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The real fears though belonged to their supporters who just had to sit, hold tight and wonder if they would have a football club by the start of the 2002/03 season and in the end they did, just, but it really was a close run thing with the season just about to start.
During the summer players, not being paid anyway, were released and staff were made redundant in other areas of the club as the administrators tried to rescue the club and eventually they persuaded the creditors to accept an offer of 10p in the pound to allow them to continue.
The good news to come out of all this, yes there was some, was the departure of Mr. Pompous himself and that move has seen Gordon Gibb the owner of Flamingo Land take over in the chair.
Their problems came after they had successfully remained in the Premiership at the end of their first season there, 1999/2000, and this was when Mr. Pompous suddenly thought he was running a big club. The signings quite honestly were a joke for a club of Bradford’s status as the likes of Dan Petrescu and Benito Carbone arrived to be followed soon after by Stan Collymore.
Needless to say they went back down again and as the nightmare season progressed they were able to offload most of them but Carbone remained and remained and remained. He was still there when the administrators were called in and finally accepted a pay off after bleeding the club dry. He was on a reported £40,000 per week and Bradford couldn’t sustain that in the Premiership never mind the Nationwide League.
The problems intensified after relegation in 2001 and Pompous tried every trick in the book last season with his Phoenix League ideas and his constant invitations to Celtic and Rangers to come and join us. All the time he was leading Bradford City into debts of over £35 million.
Despite all the problems they ended last season comfortably in fifteenth place although only six points clear of the last relegation position. They were thankful at the end for the start that saw them, along with the Clarets, pick up nine points from the first three games.
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Since then Australian Paul Reid has joined from Wollongong Wolves and they have also added to the squad with three loan players from Premiership clubs in goalkeeper Steve Banks from Bolton, Sunderland’s Michael Proctor and Stephen Warnock from Liverpool.
The season has got off to a pretty average start with three wins, three draws and two defeats with the second defeat coming in midweek at Leicester 4-0. They have though gone out of the Worthington Cup to two late Wrexham goals.
They were never in the game at Leicester after conceding two quick goals just before the half hour mark but Leicester are already looking one of the promotion favourites. The Bradford team at the Walkers Stadium was: Aidan Davison, Peter Atherton (Michael Standing 70), Robert Molenaar, Mark Bower, Stephen Warnock, Gus Uhlenbeek, Andy Gray (Paul Evans 61), Andy Myers, Ashley Ward (Juanjo 82), Michael Proctor, Danny Cadamarteri. Subs not used: Steve Banks, Wayne Jacobs.
They have scored a total of nine league goals to date with three players having scored twice and three players once. Those with two are Andy Gray, Ashley Ward and Michael Proctor.
Five of their eight games have been away and two draws and a win at home mean Burnley will be looking to become the first team to win at Valley Parade this season just as they were last season.
Click HERE to check out Bradford City’s results this season.
He played for both
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He had started his career, along with twin brother Paul, with his home town club Chester City before they both moved on to Luton Town. Paul was being tipped for stardom and many thought that Ron was just being signed to keep him company. That argument was strengthened when they both moved to Manchester City but nothing could be further from the truth as Ron was a very good player in his own right.
He never really got to grips with life at Maine Road and drifted out of English football to start a career in the USA with firstly Minnesota Kicks and then Portland Timbers. After a short return with Southampton it was back to America with Tulsa Roughnecks before he moved to Holland with NAC Breda,
Barnsley and Oldham followed before he finally arrived at Valley Parade in 1987 where he scored 18 goals in 42 league appearances. Then it was Port Vale before Frank Casper brought him to the Turf for £65,000 in November 1989.
His goalscoring record for Burnley was excellent, 25 in 57 games, and his goals helped us to the 1990/91 play offs where we were beaten by Torquay. He had a mixed relationship with the Burnley crowd who would treat him as a hero one week and the week after would be quickly on his back if things went wrong.
He was leading scorer for us in both his seasons but left before the start of the 1991/92 season moving on to Crewe where he ended his career. Not before he made one return to Burnley though and was sent off much to the delight of the home fans.
All in all he was a good signing for Burnley and helped the club move from also rans to genuine promotion candidates.
League results in the last 20 years
Season | Div | Ven | Result | Att | Scorers |
a | |||||
1983/84 | 3 | h | 1-2 | 12,327 | Jackson(og) |
a | 1-2 | 5,578 | Biggins | ||
1984/85 | 3 | h | 1-2 | 7,060 | Biggins |
a | 2-3 | 8,156 | Biggins Grewcock | ||
1992/93 | 2 | h | 2-2 | 13,262 | Slawson McCarthy(og) |
a | 0-1 | 10,235 | |||
1993/94 | 2 | h | 0-1 | 13,517 | |
a | 1-0 | 9,501 | Heath | ||
1995/96 | 2 | h | 2-3 | 9,714 | Robinson Eyres(pen) |
a | 2-2 | 8,356 | Harrison Swan | ||
2001/02 | 1 | h | 1-1 | 19,479 | Johnson |
a | 3-2 | 17,527 | Little(2) Ellis |
Click HERE for a complete list of past games since our last meeting in November 1903 when we won 3-2 at the Turf.
Last Time in the League
Bradford City 2 (Ward 61 McCall 81) Burnley 3 (Little 46,79 Ellis 85) – Nationwide League Division 1, Sunday 2nd September 2001.
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The only problem on the day was having to endure some horrendous and disgraceful racial abuse from so called Burnley fans but in the end they were quietened by the sheer performance on the pitch.
Bradford were early promotion candidates and deservedly so and on the evidence of this performance were certainly going to be there or thereabouts. Mind you so were Burnley who turned in a brilliant performance and for the first time in many years we went top of the First Division. It was our highest placing for over 25 years.
It was 0-0 at half time and that was difficult to believe although both sides will claim they did actually score. Ward had a goal chalked out for offside and to be honest we were relieved to see the flag, it looked very close. At the other end Glen Little seemed to hit bar and both posts with one effort and some did say it hit the back stanchion and came out. Video evidence proved the referee correct.
The second half was barely seconds old though when we went in front with a stunner from Glen after Bally had won the ball and put him clear down the right. We were playing some good stuff now but so were Bradford and they equalised on the hour.
With eleven minutes to go Glen got what we thought was the winner as he turned in an Alan Moore cross but little did we know. Bradford came storming back and levelled again before Tony Ellis, on as a sub, got the winner. It was his last ever Football League goal in a long career.
There was no way back for Bradford this time but this had been a superb game which the Clarets just about deserved to win but we had some defending to do at times in the second half as Bradford poured forward.
Things were soon to turn sour for them though and they quickly fell out of the promotion race but that day they were beaten because, as well as they played, they couldn’t cope with our play. And WE WERE TOP OF THE LEAGUE.
The teams were,
Bradford City: Gary Walsh, Andy Myers, Stuart McCall, Gareth Whalley, Ashley Ward, Benito Carbone, Eoin Jess, Robert Molinaar, Gary Locke, Gunnar Halle (Robbie Blake 80), Wayne Jacobs. Subs not used: David Wetherall, Aiden Davidson, Andy Tod, Lee Makel.
Burnley: Nik Michopoulos, Dean West, Steve Davis, Gordon Armstrong, Lee Briscoe, Glen Little, Paul Weller, Kevin Ball, Paul Cook, Alan Moore, Ian Moore (Tony Ellis 76). Subs not used: Luigi Cennamo, Arthur Gnohere, John Mullin, Andy Payton.
Referee: Mr. R. Pearson.