1903-04: The First Season

Bradford City Make Their Bow

Given the dramatic birth of Bradford City, not surprisingly interest in the infant club was high. The players were featured in all the local papers and their preparations for the coming campaign were eagerly followed. Training began on Thursday 6 August. The players monopolised the boats on Manningham Park lake to enjoy some rowing exercise. They later went to the Turkish baths and cooled down with a swim in the municipal baths. The following day they appeared at Valley Parade for the first time in their full playing strip and underwent sprints on the cinder track and the field itself.

With the players rapidly becoming local celebrities, they found time to play a midweek charity cricket match at Sandy Lane.

A series of public practice matches were held at Valley Parade, these ‘whites v stripes’ games were witnesses by crowds of up to 4,000. The first game was on the evening of 8 August and they continued twice weekly until the final game on 26 August. Other trial games featured amateurs as the clubs officials began to select players for the second eleven.

The directors however accepted their limitations when it came to selecting a club captain. They left it to the players to elect the captain and they chose Johnny McMillan.

With an eye to history, and doubtless the Valley Parade faithful, the new club retained Mannigham's claret and amber colours. However, throughout 1903 City played in Manningham’s hoped shirts and didn’t change to the now familiar stripes until the following season. Indeed, the hoped kit attracted the short-lived nickname of ‘the wasps’.

Despite the opening match being on a Tuesday evening at Grimsby, interest was high, with the Great Northern Railway running a three shilling excursion to Grimsby Docks and Cleethorpes. It left Bradford at 12.10pm, arriving at Grimsby Docks at 3.10pm, over two hours before kick off. 250 fans, including several former Manningham players, travelled on the train.

Bradford City’s first ever team was thus:

Arthur Seymour; Willie Wilson, Fred Halliday, George Robinson, James Millar, Tom Farnall; Richard Guy, John Beckram, John Forrest, Johnny McMillan, John Graham.

At 5.30pm on Tuesday 1 September 1903 Bradford City kicked off their first game at Blundell Park, Grimsby. Around 10,000 fans witnessed the game and they sportingly cheered the visitors when the ‘Manningham’ jerseys came onto the pitch. In a keen game, Grimsby, who had been relegated from Division One the previous season, deservedly defeated the Football League’s newest club 2-0. City’s chief weakness was up front. Chances were repeatedly wasted as City did most of the attacking. Old habits died hard, during a spell of City pressure a cry of ‘nah Manningham’ was heard!

The following Saturday City played their first home game at Valley Parade. A couple of changes were made to the team – Peter O’Rourke replaced Farnall at centre half and up front Ben Prosser took the place of Forrest. Excursion trains ran into Bradford (as they were to for all home games) from Huddersfield, Halifax, Todmorden, Dewsbury, Ossett and Wakefield. Gainsborough were followed by 400 fans on their own special train.

The building crowd were serenaded by music from the 2nd West Yorkshire Artillery Volunteer band. From 2.30 they played “Sons of the Brave” (Binding), “Mirella” (Gourod), “Toujours et Jamie” (Waldeutfil), “Sullivan” (Godfrey) and “King Cotton” (Sousa). The ground, freshly painted, was a grand sight, packed, flags flying from the special enclosures and the business-like ‘click-click’ of busy turnstiles.

The Lord Mayor (Alderman David Wade) and Lady Mayoress walked down pitch-side to be greeted by City chairman Alfred Ayrton and club stalwart Colonel Armitage. Gainsborough Trinity, in blue shirts and black shorts, were first to emerge. McMillan lead City out to enthusiastic cheers a few minutes later. Colonel Armitage ceremonially kicked off the match in front of a near capacity crowd. Even a film crew captured the day for prosperity.

Visitors Gainsborough Trinity spoiled the party by winning 3-1. The first goal came from a mix up between Halliday and Seymour that allowed a weak shot from Jenkinson to give the visitors the lead. City missed a glorious chance to get back into the game when Wilson hit a penalty over the bar at the Bradford End. The players retired to their temporary dressing rooms at a house on Bateman Street. During the interval Alfred Ayrton presented the Lord Mayor with a photograph of the players.

