Chapter16: Football's Inexorable Rise (1900-01)

The Origins of Bradford City

By David Pendleton

Chapter 16: Football's Inexorable Rise

1900-01

In the summer of 1900 a host of new signings were made. Five new faces were on show for the opening game against Leeds Parish Church at Valley Parade. The Bradford Daily Telegraph gave out match cards with the names and positions of the players. The card included “a first class photo-zinco photograph of captain Jimmy Hammond”. The new captain was trumpeted as a notable signing, as he was a former Yorkshire player who had defected from Rugby Union.

The Bradford Daily Telegraph also produced the first Yorkshire Sports on Saturday 8 September 1900. It was to become a Saturday night institution for the best part of a century.

The first Bradford derby came at Park Avenue on 29 September. Manningham were crushed 7-37, a record score in a derby match. Bradford were at their zenith, they had won the title the previous season and were on course to retain the shield. Many wondered whether Manningham could ever be a match for their neighbours again?

Morale was lifted by victory at previously unbeaten Hunslet. However, only 2,000 were at Valley Parade to witness the defeat of Leeds. Undoubtedly, Manningham’s poor form had caused the alarming dip in attendances, but there were other factors at work. The Bradford Observer noted that on a Saturday afternoon virtually every available pitch saw games of football and that if one saw a game of junior rugby it was “quite remarkable”.

The team did show occasional glimpses of brilliance. In a sensational finish at Bramley, Manningham snatched victory in the last two minutes with a passing move that went half the length of the pitch. Seven players were involved in the move that allowed Proctor to crash over to the delight of the travelling fans. As a result the club looked forward to a good gate against Wakefield the following week. However, heavy rain and hail kept the attendance down to a paltry 700 and they according to the Bradford Daily Argus looked “anything but happy” as the rain bucketed down. They were rewarded with a thrilling 6-5 victory in a veritable mudbath.

A pre-Christmas social at the Belle Vue welcomed captain Jimmy Hammond back from a month long business trip to Egypt. Hammond took the opportunity to deny local press rumours that he didn’t get on with the rest of the team. He said it was a lie and declared that the journalist who penned the piece “deserved hanging”.

On a happier note former president James Freeman was presented with an illuminated address and a handsome casket of tortoise shell and silver made for him by Fattorini’s. It was to acknowledge his fourteen years of service to the club and in particular his efforts during the move to Valley Parade. Freeman said that they “had found an old quarry at Valley Parade which they made into a football ground”. He was “glad to assist in providing the Valley Parade ground at a cost of some £4000-£5000. The committee might take heart in reflecting upon that achievement, for the club had not a three-penny bit in the locker when they started and succeeded by the enthusiastic support of the members. Money was loaned to the club purely for love – but they had been paid off with 5%, with the exception of those who were content to have some £200 in the club at that rate of interest.”

The first game of 1901 brought Bradford to Valley Parade and the club coffers were boosted by the £296 paid at the gate. The game was closer than the massacre at Park Avenue, but once again Bradford proved too strong for Manningham.

The final days of Queen Victoria’s long reign dominated the press in the build up to the derby. The usual derby day hype was notable by its absence as every detail of the ailing Queens condition was dutifully reported. When Victoria passed away all Northern Union matches were postponed as mark of respect on the day of her funeral.

The Northern Union Cup was the last hope for Manningham. In the event only 1,000 turned up for the first round tie with Castleford. It was the lowest ever for a cup tie at Valley Parade. The match ground to a dull stalemate in the mud. Only 100 fans followed Manningham to the replay at Castleford. It was a fairly close match, but when two Manningham players retired with serious sprains the floodgates opened and Castleford ran out comfortable 21-2 winners.

By contrast a semi-final of the Bradford Association Cup attracted 3,000 to Valley Parade. Manningham members were let in free of charge to both semi-finals and the final in which Rawdon beat Girlington 4-2.

The crowds kept coming to Valley Parade, but once again it wasn’t for rugby. Three special trains brought the show ‘Savage South Africa’ to Valley Parade. 500 actors and 150 horses re-enacted scenes from the Boer War and South African life. The Bradford Daily Argus was astonished to note the presence of “real Boers and African darkies” among the cast! Over 20,000 flocked to see the spectacle in the first seven days of a three-week run.

Manningham’s annual meeting on 31 May heard the sombre news that the club was £707 in debt. The club had actually made a £205 profit on the season, but the interest on the £1100 mortgage had not been paid which had therefore increased the debt.

The income was £1870. Gates receipts were £1260, with £275 rent from ‘Savage South Africa’ and £246 from memberships. It’s notable that the Bradford derby alone accounted for a whopping £296 of the gate receipts. Outgoings of £1,697 included £425 players wages.

The income from the annual Bradford derby was essential. Therefore it was no surprise when Harry Jowett denounced the proposed Northern Rugby Union, which 12 top Yorkshire and Lancashire clubs had threatened to form as a breakaway league. He said it was “short sighted and selfish”. Bradford were part of the breakaway, the loss of the derby fixture alone would be enough to put Manningham in serious financial trouble.

An application by Bradford & District League Champions Girlington to play their ‘soccer’ matches at Valley Parade the following season was agreed by a large majority. Though it was after a long and heated debate, as it meant disbanding the A team in order to make Valley Parade available on every other Saturday.

The fact that the A team lost £130 on the season may have been a factor, but with the growing popularity of football and the potential loss of the derby income, one wonders whether the meeting had one eye on the distant future?

Chapter One: Genesis (1872-80)

Chapter Two: Carlisle Road (1880-86)

Chapter Three: Valley Parade's first season (1886-87)

Chapter Four: Death On The Midland Road (1887-9)

Chapter Five: For Club and Country (1889-90)

Chapter Six: Trouble At The Mill (1890-91)

Chapter Seven: Football Begins to Cast Its Shadow (1891-92)

Chapter Eight: Semi-Finalists and League Pioneers (1892-93)

Chapter Nine: Champions! (1893-94)

Chapter Ten: The Last Season of Rugby Union (1894-95)

Chapter Eleven: Champions of the Rugby League (1895-96)

Chapter Twelve: Death of a Hero (1896-97)