Bookmark Lutonfc.com

Welcome to www.lutonfc.com - The No.1 Luton Fans' Site - Bringing you all of the latest news from Kenilworth Road

www.lutonfc.com - By Luton Fans, For Luton Fans - Bringing you all of the latest news from Kenilworth Road
Mick Harford Random Quote:   

 
 
Latest News

Menu

 


LUTON
Home Page
Club Info
Honours
Records
History
Littlewoods Cup 20th Anniversary
The Ground
Takeover 07-08
Takeover 03-04

ALL THE SEASONS
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09

SEASON 2008-09
Fixtures & Reports
Squad
League Table
Hotels Near Stadiums
Bet On The Hatters!
Match Wallpaper

UNOFFICIAL STORE
T-Shirts and More!

WEBSITE DESIGN
Web Design by JFG Web Design

RETRO T-SHIRTS
Retro Luton Town T-Shirts

HATTERS BETTING
Bet On The Hatters!

SUPPORTERS CLUBS
LTSC/Town On Tour
LLSC
Trust in Luton

FEATURES
Statto's Corner
Best-Ever Luton Town XI
Q & A Sessions
LLSC
Where Are They Now?
Photo Gallery - The 90's
Championship Gallery

INTERACTIVE
Search Database

SEASONS ARCHIVE
News
2001-02 Review
2000-01 Review
FUN
Wallpaper
Jokes
Songs
Word Search

SONG 2001-02

Download Song
Comments

THIS SITE
About Us
Testimonials
WAP
Links
Advertising
Contact
Copyright
Archive

A guide to Bradford City Football Club

Other Club Guides

The Bradford & Bingley Stadium: Home of Bradford City Football Club

The Bradford & Bingley Stadium.

 

 

Luton Town v Bradford City

BRADFORD CITY are a club with a long tradition and, FA Cup winners in 1911, they also spent two season in the Premiership in 1999-00 and 2000-01 - and they had some big-name players such as Benito Carbone - but a slide soon began for the Bantams... 

 

Address:

The Bradford & Bingley Stadium

West Yorkshire

BD8 7DY

Telephone:

01274 - 773355

Ground Capacity:
25,136
Official Website:
www.bradfordcityfc.co.uk
Unofficial Websites:

The City Gent

Bradford City Supporters Trust

Bantams Mad!

How to get there:

By Car: From the North East take A1 southbound to join A1/M1 link then join M62 westbound.
From the South take M1 or A1 northbound to join M62 westbound.
From the North West / West take M6 then M60 Manchester Ring Road to join M62 eastbound then:
From M62 exit at j26
Take M606 towards Bradford
At end of motorway take the last exit onto Rooley Lane (signs Leeds/Bradford Airport). McDonalds is now on your left. Over traffic lights at Asda Superstore and turn left at roundabout into Wakefield Road. Stay in middle lane. Over two roundabouts staying in middle lane (signs to Shipley & Skipton) on to Shipley Airedale Road (A6037) which then becomes Canal Road. Just after Tesco (on left) turn left into Station Road (A6177) and left again into Queens Road.

Up hill to third set of traffic lights and turn left into Manningham Lane. After Gulf Petrol Station (on left), take first left into Valley Parade for Stadium.

By Rail:

The nearest Rail Station for the Stadium is Bradford Forster Square. Services are operated by Arriva. Bradford Interchange also connects with Leeds City station for GNER, Midland Mainline and Virgin Trains services.

Telephone National Rail Enquiries on 08457 48 49 50 (calls charged at local rate).

By Bus:

First Bradford and Keighley & District Travel Company operate frequent bus services from Bradford city centre, Bradford Interchange and outlying areas to the Bradford & Bingley Stadium (buses stop on Manningham Lane or Queens Road).

Other than the football...:

IF you're planning on spending a weekend in Bradford, then there are several things that you might want to do while you're in the city.

The Apollo Canal Cruises are very popular, while there are a couple of musems - The National Museum of Photography, Film and Television and the Colour Museum.

Salt's Mill is a cross between a history museum and art gallery and a historic village - as too is Cartright Hall.