City disappointed in the second half, however, the crowd had City’s first goal to celebrate when Richard Guy scored with a low drive at the Kop End. According to the Bradford Daily Argus the goal was greeted with ‘a shout which awoke babies on the distant hillsides of Bolton and Eccleshill’.

The players and fans were able to relive the game the following Friday, when action from the game was shown at St Georges Hall. But, all thoughts were on the trip to Burton and the increasingly desperate hunt for the first victory.

Despite the setbacks interest was still sky high and Thomas Cook ran an excursion train over the Midland Railway to the brewery town.

Burton were one of the weakest teams in the League and goals from McMillan and Forrest gave City their first ever victory. There was a palpable sense of relief. They built on that success with their first home victory over Bristol City the following Saturday. They couldn’t quite manage a hat-trick of wins when they fell to a narrow defeat at Manchester United the week after. The game was disrupted by a failure of the electricity supply that left all the trams stranded, leaving the majority of the travelling fans with a long trudge back to the station.

On 10 October, 1903 Valley Parade staged a representative international fixture between the English League and the Irish League. It was quite a coup for City, as it was the first time the fixture had been staged away from a major football venue. Trains ran into Bradford from all over the north. The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway brought fans in from those football hotbeds of Manchester, Blackburn, Bolton and Preston. The Grand Central ran specials from Sheffield, the North Eastern from Newcastle, Ripon and Harrogate. The Midland contented itself with relatively local traffic from Colne, Keighley and Leeds. Bradford Tramways even installed a new crossover near Burlington Terrace to allow trams bring the hoards up Manningham Lane and then race back to town for the next load.

Club historian WH Sawyer recounted that "the accommodation was not really all that it should have been for such an engagement, and in order to accommodate the crowd a number of lorries had to be borrowed, and put upon the plateau (at the top of the Manningham End terrace) which has since disappeared beneath the Spion Kop. There was no covered accommodation except for the Press, and a few life members."

19,000 fans, a record crowd for an Inter-League fixture, crammed into Valley Parade, the gates were closed fifteen minutes before kick-off with thousands being turned away. The then huge sum of £518 was taken on the gate. The sight of fans begin locked out of the ground caused a great deal of comment, for as the Bradford Daily Telegraph said ‘never before had money been turned away from the Manningham ground’. Prior to kick off committee member Arthur Lancaster unfurled a huge claret and amber flag with ‘BCFC’ lettered upon it which was to be flown during every subsequent game at Valley Parade.

The teams emerged from the newly completed dressing rooms at the Bradford End of the ground. Former Manningham player Frank Robinson photographed the teams. The connection with the old rugby days didn’t end there, as Sutcliffe in the English goal used to play for Bradford RFC prior to successfully switching codes.

The English League won 2-1 with goals from Steve Bloomer and Charles Sagar. Ireland’s William McCracken was signed by Newcastle United almost immediately after the game thanks to his performance at Valley Parade.

The teams lined up:

English League: Sutcliffe (Manchester United); Spencer (Aston Villa), Iremonger (Nottingham Forest), Frost (Manchester City), Crawshaw (Sheffield Wednesday), Needham (Sheffield United); Sharp (Everton), Bloomer (Derby County), Hogg (Sunderland), Sagar (Bury), Lockett (Aston Villa).

Irish League: Scott (Linfield); McCracken (Distillery), McMillan (Distillery); McConnell (Cliftonville), Connor (Glentoran), Nichol (Belfast Celtic), Mercer (Distillery), Hagan (Linfield), Hooper (Bohemians), Gall (Belfast Celtic), Waddington (Glentoran).

