderella competition. A glorified pre-season kick-about, barely tolerated by the clubs, often featuring disinterested or second string line-ups. A shame really, as the cup itself was huge and beautifully detailed. My theory is that the more obscure the competition, the larger the cup is likely to be. Anyone who has seen the Zenith Data Systems Cup will be with me on this one!
We’ve had a quiet summer in the museum. Our small band of volunteers have been getting on with their lives, so at present very little has changed.
Saturday, 26 April 2008
M K Dons
With around 20,000 people visiting the museum this season, it would be fair to say that the move to our new home has been an unqualified success.
We are already planning for next season, opening with an exhibition featuring City programmes from 1903 to date. Also before the first league game of the season we will be hosting a City flag competition. Bring along your flags, large and small. The flags will be draped all over the museum and the most popular will win a modest prize.
The museum will have a presence at Thornton Local History Day on 28 June. The theme this year is sport and leisure, so we will be showing contracts and images from the life of City player and Thornton resident Donald Duckett. He played at Valley Parade between 1914-24, with majority of his 165 appearances being in the top flight of English football.
I would like to thank all the volunteers who have given their time so generously to the museum and café this season. In particular thanks are due to Leeds Metropolitan University, whose sponsorship pays the lease on the museum space.
We are already planning for next season, opening with an exhibition featuring City programmes from 1903 to date. Also before the first league game of the season we will be hosting a City flag competition. Bring along your flags, large and small. The flags will be draped all over the museum and the most popular will win a modest prize.
The museum will have a presence at Thornton Local History Day on 28 June. The theme this year is sport and leisure, so we will be showing contracts and images from the life of City player and Thornton resident Donald Duckett. He played at Valley Parade between 1914-24, with majority of his 165 appearances being in the top flight of English football.
I would like to thank all the volunteers who have given their time so generously to the museum and café this season. In particular thanks are due to Leeds Metropolitan University, whose sponsorship pays the lease on the museum space.
Saturday, 19 April 2008
Grimsby
It all began on a Tuesday evening overlooking the Humber in the fishing port of Grimsby. Fully, 105 years ago on 1 September 1903, the first ever Bradford City team ran out in their claret and amber shirts at the beginning of a journey that goes on to this day.
Despite the opening match being on a Tuesday evening, interest was high, with the Great Northern Railway running a three shilling excursion to Grimsby Docks and Cleethorpes. It left Bradford at 12.10pm, arriving at Grimsby Docks at 3.10pm, over two hours before kick off. Two hundred and fifty fans, including several former Manningham rugby players, travelled on the train.
At 5.30pm City kicked off their first ever game. Around 10,000 fans witnessed the game and they sportingly cheered the visitors when the ‘Manningham’ jerseys came onto the pitch. The infant City side had adopted the colours of their predecessors Manningham Rugby Club. Indeed, throughout the first season City played in Manningham’s claret and amber hooped shirts.
Grimsby had been relegated from the First Division the previous season, so they were hot favourites to beat the Football League’s newest team. However, City did most of the attacking, but chances were repeatedly wasted. Old habits died hard, during a spell of City pressure a cry of ‘nah Manningham’ was heard. It was a keen game, but Grimsby deservedly won 2-0.
Among that first ever line up was George Robinson. He was to remain at Valley Parade for nineteen years, making 377 appearances, including the 1911 FA Cup Final victory. Even after his retirement, he worked in a garage near the ground and was a supporter of the club until his death in 1945.
Prior to the MK Dons game, City Gent duo Mark Neale and Mike Harrison will be giving a presentation on the ‘nearly’ season of 1987/88. Mark has recently discovered several press photographs from that season, which will illustrate the talk. We are hopful that players from the season will be in attendance. The talk begins at 1.30pm.
Despite the opening match being on a Tuesday evening, interest was high, with the Great Northern Railway running a three shilling excursion to Grimsby Docks and Cleethorpes. It left Bradford at 12.10pm, arriving at Grimsby Docks at 3.10pm, over two hours before kick off. Two hundred and fifty fans, including several former Manningham rugby players, travelled on the train.
At 5.30pm City kicked off their first ever game. Around 10,000 fans witnessed the game and they sportingly cheered the visitors when the ‘Manningham’ jerseys came onto the pitch. The infant City side had adopted the colours of their predecessors Manningham Rugby Club. Indeed, throughout the first season City played in Manningham’s claret and amber hooped shirts.
Grimsby had been relegated from the First Division the previous season, so they were hot favourites to beat the Football League’s newest team. However, City did most of the attacking, but chances were repeatedly wasted. Old habits died hard, during a spell of City pressure a cry of ‘nah Manningham’ was heard. It was a keen game, but Grimsby deservedly won 2-0.
Among that first ever line up was George Robinson. He was to remain at Valley Parade for nineteen years, making 377 appearances, including the 1911 FA Cup Final victory. Even after his retirement, he worked in a garage near the ground and was a supporter of the club until his death in 1945.
