Accrington Stanley

The 1970's was one of the low points in Bradford's footballing history. In 1974 Bradford Park Avenue went into liquidation and by the early part of the decade City were struggling in the lower reaches of the fourth division. Crowds at Valley Parade were among the lowest in the club's long history. It was quite a come down for a city that had once boasted two top flight football clubs and the FA Cup winners.
The turning point came with City's amazing run to the quarter final of the FA Cup in 1976. The following season Joe Cooke's header against Bournemouth at Valley Parade was enough to secure promotion. For once there was a sense of optimism around the old ground and in recognition the Lord Mayor invited the City players to a civic reception. Our thanks to City stalwart Bill Roper for the photograph of the
reception and also to David Markham for identifying the players and officials.

Shrewsbury Town

(This game against fellow promotion seekers Shrewsbury Town ended in a 0-0 draw)
Over the last few years City fans have become all too familiar with fundraising initiatives. Indeed, in 2004 supporters raised a magnificent £250,000 to keep the club in business. At the time it was the largest amount ever raised by football supporters in Britain.
Older supporters will remember the frantic fund raising efforts to keep the club afloat in 1983 and the sadder task of the Bradford Disaster Fund in the wake of the fire in 1985. To its immense credit Bradford Council, led by chief executive Gordon Moore, reacted to the disaster rapidly. Within 48 hours the ground had been laid for the hugely successful disaster appeal.
Bradford was galvanised by the appeal. In every walk of life people found a way to help. Across the country the disaster struck a cord, thousands of pounds poured into the fund. From impromptu whip-rounds, to a fundraising record in the top ten, the disaster appeal exceeded all expectations by raising £4m. Jim Greenhalf later wrote in the Telegraph and Argus: ‘Pity Poor Bradford, a 17th Century ghost is said to have wailed. The world did; but Bradford collectively turned tragedy into its finest hour. The £4m raised for the disaster appeal was duly distributed through a trust fund without the slightest controversy or complaint.’
The specialist burns unit at Bradford University, set up after the disaster, still leads the world in pioneering research into reducing scarring from burns and plastic surgery. Professor David Sharpe, the director of the unit, was consultant on call at Bradford Royal Infirmary during the weekend of the fire disaster. He led a team of surgeons from all parts of the country to help the injured supporters. He received the OBE in 1986 in recognition of that work.
Fund raising has a very long history at Valley Parade. Five months before Bradford City was formed, our predecessors Manningham Northern Union (Rugby League) Club were facing financial ruin. Their second division derby against Leeds on New Years Day 1903 attracted a healthy 6,000 spectators. An athletics festival was held after the match with a harrier’s race commencing immediately after the final whistle. Then the crowd poured onto the field for the highlight of the day - an archery fund raising event. A huge sixteen foot slowly rotating target, full of thousands numbered tickets which had been sold all over the country in the preceding weeks, was set up in front of the main stand. Members of the Manningham committee and selected prominent gentlemen from Bradford shot 150 arrows at the target. A Mr W Wisdon of Woolwich, London won the first prize of £85. Mrs Smith of 67 Preston Street, Bradford carried away second prize of an upright piano. Third prize, a dining room suite, went to R Dent of Station Road, Oxenhope. The competition was a huge financial success.
This influx of funds enabled the club to break even come the end of the season. Even Manningham’s debts had been cleared. It was crucial as it allowed the newly formed Bradford City AFC to begin life on an even financial keel. Though eight years later the club had established itself as one of the top five clubs in the country, and had won the FA Cup, its birth against the background of financial turmoil was sadly to be a reoccurring theme over the century to follow.