Red House - a historic home - is well worth a visit, while you might want to pay a visit to Bradford Ice Rink!

You can search and book hotels located right near to Bradford City's Valley Parade stadium by clicking HERE.

A Hatter and a Bantam - Mike Newell
A Hatter and a Bantam: Mike Newell
Mike Newell.

MIKE Newell signed for Luton Town under David Pleat at the age of 20 for £100,000 from Wigan Athletic in January 1986, after netting 25 goals in 72 League games for The Latics.

He made his Luton debut in a 0-1 loss at Chelsea in the Old First Division (now the Premiership) on January 11th 1986, in a side that included Luton legends Mick Harford, David Preece, Steve Foster, Brian Stein, Ricky Hill and Mal Donaghy.

On his home debut, he netted his first goal for the club as Luton beat Aston Villa 2-0, Newell netting the first goal and Brian Stein adding a second.  He only missed one game during the remainder of that season, as he netted 6 goals in 16 games as a partner to either Mick Harford or Brian Stein in attack.

He played all 42 League games the following season, the 1986-87 campaign, and he scored 12 goals, which included a memorable hat-trick against his former club Liverpool, who had released him as a youngster.  He helped Luton to their highest-ever finish of 7th in the top flight - and Luton only finished 5 points behind Tottenham Hotspur, who finished 3rd.

He played the first 5 games of the next season, 1987-88, as Luton went on to lift the Littlewoods Cup that season, but Newell failed to score in the opening 5 matches and he he joined Leicester City for £350,000 in September 1987.  He made 63 League appearances for Luton, scoring 18 goals.

He also played for Liverpool, Crewe Alexandra, Everton, Blackburn Rovers, Birmingham City, West Ham United (loan), Bradford City (loan), Aberdeen, Crewe Alexandra (second spell), Doncaster Rovers and Blackpool. He made a total of 530 League appearances during his career, scoring 120 goals and he totalled £3,585,000 in transfer fees.   

On June 23rd 2003, Newell became the Luton Town manager on a two-year contract after winning a phone poll that John Gurney, the club’s Managing Director, had set up as a unique exercise in sport PR.

Newell replaced the extremely popular Joe Kinnear, who had been amazingly sacked by the new owners of the club just 2 days after they purchased the club from Mike Watson-Challis, who had decided to retire at the end of the 2002-03 season.

Newell had been sacked as Hartlepool United manager a fortnight before taking control of the Hatters having been boss of the club for 6 months after Chris Turner left to become the Sheffield Wednesday boss. With the club top of Division Three, the side slumped somewhat when Mike took over and, although they were promoted, they didn’t win the title as Rushden & Diamonds pipped them for the championship.  

Now in Division Two, the Hartlepool United board decided that they needed a new man in charge and Newell wasn’t handed a new contract. Newell won 13, lost 7 and drew 9 of his 29 matches in charge of the Victoria Ground-based club.   

Newell, who was in charge of all football concerns from schoolboys to the first-team said that he'd "Accepted the job regardless of who did or didn’t vote for him".

Speaking on his appointment, Newell said,
”I came down here as a player at the age of 20 and was fortunate enough to go straight into the team and keep my place for a good two years in what was one of the best sides Luton have had in the past 20 years, full of internationals.

”The voting for the job was not something I had any control over. I was offered the job and I accepted.

”The squad finished ninth in the Division after a difficult start to the season, so I’ve obviously inherited a talented squad. I know a couple of them as players but none at all as people, so my first job will be to get to know them.

”I need to win the players round now and I can only do that by working with them and proving to them that I’m capable of doing the job. If they were happy with the old manager, I can understand that. I’ve just left Hartlepool where the players were happy with their manager.”

Mr. Gurney said, "The vote was much closer than we anticipated. I would now make an appeal for anyone connected with the club to get behind the club." 

It seemed it would be very difficult for Newell to initially ‘win over’ the Luton Town supporters, who were disgusted at the treatment both Joe Kinnear and his assistant, Luton legend, Mick Harford, received when they were dismissed.  However, regardless of what anyone felt, Newell was the new Luton Town manager and, a good player for the club in the late 80s, it was hoped that Newell could be as successful a manager for the club as he was as a player.

