BantamsPast, in association with Friends of Bradford City, are proud to present a special evening celebrating our beloved home, Valley Parade.
The event will be held this Thursday (3 November 2016) in the 1911 Suite at the Northern Commercials Stadium, with some exciting guests lined up.
This time 30 years ago, Bradford City was still recovering from the devastating Fire disaster of 1985, and playing home games at Odsal stadium.
It was an unhappy state of affairs, with crowds dwindling and the players and manager not enjoying playing at a stadium that simply wasn’t built for football.
Yet a return to Valley Parade was far from a given, with Bradford Council attempting to persuade the club into staying at Odsal with plans to redevelop the stadium.
The will of Bradford City supporters was to go back to their home, and finally in December 1986 – 30 years ago – the club returned to a rebuilt Valley Parade. The first game back an emotional-filled friendly against an England XI managed by the late Bobby Robson.
To reflect on this unique anniversary and to look back at the dramatic modern history of Bradford City that has followed the return home, we’d love you to attend. We’ll be running a question and answer session with our panel of guests that include:
James Mason – Chief Operating Officer at Bradford City since 2014, and key figurehead in continuing to drive affordable football at Valley Parade.
Terry Dolan – assistant manager when City returned to Valley Parade, and manager during the famous ‘nearly season’ of 1987/88.
Ian Ormondroyd – much loved player of two spells at Bradford City, including playing in the nearly season and the unforgettable Wembley promotion of 1996.
Simon Parker – Telegraph & Argus Bradford City reporter for the last 16 years.
John Dewhirst – City Gent co-founder, author of multiple books including A History of BCAFC in Objects and the recently published Room at the Top.
The evening itself will be presented by Gareth Jones (Head of Sport at BBC Radio Leeds) and Dom and Tom of Bantams Banter. Radio Leeds will be broadcasting their monthly Bradford City special live at the event, just before it gets going.
The doors open at 6:00pm so get down early to be on Radio Leeds, with the forum itself beginning just after 7:00pm.
The evening is £5.00 to attend, or £10.00 including a pie and peas supper. Tickets can be ordered from the Friends of BCFC website or by clicking here. The entry fee is purely to cover the costs of running the night, and any profit will be donated to the Burns Unit.
We really hope to see you there.