Morecambe

The Manningham Mills Strike, which began one cold December day 108 years ago, had quite an impact on our predecessors Manningham Rugby Club. Financially the club was hit by a reduction in attendances and socially as many of club officials and players actively supported the strike.
The era saw a general rise in trade unionism, but locally, it had been slow to take hold, partially because during the boom years of the 1870s mill owners had been paternalistic, but with trade slowing, they were no longer willing to subsidise the local church, brass band, mechanics institute or cricket team. Also, the majority of textile workers tended to be women engaged in what was termed as unskilled work. In 1885 65,000 females were employed in Bradford’s mills, compared to 30,000 men.
However, when on 9 December 1890 wage cuts of 25% were announced at Manningham Mills, it sparked a dispute that was to change the face of industrial relations in Bradford and beyond. The cuts came in response to American trade tariffs. The reductions were to be implemented at Christmas. Five thousand workers walked out in protest. In a letter to the Bradford Observer mill owner Samuel Cunliffe Lister said the cuts were fair. He claimed that whatever the level of wages: ‘The women spend their money on dress and the men in drink’. A response in the Observer said: ‘In Mr Lister’s eyes, probably the spending of an extra shilling a week on dress and drink represent the acme of short-sighted and foolish self-indulgence, and the purchase of big estates seems the perfection of far-sighted thrift and philanthropy’. The average wage at the mill was 70p a week, Lister himself was estimated to be worth around £6m and had spent £750,000 on two landed estates in North Yorkshire.
Forty policemen would be on duty to keep strikers and workers apart during shift changes. Despite the police presence strike breakers were assaulted on a regular basis, sometimes a fair distance from the mill itself. Windows were broken in several homes where strike breakers were lodging. Eventually, one hundred and fifty beds were set up in the mill so the workers didn’t have to run the gauntlet of the pickets. However, given that 5,000 workers were on strike, a couple of hundred people working was nothing more than a token gesture.
A food depot helped to feed and clothe striking families. Local butchers donated meat and Dr Smith of Lumb Lane waived his fees when treating strikers who fell ill. A strike fund attracted donations from all over the north. A fund raising rugby match between Manningham & District and the Yorkshire Nomads was played at Valley Parade on 19 January. Appearing where the Manningham’s trio Firth, Hardaker and Redman. Over 1,000 spectators boosted the fund by £24. The Fattorini family, Manningham residents and well-known jewellers, also made a donation of £2 2s to the fund. Tony Fattorini had been involved with the junior Manningham Rangers club and joined the Valley Parade committee during 1891, the start of a long and fruitful relationship with Manningham and later Bradford City.
By April 1891 the authorities were trying to prevent rallies and public meetings taking place in the city centre. A weekly meeting was held every Thursday at the Star Music Hall, but they were halted when the Chief Constable threatened to withdraw the licence from the Star unless the striker pledged not to hold city centre meetings on Sundays. Those meetings attracted huge crowds and the police claimed that fire exits had been blocked at St Georges Hall and blasphemous language had been used at an open air meeting in Forster Square. The Chief Constable’s actions escalated the dispute into a battle for free speech.
In defiance of the ban 20,000 gathered in the city centre on 13 April. When the police broke up the meeting fighting left the Chief Constable injured and only the intervention of troops from Bradford Moor barracks disbursed the crowds. The following night mounted police cleared the square outside the Town Hall, but the police were beaten back and once again the troops were called in. The Chief Constable read the riot act outside the New Inn at the bottom of Thornton Road. One hundred and six men of the Durham Light Infantry fixed bayonets and charged the crowd. The police backed them up with repeated baton charges.
Almost overlooked during the dramatic confrontations was the fact that the strikers were slowly being starved into submission. The harsh winter had played its part in sapping morale and over 200 strikers had emigrated to the USA. After nineteen weeks the spinning hands gathered at the Valley Parade Skating Rink and voted to return to work. The strike crumbled, but in its wake the Independent Labour Party was formed, an organisation that evolved into today’s Labour Party.
The bitterness of the strike lasted for years. Among the ranks of the police who baton charged the strikers were three of Bradford’s international players acting as special constables. Also in the police line was Joe Hawcridge, one of the founders of the Manningham club, one can only guess at his feelings as he waited to face a mob that would have contained many of his former friends and neighbours?

Chester

(This game ended in a goalless draw)
The museum recently hosted a history workshop involving students from the nearby Challenge College. It marks our first step towards a greater goal of an oral history project capturing the changing life in the shadow of Valley Parade over the last century.
On Thursday 27 November GCSE students from Challenge College visited the club to take part in an oral history workshop. For many of the students it was their first visit to Valley Parade, despite living in Manningham and Frizinghall. Ian Ormondroyd’s Football in the Community scheme gave them a ground tour; then we gave them a conducted tour of the museum. The day was rounded off with a discussion of some of the issues raised by their trip.
The day was resounding success and was enjoyed by both the students, museum volunteers and Supporters Trust members. The discussion part of the day was an eye opener for all concerned. The boys were the most animated during the museum tour, but the girls asked the majority of the questions during the discussion.
Alan Carling, chair of the Supporters Trust, presented the school with a copy of David Markham’s book ‘The Bradford City Story’. The book is now in the school library and will no doubt it will be a popular item.
Thanks are due to John Ashton, Alan Carling, Paula Helliwell and Mike Thompson for giving up their time to help make the day a great success. The feedback from the pupils was excellent with 100% saying they enjoyed the day. The event also helped the build firmer foundations between the museum, Supporters Trust and Football in the Community.
All in all, it was a positive first step towards our evolving goal for an oral history project which will look at the experiences - and changing face - of the communities that have lived in the shadow of Valley Parade over the last century. The area around the ground has seen huge changes, especially in the last fifty years. Deindustrialisation and demographic change being the main themes. We’ve seen people form all over the world live alongside Valley Parade – from Estonian’s to Bangladeshi’s, Caribbean’s to Irish. Not forgetting of course the British people who established Manningham as an industrial, working class and even upper class suburb of the city.
It will be a huge, but fascinating project. We will need volunteers to undertake research and interviews. We need to find people who live, or used to live, in the shadow of the ground to capture their memories. If you are interested in becoming part of the project, or know someone who used to live near the ground, please get in touch with myself at davidpendleton1@googlemail.com or call in at the museum before any match.