Prior to the MK Dons game, City Gent duo Mark Neale and Mike Harrison will be giving a presentation on the ‘nearly’ season of 1987/88. Mark has recently discovered several press photographs from that season, which will illustrate the talk. We are hopful that players from the season will be in attendance. The talk begins at 1.30pm.
Tuesday, 8 April 2008
Barnet
With only two homes games remaining, there’s not much time left to catch our exhibition about women’s football in Bradford. During the summer we are hoping that the exhibition will move to the home of Bradford City Women’s Football Club, Thackley AFC.
The women’s football club first team have one remaining Sunday fixture to play, when they entertain Scunthorpe on 27 April. Kick off is 2pm and admission is free. They also have two home fixtures against Curzon Ashton and Middlesbrough to arrange, keep an eye on the local press or www.bcwfc.co.uk for further details. The women’s football club recently won their section of the Valley Parade memorial tournament, when they defeated Bradford Park Avenue 3-1.
Joe Colbeck and Kyle Nix presented the trophies and even Stuart McCall managed to watch his son in action before making the trip to Rotherham. It was a successful tournament for City with the U14s thrashing Bradford Park Avenue 6-0 in their final. The U12s lost their final in extra time to Bradford’s twin town Hamm of Germany.
Players and officials from several of the clubs were at our home game with Chesterfield, where the Easter weekend was topped off with a home victory. Once again it was a magnificent effort from Carl Dalton and his team at Bradford Council’s Sport and Leisure department and the Prison Officers’ Association. In the museum we have on display the tournaments former trophies, which were retired to the museum last year following their replacement after twenty-one years of use.
Prior to the Grimsby game City fan Manny Dominguez will be giving a presentation on the campaign to bring back standing areas to English football grounds. The talk starts at 1.30pm and as usual admission is free.
The women’s football club first team have one remaining Sunday fixture to play, when they entertain Scunthorpe on 27 April. Kick off is 2pm and admission is free. They also have two home fixtures against Curzon Ashton and Middlesbrough to arrange, keep an eye on the local press or www.bcwfc.co.uk for further details. The women’s football club recently won their section of the Valley Parade memorial tournament, when they defeated Bradford Park Avenue 3-1.
Joe Colbeck and Kyle Nix presented the trophies and even Stuart McCall managed to watch his son in action before making the trip to Rotherham. It was a successful tournament for City with the U14s thrashing Bradford Park Avenue 6-0 in their final. The U12s lost their final in extra time to Bradford’s twin town Hamm of Germany.
Players and officials from several of the clubs were at our home game with Chesterfield, where the Easter weekend was topped off with a home victory. Once again it was a magnificent effort from Carl Dalton and his team at Bradford Council’s Sport and Leisure department and the Prison Officers’ Association. In the museum we have on display the tournaments former trophies, which were retired to the museum last year following their replacement after twenty-one years of use.
Prior to the Grimsby game City fan Manny Dominguez will be giving a presentation on the campaign to bring back standing areas to English football grounds. The talk starts at 1.30pm and as usual admission is free.
Saturday, 5 April 2008
Morecambe
Undoubtedly, the real success at Valley Parade this season has been off the field. With the crippling debts finally cleared and the stunning success of the season ticket offer there is, despite the erratic performances on the field, a good feel about the club.
The relocation of the museum above the club shop has been an unqualified triumph. In conjunction with the volunteer run café, the museum is rapidly becoming the place to be in the hours running up to kick off. It’s noticeable that fans have been arriving earlier and earlier as the season has progressed.
With our regular presentations, exhibitions and good value café, there’s plenty to see and do. If you are one of the few City fans who hasn’t visited us yet, come along before the end of the season. We are far from a dusty archive, more a vibrant Bantams community, doing our little bit to help improve Valley Parade.
Next season we are planning a programme exhibition, featuring every design produced over the last 105 years. We already have the majority of the designs produced, but not being experts in the field of programmes, we would gratefully welcome any help offered. Please drop into the museum before any home game and ask for myself. Or email davidpendleton1@googlemail.com
Prior to the Grimsby Town game Manny Dominguez will be giving a presentation on the campaign to bring back standing areas to English football grounds. The talk will commence at 1.30pm and as usual admission is free.
The relocation of the museum above the club shop has been an unqualified triumph. In conjunction with the volunteer run café, the museum is rapidly becoming the place to be in the hours running up to kick off. It’s noticeable that fans have been arriving earlier and earlier as the season has progressed.
With our regular presentations, exhibitions and good value café, there’s plenty to see and do. If you are one of the few City fans who hasn’t visited us yet, come along before the end of the season. We are far from a dusty archive, more a vibrant Bantams community, doing our little bit to help improve Valley Parade.
Next season we are planning a programme exhibition, featuring every design produced over the last 105 years. We already have the majority of the designs produced, but not being experts in the field of programmes, we would gratefully welcome any help offered. Please drop into the museum before any home game and ask for myself. Or email davidpendleton1@googlemail.com
Prior to the Grimsby Town game Manny Dominguez will be giving a presentation on the campaign to bring back standing areas to English football grounds. The talk will commence at 1.30pm and as usual admission is free.
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