Bradford City A.F.C. is a professional English football team from Bradford in West Yorkshire. At the time of writing, they play their football in the fourth tier of English football, also known as League Two. They are the only professional football team in the whole of England to have an amber and claret kit and they have used these colors since they were founded back in 1903. Each football team has a nickname and Bradford City is are known as the “Bantams”. Keep on reading to find out more interesting information about this traditional English football team.

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A Quick Look at the Club's History

When the club first came into being back in 1903, they were added to the Second Division of the Football League. They were in this division for the next four seasons, but they got promoted to the top tier of English football when they won the Second Division title for the 1907-08 season. They won the FA Cup in 1911 which, to this day, remains their only major honor. In 1922 they were relegated from the First Division and then in 1927 they were relegated to the Third Division. They won the 1928-29 Third Division season to get promoted back to the Second Division and then they found themselves relegated again eight years later.

In 1962 they sank to the lowest they have ever been when they were relegated to the Fourth Division. They regained their place in the third tier in 1969, but they were relegated again in 1972. The 1980s saw them have a lot of success as they win the Fourth Division in 1981-82 and the Third Division in 1984-85, but they found themselves relegated from the second tier in 1990. In 1999, they were promoted to the Premier League, which was the first time they had been in the top-flight of English football for nearly eight decades. They were quickly relegated though, and they entered administration and soon found themselves back in the Fourth Division.

Valley Parade Stadium

Valley Parade was a quarry below Manningham, Bradford, that was owned by the Midland Railway Company. In 1886, Manningham RFC decided to purchase a third of the land and rented out the remainder because they were forced to find a new home stadium. They spent just under £1,500 to build a new stadium that was able to hold 20,000 fans. When Bradford City can into being in 1903, they took over Valley Parade and played their first match in the 5th September against Gainsborough Trinity in front of 11,000 fans. When they were promoted to the First Division five years later, they increased the capacity of the ground to 40,000. The first game in the newly developed stadium was played out against Bristol City on Christmas Day and drew a crowd of 36,000.

In May 1985, there was a tragic fire at the stadium during a game and 56 fans lost their lives with over 200 more injured. The main stand was destroyed by the fire in under 9 minutes. The club spent £2.6 million to rebuild the main stand and improve the rest of the stadium and it was reopened again in December 1986.

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Club Records

Below you can find some interesting club records. This is highly useful information for any bettor that’s looking to do some football betting on the Bantams.

  • Their biggest league win was an 11-1 victory over Rotherham United on the 25th August 1928
  • Their biggest league defeat was an 8-0 defeat to Manchester City on the 7th May 1927
  • Their record ticket sales is the £300,000 that they received when Arsenal came to play the Capital One Cup quarter-final on the 11th December 2012
  • Their longest unbeaten run is 21 games which they managed from 1968 to 1969
  • Ces Podd holds the record for the most appearances for the club (574)
  • Bobby Campbell holds the record for the most goals scored for the club (143)