Changing Priorities; the FA Cup Today and Yesterday

This article by David Pendleton originally appeared in the programme for the league game against Dagenham and Redbridge on Saturday December 6th 2008.

Your team is top of the Premier League, but with the FA Cup on the horizon several top players are rested from vital league matches. Today, it’s unthinkable, but that is exactly what Bradford City did for several seasons in the years leading up to the Great War.
On 1 January 1910 City were sitting proudly on top of the First Division. The Bantams had scored twenty-five goals in just ten matches. New Years Day brought Manchester United to Valley Parade. Star striker Bob Whittingham had been playing for some weeks with a niggling ankle injury, so with the upcoming FA Cup tie in mind he was rested. The 25,000 crowd (incidentally over twice the size of the attendance at Old Trafford) had little to cheer as the two sides played out a tame contest on a mud bound pitch. City went down by two goals and it marked the start of a run of four league games when City failed to score. The sudden loss of form coincided with several injuries to key players.
The first round FA Cup tie against Notts County was switched to Valley Parade after City paid County £1,000. Fifty men were employed to clear snow off the pitch and then protect it with 50 tons of straw. Despite the fact that admission prices had been doubled, excursion trains ran into Bradford from Carlisle, Morecambe and Sheffield. R. Gregson, one of the England selectors, was at the match to run his eye over Bond, Lintott and Whittingham.
A muddy pitch spoiled the match and it wasn’t until County’s Cantrell was sent off that City found form. They scored twice within ten minutes of the dismissal to take control of the tie. Dickie Bond (pictured) did his England prospects no harm by scoring one of City’s four goals.
The second round brought with it heavy snowfall. The pitch was cleared, but this time all the loose slush and sand was removed. It was said to be as flat as a billiard table, albeit almost devoid of grass. With prices at near normal levels 28,000 witnessed the tie with Blackburn Rovers. It was a tight affair, but the Rovers forwards always had the edge. Though Frank O’Rourke scored for City, the home forwards rarely found the space they needed and were well marshalled all afternoon. City lost 2-1 and O’Rourke suffered a knee injury that was to keep him out for three weeks.
City ended the season in seventh place, respectable by any standards, but the fact that they had led the pack at the turn of the year, and had been in such fine form, caused one or two grumbles. However, the policy of resting players from league matches caused little or no comment.
The following season City would once again sacrifice their league position for cup glory. That year was 1911, when City won the FA Cup. The league title was at one point within their grasp, but the cup took precedence. Today we would sacrifice a cup run for promotion from the fourth tier of English football, how times change!

