In 1999/2000 City finished 17th and lived to fight another season in the Premiership, thanks to a last day of the season victory against Liverpool, which if my memory served me correct also sent Bradford's bitter rivals Leeds into the Champions League places. The Homes of Football website has some good pictures from that particular day. City staying in the Premiership for another season with Geoffrey Richmond bankrupting them by making signings such as Benito Carbone in an attempt to stay there and Leeds making the Champions League and Peter Ridsdale 'living the dream' meant that fateful day in 2000, then a great day for football in West Yorkshire, helped contribute to the downfall of both clubs. In that season, Morecambe finished third in the Conference, some four divisions, or 77 league places, beneath City.
Ten places seperated the teams for their last games of 2008. Coming into the game, Morecambe were undefeated in 3 and City hadn't won in five, so the league placings don't exactly tell you anything. Morecambe were outsiders to win the game, but may have been worth a bet. City were 1-0 ahead at half time and I would say that the visitors matched them in the first half, a lot of Morecambe's chances came from capitalising on Bradford passing the ball in their own half, a tactic which didn't really work.
Morecambe continued to dominate a lot of the game, with some promising build-up play, but these were rendered fruitless by the City defence. The Bantams, attacking the Kop in the second half, scored about ten minutes in when Boulding raced in and passed a couple of watching Morecambe defenders to drive a shot beyond Roche in the Morecambe goal. City's third was a 25-yarder from Law (which I would like to see again) and the fourth was a Barry Conlon penalty, smashed into the bottom right, following a Morecambe handball. The scoreline flattered City, but no goals conceded in 270 minutes by the Bantams says it all.
Although I haven't watched football there for eight years, I regularly watched Bradford Bulls there during the 2001 and 2002 seasons whilst Odsal was being redeveloped, or should I say painted. It was good to be back in the Kop (Carlsberg Stand) again, but I forgot how drab it was, The concourse was what I imagine a prison would be like. The view from the top of the Kop is great, you can see the whole of south and central Bradford, which is a great backdrop for the rest of the Stadium, especially when darkness falls. The stand towers above the surrounding terraced housing and it used to tower over the rest of the ground when the Sunwin Stand didn't have its second tier added on, to run down two-thirds of the pitch.
The atmosphere was a bit flatter than I remembered City was were they in the Premiership, the ground was half-full today rather than sold-out as it was in the Premiership days, the Bradford End (TL Dallas Stand) now plays host to some singing home fans under its low roof, which probably took some of the noisy element out of the Kop. A crowd of 13,000 is very credible for this division though, especially against a team with only a small away following, City's attendances are boosted by relatively cheap season tickets, to take advantage of a stadium with a capacity designed for a time when Bradford were tearing up the Premiership.
The photos aren't that great, as I was so high up. I was far too high to get a picture of one of the finest mascots in the league, the City Gent aka Lenny. A portly man in a bowler hat, a city kit and a briefcase full of sweets.
Here we go:
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