Written by Max
Ground #41
Valley Parade – Bradford City AFC
Saturday 27th August 2022
Bradford City 0-0 Crewe Alexandra
Attendance: 16,541
Entry: £20 (Bought in advance)
Bradford City AFC were formed in 1903 and have played at their current ground ever since. Valley Parade can hold over 25,000 fans and has seen the club play in all 4 of the top divisions of English football with the Bantams playing in the Premier League as recently as 2000. Sadly though, recent years have seen the club yoyoing between League 1 and 2. This season hopes, and expectations are high for a promotion back to the third tier after the appointment of former Wales and Manchester City manager Mark Hughes.
Valley Parade was home to one of the biggest tragedies in British football as on the 11th May 1985 the main stand set on fire. On a day which should have been a celebration of the clubs promotion back to the second tier it will instead be remembered for the fire which caused the tragic death of 56 football fans including 2 from that days opponents Lincoln City. After today’s game we paid a visit to the memorial at the ground. It was a sombre experience and especially emotional seeing the Fletcher family, as it seems 3 generations of the family were killed in the fire, with the youngest being only 11 years old.
Onto today’s game and this was our first chance to see Crewe this season. After such an abysmal effort last season expectations were low going into the game despite our good start to the season. The game started off evenly with the hosts having the majority of the possession, but neither team having the quality to carve out any real opportunities in front of goal. The first real chance came Crewe’s way after as a decent move ended in a free kick on the edge of the area but Tariq Uwakwe blazed it high into the empty stand behind the goal!
Just before the half hour mark it was the hosts turn to carve out a chance and after a good move forward the winger cut inside and let fly only to see his shot cannon back off the bar! Soon after some scrappy defending from Bradford saw the ball gifted to Agyei but he scuffed his shot straight at the keeper. That was as good as it got for either side in the first half as again both sides struggled for any quality in the final third. I was impressed though by Crewe’s ability to keep the ball under pressure and new loanee Eli King, who was making his debut, was the main reason for this. He only signed the day before the game but looked as if he had been part of the squad for years.
Into the second half we went and it was the home team that were controlling possession, but much like the first half there were no real scares for Arsenal loanee Okonkwo in the Alex goal. In the 70th minute some great work on the wing from Uwakwe saw him beat the defence and set up Callum Ainley with a great opportunity to cap his 250th appearance for the club with a goal, but his shot was poorly directed straight at the keeper.
Up the other end there was a chance for Bradford but a curling effort was also straight at the keeper. With around ten minutes to go Crewe striker Courtney Baker-Richardson went through one on one with the keeper after a mistake at the back, but his shot was blazed high and wide which pretty much summed up both teams day in front of goal! Soon after this, and with Crewe looking more likely to score, manager Alex Morris made the strange decision to bring off attacking midfielder Ainley and replace him with centre back Billy Sass-Davis. With attacking options on the bench I thought this was a shame as with the hosts having a really off day this was a good chance for us to capitalise and get 3 points away from home.
Just like the first half, the second period came to a close with little of note even with the 7 minutes added on at the end. As the final whistle went boos rang around the ground from the home supporters which was a surprise but I suppose shows just how high the expectations are from the Bantams faithful this season. From our perspective I would have taken a point all day long before the game, but having watched the game couldn’t help but feel we missed a chance to beat one of the title favourites!
Now to rate our day at Valley Parade, or to give it it’s current sponsored name, ‘The University of Bradford Stadium’:
Location: 8/10
The ground is just under a 20 minute walk from Bradford Forster Square train station and the walk from their to the ground passes multiple pubs and bars on North Parade. All of them welcomed me in my Crewe shirt and the Bradford fans were very friendly and all interested to talk to us about the game in the bars after the match. From North Parade it is about a 10 minute walk to the ground itself.
Kit: 7/10
Bradford’s kit has been Claret & Amber ever since they were formed as they adopted the colours from the City’s Rugby League team Manningham FC. They are currently the only professional side to play in these colours and I quite like the uniqueness of this.
This seasons kit includes thick amber and claret stripes on the shirt with black shorts and socks. The only negative we could think of was the fact the white players names and sponsor wasn’t the easiest to make out from the stands.
Facilities: 5/10
The concourse in the away end was quite small and thin and only contained one counter to order food and drinks from. This was adequate for todays game with around 450 travelling Crewe fans at the game but I could see this getting very cramped when larger followings come to Town.
Look: 9/10
As mentioned earlier, this ground is steeped in history and has hosted football at the top level. Its capacity of over 25,000 is by far the biggest in League 2 this season. The Main Stand and Kop are both huge 2 tiered stands which together hold over 16,000 fans.
The away fans are housed in one half of the smaller Midland Road stand which gives you great views of the towering main stand opposite. Behind the other goal is the 2 tiered TL Dallas Stand which is only used when large away followings are expected and therefore was empty for todays game. We did notice that brand new seats have been installed in the lower tier of this stand.
Valley Parade is a historic and characterful ground that wouldn’t look out of place in the Championship at the very least. The only negative we could think of was the fact that the ground looked pretty dull from the outside with very little of the famous amber and claret to be seen until you step into the ground. As you can see below though, the ground is still very imposing from the outside and you really get a feel for just how big these stands are!
Food and Drink: 5/10
As is usually the way with Football League grounds the food on offer was pretty standard. Burgers and Pukka Pies. The one thing that stood out though was a pizza twist so we thought we’d give it a go. To be fair it was better than we expected but the base was still a bit doughy and there were only 2 pieces of peperoni in the entire thing. It was good to see something slightly different to usual on offer though.
As far as drinks go it was pretty standard with pints of carling or bottles of coors and stowford press cider on offer. Sadly no dark fruits for Emma so not bonus points today!
TOTAL SCORE: 34/50
It was good to be back seeing Crewe in person for the first time this season, and with 2 games against the pre season promotion favourites in a week seeing 2 credible draws, maybe it’s time to shake off the negatives of last season and realise that we have a decent chance to push towards the top end of the table this season.
For Bradford the aim this season is one thing and one thing only, promotion. The ground and fan base really do belong at a much higher level, but the over 16,000 home fans at todays game will have gone home disappointed after a pretty dull performance. They are going to have to play alot better than that if they want to be in the promotion places come the end of the season.
If you want to see where this score puts Valley Parade in our Football League Leaderboard click here: THE 92
And if you would like to see our Leaderboard of non league grounds click here: NON LEAGUE
Emma’s Ground Guide 