His first decision as the new manager of the club was to appoint someone to work alongside him - and after initial speculation linking Kevin Sheedy with the job - surprisingly, but to everyone's delight, Newell managed to persuade Mick Harford to return to the club as Director of Football and First-Team Coach.

The Hatters fans eventually took a liking to Newell, who brought about the return of attractive, passing football to the club and this saw him 'win over' the majority of Luton Town fans and if he could continue to build upon these initial foundations, then he could well become a very popular manager and the only bright spark to come out of what was an awful summer for everyone connected with Luton Town Football Club.

The Club and The Ground

IF one was to try and encapsulate some of the successes and failures associated with one of the game's less glamorous clubs, then the undulating fortunes of Bradford City over the years would possibly be included in its pages.

The Bantams, who won the FA Cup in 1911, and who also endured two seasons in the Premiership in 1999-00 and 2000-01 - and signed some big-name players such as Benito Carbone, Dan Petrescu, David Hopkin and David Wetherall - have since been on a slide and have struggled since they lost their top-flight status and manager Paul Jewell, who had guided them to their position amongst Britain's elite.

The term 'a game of two halves' is often applied to a football game; in the case of The Bradford & Bingley Stadium (formerly Valley Parade), the term a 'ground of two halves' comes to mind. The ground has been now been completely re-built since the mid-80's, but the initial impression is that one side of the ground is twice as big as the other. The Kop End (or now known as the Carlsberg Stand), is a relatively new two-tiered stand, that is simply huge and looks quite superb. It once towered over the rest of the ground, but the addition of an additional tier to the Sunwin Stand during 2001 has led to it meeting its once larger neighbour. With the corner between these stands also being filled, one has a truly impressive spectacle. The rest of the ground now looks rather out of place in the shadow of their shiny neighbours. Hatters fans are housed in a small 'double decker' type stand at one end of the ground, called the TL Dallas Symphony Stand. The other side, the East Stand is a single tiered stand.  There is also an electric scoreboard in one corner of the ground.

Hatters fans are housed at one end of the ground in the TL Dallas Symphony Stand where 1,840 supporters can be accommodated. If possible try to get tickets for the upper tier of this stand as the view of the action is far better. On the downside there are a number of supporting pillars in this stand which could well impede your view. 

Pleasingly, I have found Bradford to have become rather more friendly towards away supporters in recent years. It is quite an enjoyable day out especially if you enjoy what the city has to offer. Make sure though, that unless the weather forecast is 80 degrees, that you wrap up well. This is because Bradford is situated at the bottom of a valley, down which a rather cold wind normally prevails.

Ground Guide courtesy of the excellent Internet Football Ground Guide.

History - Bradford City Football Club

IF one was to try and encapsulate some of the successes and failures associated with one of the game's less glamorous clubs, then the undulating fortunes of Bradford City over the years would possibly be included in its pages.

Along with Chelsea who emulated City's feat in 1905, Bradford City remain the only club to be elected to The Football League before they had played a single senior match.

Indeed they had literally walked into full membership of the Second Division before a team had been assembled or the certainty of a ground on which to play, yet they topped the Covent Garden polling with 30 votes from a possible 35 on that eventful day of 25 May 1903.

Thus they became the pioneers of professional association football in the West Riding of Yorkshire.

Even more remarkably at the time of formation, Bradford City achieved the distinction in a stranglehold of football under the rugby code.

Manningham Rugby Football Club had the dominant sporting force in the wool city but it became more apparent that the handling outfit could not remain solvent - despite a summer archery contest that realised a sum sufficient to have ensured their survival-members were persuaded to switch their allegiance to the game of soccer.

So began the remarkable start of the life of Bradford City A.F.C. for against a backcloth of local fervour which began with a gentle ripple of enthusiasm and developed with the force of a tidal wave, the club gained a Division 1 place within five years and captured the coveted F.A. Cup three years later in 1911 (match ball pictured below).

All of this happened whilst competing for the affections of supporters who had by this time another professional club in the city which vied for their loyalties - Bradford Park Avenue.

In modern times however, such heady days are beyond the recall of most supporters but they remain one of the pillars of the Football League.

