Bradford City

The club was formed in 1903 from a local rugby club, as the Football Association wanted to promote association football in the area. They took over Valley Parade, which is still their home, and in just a few seasons they had won the Second Division.

They won the FA Cup in 1911, so they must have thought things were looking good at that point. They haven’t won a trophy since, though, and they were out of the top flight for 77 years, until 1998. Even then they only lasted three season. But they have had some memorable moments on the pitch over the years.

When they dropped out of the Premier League in 2001, the inevitable financial troubles came, and by 2007 they were back in the fourth tier. But a rising young manager named Phil Parkinson (now at Wrexham) took them to the 2013 League Cup Final—the first League Two club to do so in 40 years. But they lost to Swansea City. They also got promoted that season to League One.

They really are known around England for a few things. That League Cup Final is certainly one of them (they beat Arsenal and Aston Villa along the way) and so is the 2014–15 FA Cup, when they beat Chelsea 4–2 at Stamford Bridge in front a delirious army of support. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho famously applauded them after the result. They beat Sunderland in the next round before bowing out to Reading in the quarterfinals.

Sadly, what they are best known for are the terrible events of May 11, 1985. They were celebrating a Third Division championship in the last game of the season, and the game was live on television.

The Main Stand at that point was 70 years old, a wooden structure that had been condemned and was going to be replaced in the offseason. Months of litter had been building up underneath it for years—a fact officials were aware of but had not done anything about. Just before halftime, a lit cigarette went down there and caught fire.

Within minutes the entire stand was on fire, and 56 people eventually died. It was one of the most infamous tragedies of a terrible time in English football, a monument to the neglect and contempt by club officials for supporters, and the sad state of grounds. A few years later, 96 Liverpool fans died in a crush at an FA Cup semifinal, and the game finally began to make wholesale safety changes.

There is a monument to the victims outside the new Main Stand, and the club has worn black in its colors ever since.

2024–25 SEASON: 3rd in League Two (promoted), 2nd Round FA Cup, 1st Round League Cup

2025–26 SEASON: League One (promoted in 2025)

There is another club in town called Bradford Park Avenue, so that would be a Bradford Derby. But Park Avenue is in the eighth tier, and the two haven’t had a competitive fixture since 1969. Let’s all hope for a favorable cup draw there!

Otherwise, any Yorkshire or local club would seem to qualify: Leeds, Huddersfield, Oldham, or Burnley.

Bradford City AFC Women play in the North East Regional Women’s Football League, tier five of the women’s pyramid. Home games are at the Horsfall Stadium, home of Bradford Park Avenue. Check the club’s website for fixture information.

They do is a version of “Country Roads” that goes like this:

Midland Road, take me home

To the place I belong

To The Valley, to see the City,

Take me home, Midland Road.

 

It’s officially the University of Bradford Stadium, although that’s a sponsorship deal; it isn’t on the campus or anything. But no matter: Everybody calls it Valley Parade anyway.

It is an impressive place, if somewhat odd. In one end is the small TL Dallas Stand, which isn’t used except when a really big away contingent is in. Along one side is the Midland Road Stand. It holds 4,500 and by itself would be a nice stand for a club in League One.

But across the pitch is a two-sided behemoth stand that holds over 19,000 people! It’s a big double-decker affair with the corner filled in, and on the side it doesn’t even go the length of the pitch. Just past midfield, it just stops, two tiers hanging over a mostly empty space with a few rows of seats, then a building in the corner where to teams emerge down some steps from the dressing room.

It’s impressive — as are the crowds, fueled by the cheapest season tickets around, starting at just over £100. But Valley Parade is also just a bit odd in its appearance.

Away fans will be in the Midland Road down near the TL Dallas Stand. So if you want to see them, sit in the Main Stand. Otherwise, go for the Midland Road and enjoy the view of the Main Stand. Just understand if you’re sat over there you’ll have to go around the south end of the stadium to get there.

TOURS: Only for pre-arranged groups via the club’s website.

GETTING THERE: It’s about a 20-minute walk from the city center, where is also Bradford Interchange Railway Station, probably where you will arrive to town. If walking doesn’t work for you, grab a taxi from the station and get their number for after the game.

PUBS: There are a few options right in the center, including a big Wetherspoon called The Turls Green. Its outdoor seating overlooks a big suqare with a fountain and the City Hall. Just behind there, pop into Sunbridge Wells, a cool little underground area where you’ll find Wallers Brewery among other shops.

Also in the center is the big Crown Sports Bar.

Then, on walking to the ground, simply aim for North Parade Street, where an impressive cluster of bars will be filled with supporters: Rum-shack-a-lack, Rewired, The Peacock, Crafted, the Boar and Fable, and the Record Cafe, which does in fact sell records and also has an intergalactic collection of coasters on the walls.

GRUB: Some of those pubs will also have food, and there’s a chippie called Drake’s near the City Hall. Sunbridge Wells also has some food trucks that might be open. The stuff at the ground is standard fare.

The flagship store of the chain MyLahore is just out behind the Alhambra Theatre, but locals actually suggested Omar’s True Balti House right next door. It’s open only for dinner, so look for it postgame.

AROUND TOWN: It’s not exactly a tourist mecca, Bradford. The center of the city is worth a walk-around, though, and if the Alhambra Theatre is open try to pop in for at least a visit.

Bradford claims to be the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, and the Bradford Industrial Museum seems worth a visit. If you’re really into such things, a site called Saltaire, in a nearby village called Shipley, is worth a visit. It was built in 1851 as a model workers’ village, and the main mill there was at the time the largest industrial building in the world. Now it houses shops and galleries. See saltsmill.org.uk for more.