It’s already been a busy close season – Peter Jackson announced as manager, a new chief scout appointed, the departure of several players, the signing of Ross Hannah and then Chris Mitchell and even a takeover bid talked up in the media.
And all that in just 6 weeks since a ball was last kicked in anger at Valley Parade.
But this week marks the point at which we can actually start counting down the minutes until 3pm on Saturday 6th August and the moment Peter Jackson’s Bantams (as opposed to ‘Peter Taylor’s Bantams under the guidance of Peter Jackson’) take to the field for the first time.
And it promises to be a cracking start to the campaign.
The Bantams start with a home fixture with Aldershot before a midweek trip to Elland Road where we’ll meet our nearest, and dearest, neighbours in the Carling Cup.
The date of that match has yet to be fixed but it’s exactly the sort of cup tie you’d be hoping would be thrown up. The last time these two West Yorkshire teams met at Elland Road was in September 2008 and the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.
Overloaded buses with their windows smashed, and Bradford City fans kept behind for our safety are my memories off the pitch. On it there was a dodgy penalty for Leeds and an unfairly disallowed goal for us as they ran out 2-1 victors (with Barry Conlon on target for us).
Read the match report of this game only 3 seasons ago and not a single name is still at the club. That speaks volumes.
Elsewhere the Bantams might be interested in a couple of Christmas fixtures at Valley Parade, February and March trips to Devon and the final day visit of Swindon.
Unfortunately, the shortsightedness of the Premier League, Football League, our FA and their legal eagles at Dataco, means the fixtures can’t be published in full.
Correct, we can`t publish the fixtures – adverts for the games we pay good money to go and see – without paying a fee which none of us can afford to pay and wouldn`t even if we could.
We look to promote the game in every way we can including letting fans know when to attend games but this is seen as a chargeable to fans process. It also defies the European Court of Justice about publishing fixture charges but hey, we don`t have the financial backing to challenge that.
So, instead, please take a look at the full fixture list on the club’s official website
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“It’s already been a busy close season – Peter Taylor announced as manager, a new chief scout appointed, the departure of several players, the signing of Ross Hannah and then Chris Mitchell and even a takeover bid talked up in the media.”
When did we re-appoint Peter Taylor as Manager???????