Their topsy- turvy career has mixed the trappings of success with the traumas of financial crisis and even tragedy, yet they have re- emerged from these trials and tribulations only to frustrate and mystify their supporters once again.
 
Bradford City played their first ever Football League game away to Grimsby Town on 1 September 1903 losing 0-2 before registering their first victory in the third game of the season at Burton United.

Bristol City were recipients of Bradford City's first Valley Parade success the following week, setting the seal for the final position of 10th in an understandably erratic season.

After capturing the Second Division Championship in 1908,they went on to grace the top flight for ten successive seasons straggling the Great War with a best ever position of fifth, achieved during their FA Cup Final winning season of 1911.

This was the year they set the club’s longest standing ground record of 39,146 for the visit of Burnley in the Quarter-Final.

Newcastle United, one of the Cup giants of the day, barred the way to Bradford City's first ever success in the world's Premier Cup competition. But after a replay it was the Valley Parade club who became the first proud owners of the new replacement Bradford-made trophy thanks to a 15th minute winner from skipper Jimmy Spiers.

Manager Peter O'Rourke, the City's most successful supremo, brought the Third Division (North) title to Bradford in 1929 in record breaking fashion during his second spell as boss at Valley Parade, with little in the way of cheer in between time.

In fact Bradford had to wait 56 years for another title success when former England International Trevor Cherry building on foundations laid by George Mulhall and Roy McFarland led them to the Division 3 Championship in 1985.
 
Bradford had tasted the sweet flavour of promotion in 1969, 1977 and 1982 but generally their seasons were spent staving off either relegation or re-election.
 
So one could understand the waves of euphoria which greeted the club when under the popular Managership of Bradford born Terry Dolan, they eased their way in the Second Division Play-Offs in 1987 only to lose agonisingly to Middlesborough in the semi-final after extra-time.

The stars of the side about this time were arguably home reared Stuart McCall, later to display his talents on the World Cup stage for Scotland and John Hendrie, a free transfer from Coventry City.

The Bradford City faithful had to endure a few heart-stopping moments late on in the 1996-97 season as the club battled to avoid relegation back into Division 2.
 
However consecutive home wins over Charlton Athletic and Queen's Park Rangers in the space of four days ensured survival.

The 1997-98 season saw Bradford City have an excellent start to the campaign spending the first three months in the top six, even leading the Division in September.

However following a disappointing run of results at the end of the year, Chris Kamara was relieved of his duties on 6 January 1998.

Paul Jewell took over as Caretaker Manager and was appointed to the position of Manager on 26 January 1998, initially until the end of the season.

The season ended with Bradford City in 13th position in the Nationwide Football League Division 1, City's highest ever placing and Jewell was rewarded with a two year contract to take the club into the new Millennium.

His first signing saw former City favourite and Scottish international Stuart McCall return to Valley Parade from Rangers on 4 June 1998.

Saturday 28 November 1998 saw the Diamond Seal Kop terracing used to capacity for the final time in the game v Queen's Park Rangers with work on a new £2.3m two-tier stand starting two days later, ready for completion for the beginning of the 1999-00 season making Valley Parade an all-seater stadium.

And Sunday 9 May 1999 must rate as one of the most historic days in the Club’s history when Bradford City were promoted to the FA Premier League on the final day of the season with an exciting 3-2 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux.

The 1999-00 season saw Bradford City's home take on a new name following a sponsorship deal with the ground becoming the Bradford & Bingley Stadium.

The summer months saw manager Paul Jewell strengthen his squad in preparation for the club’s first ever campaign in the FA Carling Premiership with the arrival of Matthew Clarke from Sheffield Wednesday. He was joined by three from neighbours Leeds United - Lee Sharpe, Gunnar Halle and on 1July David Wetherall who became City's record signing when £1.4m was paid for his signature.

The eagerly awaited fixture list came out giving City an away game against Middlesborough at the BT Cellnet Riverside Stadium as their first taste of football in the big-time. Sheffield Wednesday would provide the opposition for the opening FA Premier League game at the new look Bradford & Bingley Stadium.

