Where did it all go wrong for Bradford City?

Having spent 20 consecutive seasons outside England’s topflight, here’s how it all went wrong for Bradford City who find themselves languishing in the depths of League Two.

The Bantams faced a 77-year absence previously from the topflight, in which Paul Jewell’s Bradford were able to get promoted in 1999 after finishing second in the Football League First Division.

Following their promotion to the Premiership, Jewell’s side were expected to be ‘ran over and embarrassed’ in their first season back up however, the management were determined for this not to happen. Bradford left it until the last day of the season in which they beat Liverpool to confirm the West Yorkshire club’s survival, whilst denying Liverpool’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.

Having beaten the bookies’ odds on going down, the Bantams signed Italian forward, Benito Carbone on a free transfer. Carbone was earning an astonishing £40,000 a week whilst at Bradford however the club saw relegation in their second season back in the Premier League finishing rock bottom with 26 points, 16 points from safety.

The club continued to thrash their fragile finances on a number of new signings as well as a manager and the hopes to build a 35,000-seater stadium were destroyed after their relegation to the old first division, where financial strains depleted the club’s stature and sent Bradford into administration in May 2002.

Former City chairman, Geoffrey Richmond, later revealed that the club would have folded if they continued to pay Carbone’s staggering wages. Carbone didn’t want to be known as the man who made the Bantams fold, as a result, the forward gave up over £3.2 million in wages.

Nearly 20 years on, Bradford are now playing their second consecutive season in League Two, but find themselves at the wrong end of the table. The Bantams have also bowed out of the FA Cup second round to Oldham Athletic, despite five years ago the side found themselves in the quarter-finals, losing to Reading 3-0 in a replay at the Madjeski Stadium.

The Bantams have also endured a number of trips to Wembley Stadium, which includes their League Cup run to the Final in which Premier League Swansea City side beat League Two Bradford 5-0. The West Yorkshire club became the first team from the fourth tier since Rochdale in 1962 to reach the final. Their most recent trip to the national stadium was a defeat in the 2017 League One Play-Off Final against Millwall.

Within the last ten years, Bradford have seen 12 managers attempt to take the reigns of the club in order to revive any hope of winning promotion from the depths of the Football League. Former Bantams midfielder, Stuart McCall, has seen three stints as manager of the club and is currently struggling to move the club forward.

The current owner of the Football Club, Stefan Rupp, has previously held talks with a number of potential buyers for Bradford City.

However, with Rupp demanding a problematic sum this has proved to be a difficult challenge for the club. Considering that the Bantams don’t own Valley Parade and their training ground, Rupp’s estimation of £10 million has scared off any potential buyers, leaving the club in dire need of new ownership as they continue to stumble around the relegation zone of England’s fourth tier.

At first, fans believed that Stefan Rupp had saved the club from the hands of Edin Rahic, who practically brought the club into financial dilapidation, promising fans tickets for just one British pound. Bradford were on the cusp of ending up like former League Two side, Bury FC.

However, this may all be too late for Bradford City who could find themselves playing non-league football for the first time in the club’s history.

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