Chesterfield

Fixtures against Chesterfield go back to City’s first ever season as a Football League club. The inaugural meeting between the clubs ended with a 6-2 thrashing for City.
Though City were never in any danger of having to apply for re-election during their first season in the Football League. The heavy home defeat caused disquiet on the terraces. The Bradford Daily Argus noted a ‘more than usually large exodus of those who felt inclined for the solace of the Belle Vue’.
The 2,000 boys at the Bradford End of the ground gave Chesterfield a sarcastic loud cheer when they ran out for the second half – those already in the Belle Vue probably made the right decision.
In the return fixture at Saltergate the sides played out a dull 1-1 draw. The latter set the scene for matches between the clubs as a succession of draws and low scoring games were the norm. That is until City won a thrilling match 4-3 at Saltergate in March 1907. Manager Peter O’Rourke was by then building the side that would take the second division title by storm the following season.
The forward line ran riot from the opening game of the 1907/08 season. Chesterfield were routed 8-1 at Valley Parade. Three goals in the first thirty minutes convinced even the most sceptical of City followers that something special was afoot for that season. Allerton born Wally Smith bagged four goals, George Handley a brace, Frank O’Rourke and Jimmy McDonald completed the scoring.
It was no one off, 7-1 against Stoke, 6-2 against Wolves, 5-0 against Leeds and Stockport. The aggregate score against poor old Gainsborough Trinity was 11-1.
City scored ninety goals en route to the Second Division Championship. Wally Smith and Frank O’Rourke rattled up forty-one league goals between them. George Handley weighed in with sixteen and Jimmy McDonald thirteen. It was an astonishing performance and one almost unparalleled in the club’s history.
Of the four attackers Wally Smith is almost forgotten today. Yet he scored 59 goals in 120 appearances. However, he struggled to find the net in the first division and was transferred to Leicester Fosse in January 1909. He later played for Hull City, but had to retire through injury in 1912.
Smith died at his Worksop home aged only thirty-four in 1917. Contemporary reports suggest that he may have been suffering from a serious internal injury throughout his career. He received it when shoulder charging Northampton Town goalkeeper Fred Cook. Whether it was ultimately responsible for his untimely death is unknown. However, with a goal in every other game Wally Smith deserves to be remembered. After all, not many footballers get the chance to shoot their hometown club into the top flight of English football.

Bury

With the nights drawing in, leaves falling from the trees and a chill in the air, we are into the football season proper. The sunny days of August and September are behind us, early season optimism is settling down and the spring, with its promotions and relegations, seems a long way off.
At least in this day and age we don’t have to worry too much about the pitches as winter approaches. As recently as the 1980’s the style of play would be altered by inches of mud.
A good illustration of the conditions that had to be endured came during a First Division match between City and Bury in early 1910. The pitch was apparently almost totally devoid of grass and frozen solid. The forwards found it difficult to keep their footing on the treacherous pitch. Chances were few and far between and, with defenders able to quickly close down the naturally cautious forwards, a goalless draw was inevitable. The only real entertainment came when the ball became stuck in a trombone that was inexplicably lying alongside the pitch.
The game was a complete contrast to the goal feast the two sides had served up at Gigg Lane earlier in the season. Bury took the lead, but City soon equalised. Bury went 2-1 up, but back came City with another equaliser. Then Frank O’Rourke turned quickly in the box and fired City into the lead for the first time in the match. The home side made it 3-3, which set up a frantic finish as both sides went all out for the victory.
Fine minutes from time City’s big money signing, striker Bob Whittingham, set off on a zigzagging run towards goal. The ball was glued to his foot as he ghosted past several defenders and then unleashed an unstoppable shot that gave City a 4-3 victory. The press described Whittingham’s winner as one of the finest ever scored by a City player.
The 1909/10 season saw City finish in a respectable seventh position. Given that they had escaped relegation on the final match of the previous season, seventh place in the top division was a fabulous effort. However, there had been some disquiet on the terraces. City had been top of the table on New Years Day 1910, but a spate of injuries disrupted the side throughout the remainder of the campaign.
One extreme example of City’s misfortunes came when they visited bottom of the league Bolton Wanderers. A goalless draw at a relegation haunted club might not seem much to crow about, but City had to play the final fifteen minutes with nine men and two of those were nursing serious injuries. So in effect it was seven against eleven! In those days substitutions weren’t allowed, so teams had to struggle on.
The carnage at Burnden Park included George Robinson playing on with blood gushing down his face after a clash of heads. He did briefly retire to receive stitches at the side of the pitch. No sooner was the last stitch put in place, Robinson was back in the fray. City’s England international Evelyn Lintott was so seriously injured that the game was stopped. Lintott later commented that it was the first time he had known a game to be halted for an injury in his sixteen-year career. Lintott played on and was at the heart of the gallant stand in the closing stages of the game.
The injury was to have serious consequences for Lintott. He was sidelined for over six months and didn’t return until early 1911. By that time the team that was to win the FA Cup had been brought together and Lintott struggled to get back in the side. Prior to his injury he had been one of the first names on the team sheet, indeed he had been captain and his passing was at the heart of everything the side did. Into his shoes stepped Jimmy Speirs – the man who was destined to score the goal that would win the cup for City.
Lintott’s heroics at Bolton arguably cost him a place in the FA Cup winning side of 1911. That was some price to pay, but not as great as the sacrifice both Lintott and Speirs made in the Great War – as both men were killed in action.