The excitement of the season lasted until the very last day. Many had written City's chances off right from Day 1 claiming they would be relegated by February. However they were proved wrong. Sunday 14 May saw Liverpool at the Bradford & Bingley Stadium and Bradford knew they had to better Wimbledon's result, who were playing at Southampton, to ensure they stayed in the Premiership and condem fellow strugglers The Dons who were level with City on points but had a better goal difference.

A 12th minute header from David Wetherall and a 2-0 defeat for Wimbledon sent the whole of Bradford into raptures and saw Premiership football at Valley Parade for another season.

This would be a season in which history would again be made for the Club when an invitation was accepted to play in the UEFA Intertoto Cup competition, the first game for City in Europe taking place in Klaipeda, Lithuania.

However just two weeks before City's entry into Europe, Bradford City were rocked when manager Paul Jewell quit as he felt he had taken the club as far as he could. In line with previous appointments from within, Chris Hutchings was seen as the perfect replacement and took over as Manager on 22 June 2000.

Isaiah Rankin entered the Bradford City history books on Sunday 2 July 2000 when he scored the Bantams' first ever goal in European competition as City beat FK Atlantas 3-1 in Klaipeda (Lithuania) in the UEFA Intertoto Cup.

On 7 July 2000, the club's transfer record was smashed when Leeds United's Scottish International midfielder David Hopkin was signed for a fee of £2.5m.

As the club entered the 21st century, plans were announced to build a second tier on the Sunwin Stand, along with a new North West Corner Stand linking the Sunwin and Carlsberg Stands. The project would also include new Administration and Ticket Offices along with a new Club Superstore.

Application was also made to the Football Association for the Club to have Academy Status with a new state-of-the-art training base at Apperley Bridge as part of the plan.

As the season progressed, City's fortunes on the pitch went downhill rapidly and after just 12 games and 137 days in charge, Chris Hutchings was relieved of his duties on 6 November 2000 with Stuart McCall taking over as caretaker-Manager before the appointment of former Hearts boss Jim Jefferies two weeks later.

It soon became apparant to Jefferies that the players he inherited were not good enough to keep City in the Premiership and he began a mass clear out in preparation for the inevitable drop back into the Nationwide Football League which eventually came following a 1-2 defeat against Everton at Goodison Park on 28 April 2001, a game in which the Bantams took a third minute lead but missed two penalties.

However Jim Jefferies reign in charge finished on Christmas Eve 2001 when a few days after his Assistant Billy Brown left to return Scotland, Jefferies followed saying he was unable to carry on at the club without his assistant with whom he had worked for over 14 years at 4 different clubs. It had proved to be a difficult time for the pair with just 12 victories from 48 games played coupled with the earlier relegation from the Premier League and a slump which saw the Bantams enter the Christmas programme in 16th place.

City entered 2002 appointing Nicky Law from Chesterfield as the new manager in succession to Jim Jefferies. Law decided that he wanted to bring in his own players in preparation for the following season so City saw out the 2001-02 campaign with a limited squad, several players leaving before the transfer day deadline and others knowing that this season would be their last.

City were involved in a relegation battle to avoid the drop into Division 2 but safety was guaranteed with a 2-1 victory away at Wimbledon with two games to spare, the success breaking a jinx which had seen the Bantams fail to win in the capital since 1999.

As manager Nicky Law prepared for the dawn of a new era at the club, another one came to an end when on Sunday 28 April 2002 skipper Stuart McCall played his last ever game for Bradford City in his testimonial when an ex-Bradford City XI took on an ex-Rangers XI in front of a packed Bradford & Bingley Stadium.

More drama arrived on Thursday 16 May 2002 when the club was placed into Administration brought about mainly by the collapse of ITV Digital and the fact that a proposed move by high-earner Benito Carbone to Middlesborough failed to materialise. The double-whammy plunged the club £13m into debt and Administration was the only avenue open to try and save the club and find a buyer for the way forward.

Drastic cuts were forecast to make cost reductions, the first coming when 39 non-playing members of staff lost their jobs. However the biggest part of the cull came on Thursday 23 May when sixteen of the professional squad had their contracts torn up leaving Manager Nicky Law with five professionals with a handful of senior appearances among them and sixteen scholars.

