RTG’s totally and utterly (we hope) indispensable guide to this season’s away grounds.
THE OPPO – Bradford City aka “The Bantams”
DATE – Saturday 30th August
KO TIME – 3.00pm
THE GROUND – The Bradford & Bingley Stadium,Valley Parade, Bradford, West Yorkshire – click here and here for maps of the area – the arrows in the middle points to where the ground is.
The Bradford & Bingley Stadium is in the north of the city close to the A650 Keighley Road, in the Manningham district.
Visiting supporters are accommodated in the ‘Bradford End’ but disabled visitors are allocated spaces in the Midland Road Stand.
GOING BY CAR?
Travelling from the North East, probably the fastest and most direct route to use is the A1 then at Ferrybridge join the M62 westbound; you join it at jcn 32, stay on it until jcn 26 then take the M606 towards Bradford. Four miles later when you reach the end of the motorway, keep to the right hand lane and the stadium is signposted from there.
If you’re approaching from the south, use the M1 and leave at jcn 42, then take the M62 westbound; leave at jcn 26 and follow directions as above.
There is a car park at the ground but it fills up quickly; some street parking is available on Midland Road but NOT on the side streets off it – residents’ parking schemes are widespread, so park inconsiderately and you’ll end up clamped, ticketed or towed away.
GOING BY TRAIN?
Bradford has two stations – Bradford Interchange, and Forster Square. The Forster Square one is only a 10-15 minute walk away from the Stadium, but Bradford Interchange is a bit further away.
If you get the train from Sunderland, you’ll need to change at Newcastle, then again at either Leeds or York and the whole journey will take about two and a half hours, but there are trains roughly every 30 minutes.
Turn up on the day and it’ll cost you as much as £25 each way….but book at least 7 days in advance and you might get it for about £9 each way – but check on the the National Rail website to see what trains and fares are available for that day.
If you end up arriving at Bradford Interchange, it’s about a half hour’s walk to the Stadium – your best option is to jump on a bus from the bus station next door; you want one going to Manningham.
If you arrive at Bradford Forster Square though, it’s a relatively short walk to the stadium. Just cross the dual carriageway outside the station, head along Midland Road and the ground is on your left after 10 – 15 mins.
SCRAN AND BOOZE
There are a few pubs close to the ground and many welcome well behaved away supporters too, including The Cartwright (jcn of Midland Rd and Queens Rd, north of the stadium) and The Oakleigh a little further north still, are both known for a good range of beers.
If you’re up for a ruby before or after kick off, there’s a pub/curry house called “The Valley”, on Manningham Lane, just past the stadium or the K2 curry house on Lumb Lane, also close to the stadium, and these both come highly recommended.
LEND US A FIVER I’M OUT OF CASH
The nearest cash machine is an Alliance & Leicester one just under half a mile from the ground, at Green Lane, outside the Post Office. Alternatively there are several banks and building societies in Bradford City Centre that have cash machines.
IN THE NEWS
They’ve just offered manager Nicky Law a 2 year extension to his contract.
They’re already out of the Carling Cup after losing to third division Darlington.
The Bradford & Bingley stadium was recently sold for £5m to the trustees of the Flamingo Land Pensions Fund – headed by City’s chairman. The club offices, shop and a car park were sold to a different company for £2.5m.
LAST SEASON
Final league position – 19th of 24.
THIS SEASON
Currently 6th of 24: P2 W1 D1 L0 F4 A2 Pts 4 GD 3
HEAD TO HEAD
Bradford and Sunderland have met 36 times in the league and we only just edge it – we’ve won 14, they’ve won 11 and there have been 11 draws. Messrs Quinn and Phillips have been instrumental in some of our recent victories, Quinny netting 3 times in the last six meetings, and SuperKev scoring five.
LAST 6 MEETINGS
21/01/01 Lads 0, Bradford 0
26/12/00 Bradford 1, Lads 4 (Quinn, Phillips x 3)
24/04/00 Lads 0, Bradford 1
02/10/99 Bradford 0, Lads 4 (Rae, Quinn, Phillips x 2)
09/03/99 Bradford 0, Lads 1 (Quinn)
03/10/98 Lads 0, Bradford 0
TRIVIA
– Best league win: 11-1 vs Rotherham back in August 1928.
– Worst league defeat: 1-9 vs Colchester in December 1961.
– Record transfer fee paid: £2.5m to Leeds for David Hopkin (July 2000)
– Record transfer fee received: £2m from Newcastle, for Des Hamilton (March 97)
– Rugby was played at Valley Parade before footy ever was.
– Bradford Rugby Club formed a footy team in 1907 and wanted to merge with Bradford City AFC – the merger was refused but the rugby club’s footballing arm was formed anyway, becoming ‘Bradford Park Avenue’.
– Sky TV’s Chris Kamara managed Bradford from November 95 until January 98.
Many football supporters will remember the tragedy of Saturday 11th May 1985 when fire engulfed the Valley Parade stadium during the Bradford vs Lincoln City match. The main stand’s old wooden roof was, ironically, due to be replaced only two days after the game to comply with league safety standards – but during the first half, a discarded match or cigarette set light to litter that had collected under the wooden floor of the stand. Within minutes, the entire stand was alight. 56 supporters lost their lives and more than 260 were injured. The referee abandoned the match three minutes before half time with the score at 0-0. It was the worst fire disaster in the history of British football and the worst stadium disaster in Britain since the events of Ibrox in January 1971.
At the Bradford & Bingley Stadium there’s a memorial sculpture above the entrance to the executive suites in Burlington Street, and next to the redeveloped Sunwin Stand there’s a memorial carrying the names of all those who lost their lives that day. In Centenary Square (outside Bradford City Hall) there’s a memorial to the supporters who died, given by the city of Hamm – Bradford’s twin city in Germany.
Credits: Bradford City official website, Rough Guide to English Football, Soccerbase, www.streetmap.co.uk, National Rail.