Bradford City
Formed 1903
Elected to Division Two 1903
Kit History
1903 early season a
1903-1905 a
1906-1907 a
1907-1908 a
1908-1909 a
1909-1910 a
1910-1912 a
1913-1915 a
1919-1920 a
1920-1921 a
1921-1923 a
1925-1928 a
1928-1931 a
1933-1934 a
1934-1937 a
1946-1950
1950-1951 c
1951-1952 a
1952-1953 a
1953-1956 a
1957-1959 a
1959-1960 f
1960-1962 a
1963-1964 a
1965-1966 a
1966-1968 a
1968-1969 a
1969-1972 a
1972-1973 a g
1973-1974 a
1974-1975 a
1975-1976 a g
1976-1977 a
1976-1977 alt a g
1977-1978 a g
1978-1979 a g
1979-1981 a
1981-1982 a
1982-1983 a i
1983-1984 a d e
1984-1985 a
1985-1987 a
1987-1988 a
1988-1990 a i
1990-1991 a
1991-1993 a
1993-1994 a
1994-1995 a i
1995-1996 a
1996-1997 a i
1996-1997 i
1997-1999 a
1999-2001 a
2001-2003 a
2003-2004 a
July-Sept 2004 a
Oct 2004-2006 a
2006-2007 a b
2007-2008 b h
2008-2009 b
Background
At the beginning of the twentieth
century, Manningham rugby club had fallen on hard times. The club had
been formed in 1880 and were founder members of the break away Northern
Rugby Union (later the Rugby League). The committee decided that sharing
their Valley Parade ground with a professional association football club
would attract the additional revenue that was so badly needed. A delegation
travelled to London on 25th May to apply for admission to the League.
The infant club was accepted with open arms and the delegation returned
to Bradford in triumph. At the Belle Vue public house they celebrated
what was described as ‘the greatest football scoop ever known’.
City had joined the League without having played a single match! In a
dramatic shift, the committee of Manningham RFC now proposed to abandon
rugby in favour of association football: the motion was eventually carried
by a 2-1 majority and Bradford City was born. For the first few months
of their inaugural season, City wore the claret and amber hooped jerseys
of the rugby team before their new vertically striped shirts were delivered.
It is incidentally believed that the claret and amber colours, unique
in the League, were those of the Prince of Wales Own (West Yorkshire)
Regiment.
City made a solid start in Division Two, winning the championship in 1908 and gaining promotion to Division One. Three years later City finished fifth in Division One, their highest ever placing and won the FA Cup, beating the then powerful Newcastle United 1-0 in a replay. The distinctive, yoked shirts of the period became forever associated with this 1911 side and were to be revived on several occasions.
There was to be no further glory, however, and the Bantams went into long term decline, dropping into Division Two in 1922 and then into Division Three (North) in 1927. Although the club returned to Division Two only two years later, it would be a temporary recovery and in 1937 The Bantams found themselves back in Division Three (North) where they would remain for 23 years before being relegated to Division Four in 1961.
In 1982, City were promoted back into Division Three but the following summer, the club faced bankruptcy. A pre-season photograph shows the players wearing an all-white kit but when the 1983-84 season started, the team turned out in a claret and amber kit designed by Patrick for Motherwell FC. The following season the white kit (favoured by manager Trevor Cherry, a former Leeds player) was adopted.
On 11 May 1985 fans were celebrating promotion back to Division Two when tragedy struck. The wooden Main Stand was engulfed in flames and fifty-six fans died in the inferno. The horror concentrated the minds of football authorities on safety and throughout the League; old structures were hastily closed and demolished. The town rallied to support the club who enjoyed five seasons in Division Two before being relegated once again.
In the late Nineties, City climbed up from Nationwide Division Two (the old third Division) all the way to the Premier Division where they spent two unforgettable seasons 1999-2001. In 2004 the Bantams marked their centenary and briefly wore a replica of their original claret and amber strip but the deal with the manufacturer, Diadora, collapsed and a more modern kit was adopted.
Sources
- (a) Bantams Past : An excellent historical site with an exceptional collection of early team photographs managed by John Ashton.
- (b) Bradford City Official Site
- (c) Geoff Charles Collection at the National Library of Wales
- (d) John Dewhurst
- (e) Glyn Watkins
- (f) Ralph Pomeroy
- (g) Alick Milne
- (h) Football Shirt Culture
- (i) Paul Town