The club faced a summer of uncertainty with every effort made to secure its future and on 1 August the Administrators managed to get creditors to accept a C.V.A. (Creditors Voluntary Agreement). This would mean debts being rescheduled and also the reinstatement of the players who had gone unpaid since April.

One player however not to return was Benito Carbone who sacrificed a large chunk of the money owed to him on his contract and he moved back to Italy to continue his career.

The Richmond era at Bradford City Football Club came to an end when on Saturday 10 August 2002 he resigned from the Board of Directors and was replaced as Chairman by new co-owner Gordon Gibb who along with Julian Rhodes had completed a take-over of the club at the 11th hour before the Bantams were due to lose their status in the Football League.

On Friday 30 August 2002, agreement was finally reached with the Professional Footballers Association over the payment of monies owed to the players during the summer of turmoil.

With agreement having already been made with the creditors, this now allowed the Football League to return Bradford City's share in the League and were in effect no longer in Administration. All that was needed was the for the Court to rubber-stamp matters a few days later.

The Richmond era at Bradford City had now finished with a new future on the horizon.

Theme Park magnate Gordon Gibb emerged as Bradford City's saviour alongside Director Julian Rhodes. The pair negotiated the legal minefield along with Richmond to save the Bantams' future with minutes to spare.

Gibb took over as Chairman from Richmond, bringing to an end an eight-and-a-half year reign.

Unlike his predecessor, Gordon Gibb did not go for the flamboyant approach as he began to pick up the pieces from the summer fall-out.

With a transfer embargo in place, Nicky Law had to show an eye for a bargain and unearthed some raw talent.

Youngsters Danny Forrest and Simon Francis emerged while the manager worked the loan system to cope with an horrific list of injuries.

Finishing the 2002-03 season in 19th place was regarded as a success given all that had happened off the field.

However after a good start to the 2003-04 season, Bradford's fortunes changed and finding themselves just one place off the bottom of the table with only three wins under their belt, on 9 November the Board felt that Nicky Law had been given as long as they could to turn things round and terminated his contract following the 1-1 draw at home to Walsall.
 

Monday 24 November 2003 saw one of the biggest causes for optimism in years arrive for Bradford City fans with the appointment of former-England captain Bryan Robson as the club's new manager. He came with a fantastic pedigree of having taking his previous club Middlesborough to three Cup Finals and two promotions in this five-year stint at the Riverside Stadium. Robson brought in Colin Todd as his no. 2.  However, he was unable to save the club from relegation and he left at the end of the 2003-04 season to be replaced by Colin Todd.

Like the Hatters, who saw devastation at their ground when Millwall fans' rioted in the 80s, Bradford City have also endured a somewhat unprecedented event at their stadium.

Saturday 11 May 1985 - the day should have gone down in the history books as a day of celebration following the nine months of sweat, tears and toll which shot Bradford City to the Third Division Championship.

But it turned out to be the day which sent shockwaves round the world as fire engulfed the antiquated Main Stand at Valley Parade and eventually claimed the lives of 56 supporters.

The fire sweeps through the wooden stand
A tragedy: The fire.



11,076 fans were present at Valley Parade on that fateful day when Bradford City met Lincoln City and prior to kick-off they had witnessed locally-born captain Peter Jackson being presented with the Championship trophy by the Football League's Life President at the time, Dick Wragg.

Never in the annals of the Football League's history had a team's achievements been so tragically overshadowed.

At 3.40pm the first signs were noticed and fire-fighting equipment was requested. Within four minutes the flames were visible and the Police began to evacuate people in the area of Block G.

Match Referee Don Shaw from Sandbach stopped play three minutes before half-time with the score at 0-0 after having been alerted to the situation by one of his linesmen. The Football League subsequently ordered the score line at the time of the abandonment to remain.

What followed will live in the memory forever.

There were 56 supporters who lost their lives and approximately 265 injured.

Reaction to the horror was instant with messages of sympathy arriving from the Queen, the Pope, the Prime Minister, Church leaders and a host of political figures from around the globe.