In late October 1903 work commenced on covering the middle third of the Main Stand. The £1,000 project was overseen by former Manningham player Leonard Flew. By 14 December the first roofing panels were in place and the stand opened in its entirety for the visit of Manchester United on 23 January 1904. The Bradford Daily Argus commented ‘this stand gives a more noble appearance to the whole field and Valley Parade never looked so imposing’. The 4,000 capacity stand was sorely needed as a then record crowd of 15,000 paid £296 to witness the clash with United.

City defender James Millar was called away from the ground to be at the bedside of his sick child in the Fever Hospital. Sadly, the infant died, his second child to die since he arrived in Bradford less than six months previously.

There’s little new under the sun. Prior to City’s game against Leicester Fosse on 19 December 1903, City made plain that they would no longer tolerate the abuse opposition goalkeepers and referees had been receiving from the Manningham (Kop) End of the ground. They warned fans that anyone caught would be ejected from the ground.

The works on the new stand were completed by 4 February with the banking adjacent to the seating built up with two feet of ashes giving a clear view for all spectators. The standing section in front of the seating and covered by the new roof was fenced off and connected with the seats by steps. This gave the half guinea members and the shilling spectators extra accommodation.

High-flying Woolwich Arsenal made their trip to Valley Parade the annual club holiday. Three special trains conveyed the 2,500 trippers over the Midland Railway to Bradford. City had specifically requested that Arsenal use the Midland due to the close relationship between the railway company and the football club – mainly due to the fact that City were the Midland’s tenants at Valley Parade. The first train arrived in Bradford at 6am on the morning of the match. The visitors were recommended to see the district by tramcar, with the Saltaire and Queensbury routes being specially mentioned. Drummond’s, Shaw’s and Salts Mills all offered tours for the trippers.

At Valley Parade a double row of wagons was placed on the plateau at the top of the Manningham End (Kop) to allow more fans to see the game. Unfortunately, ceaseless rain ruined the spectacle and with City leading 1-0 at half-time the match had to be abandoned due to a waterlogged pitch. As the first train wasn’t due to depart for London until 11.15pm the trippers enjoyed the local theatres and public houses. They had been welcomed with open arms and a large crowd of City fans were on the Midland Station to see the trains off. As ever there were one or two stragglers and several were seen wandering around Lister Park on the Sunday morning!

City settled well into their new environment and relegation was never a concern. However, a heavy home defeat at the hands of Chesterfield caused disquiet on the terraces. The Bradford Daily Argus noted a ‘more than usually large exodus of those who felt inclined for the solace of the Belle Vue’. The 2,000 boys at the City End of the Ground gave Chesterfield a sarcastic loud cheer when they ran out for the second half – those already in the Belle Vue probably made the right decision as City lost 0-6.

One of the final games of the season took City to Lincoln. Two excursion trains took a large following, they were booked by saloon parties and it was notable that former Manningham players Ike Newton and Rob Pocock used their fame to entice fans to travel. City’s former Lincoln player Peter O’Rourke escorted the team on a tour of the cathedral, castle and the local jail!

Valley Parade was chosen to host the FA Amateur Cup Final of 1904. On Easter Monday 4 April, the World’s oldest club, Sheffield FC, defeated Ealing 3-1. 3,000 saw the final, apparently Ealing had superior pace and skill, but simply couldn’t finish.

City finished the season in a credible tenth position. The finances were satisfactory as well, with income totalling £3,931. Outgoings were heavy, mainly due to the fact that an entire team had to be bought. £970 had been expended on the players from a total expenditure of £3,694, but it still left a balance to hand of £237.

The club's first annual meeting took place at Drummond Road School – the site of Manningham’s former Carlisle Road ground. Over 1,000 members attended. Former Manningham player Bill Fawcett said it gave him great pleasure to propose that City continue to play association football for an indefinite period – the 1903 resolution had been to switch from rugby for twelve months only. The motion was carried unanimously amid great cheers. President Alfred Ayrton expressed satisfaction with City’s first season and said the club had been ‘losing £400 a year at rugby, but they had got out, paying creditors 20s in the pound’ and he looked forward to the coming season with great optimism.

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