According to forensic scientist Dr. David Woolley, the attributable cause of the fire was possibly the accidental dropping of a match or a cigarette stubbed out in a polystyrene cup.

It was described as the worst fire disaster in the history of British football and the worst stadium disaster in Britain since 65 supporters perished at Ibrox in January 1971 at the end of a Rangers v Celtic 'derby' fixture.

On the instructions announced in the House of Commons by the Home Secretary, Leon Brittan, a seven-day hearing was conducted at City Hall in Bradford from 5 June 1985 in which statements from 77 witnesses were heard by appointed High Court Judge, Oliver Popplewell (sitting as Mr. Justice Popplewell) following a preliminary session on 23 May 1985. His interim blueprint on the findings, collated with the help of two assessors, was published on 24 July 1985.

The tragedy unwittingly brought about new legislation governing safety at the nation's sports grounds and stadia, a move felt long overdue in view of some of the antiquated wooden stands that had been in use for decades, especially in the lower Divisions.

It also undoubtedly brought about an unprecedented united community spirit, buoyed by world-wide messages of condolence and monetary contributions from a host of public events etc. towards a Bradford Disaster Appeal Fund (83% of the total, amounting to £3.35m,distributed to sufferers in November 1985) and the singular aim to return to a new Valley Parade stadium after Bradford City had to play all their 'home' League and Cup fixtures for the whole of the 1985-86 season and the first half of the following season at their adopted grounds of Bradford Northern RLFC (now Bradford Bulls) at Odsal Stadium in Bradford, Huddersfield Town (Leeds Road) and Leeds United (Elland Road).

The reality came to fruition on 14 December 1986 with a commemorative fixture against an England X1, before a 15,000 full-house when Bradford City triumphed by a 2-1 score line.

The names of those who lost their lives in the tragedy
The names of those who lost their lives.



In Centenary Square outside Bradford City Hall, there is a memorial given by the City of Hamm - Bradford's twin City in Germany.
 
At the Bradford & Bingley Stadium, a sculpture by Patricia McAllister was donated by Sylvia Graucob and can be seen above the entrance to the Executive Suites in Burlington Street. Next to the new entrance to the redeveloped Sunwin Stand a new Memorial with the names of those who lost their lives was opened prior to the first game of the 2001-02 season and was dedicated on Saturday 11 May 2002, the 17th anniversary of the disaster.

Luton Town v Bradford City...

A full rundown of all of the past meetings

 

 Home Matches  

Dec

18

1965

D4

L

2

3

5550

Oct

20

1966

D4

D

0

0

4150

Apr

27

1968

D4

L

1

3

14147

Dec

13

1969

D3

W

5

0

11857

 

 Away Matches  

Oct

16

1965

D4

D

2

2

2635

Nov

16

1966

D4

L

1

2

3097

Dec

2

1967

D4

L

0

2

7957

Sep

13

1969

D3

D

1

1

10851

 
OTHERS WHO HAVE BEEN A HATTER AND A BANTAM
Name DOB First Season Last Season Sold To League Apps. League Goals
Andy Petterson 26/09/69 1988 1993 Charlton Athletic 19 0
Chris Kamara 25/12/57 1991 1992 Sheffield United 49 0
Tony Adcock 27/02/63 1994 1994 Colchester United 2 0
Graeme Tomlinson 10/12/75 1995 1995 Manchester United 7 0
Paul Showler 10/10/66 1996 1998 Retired 27 6
Andy Kiwomya 01/10/67 1996 1996 Bradford City 5 1
Bryan Small 15/11/71 1997 1997 Bolton Wanderers 16 0
Ben Roberts 22/06/75 1999 and 2002 1999 and 2002 Charlton Athletic 14 and 5 0 and 0
Marlon Beresford 02/09/69 2003 and 2004 2003 and - Barnsley 11 and - 0 and -

Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained on this page, Lutonfc.com excepts no responsibility for any problems or disputes arising from its use.

Please e-mail suggestions or corrections to james_garley@hotmail.com
© Lutonfc.com  2003 - all rights reserved.

   
   

Website design © JFG WEB DESIGN 2000 - 2006. Content © www.lutonfc.com 2000 - 2008. Please read our copyright terms.