Chapter 1: Genesis (1872-80)

The Origins of Bradford City

By David Pendleton

Chapter One: Genesis

1872-80

The origins of Bradford City football club lie in the emergence of sport - and in particular rugby - as a pastime in Victorian society. Although Manningham was one of the most salubrious addresses in the rapidly expanding city, working class men from the tightly packed streets and terraces that crowded around the great mills nurtured the roots of Bradford City.

In the late 1800s working men began to discover leisure. The Factory Act of 1850 stopped work in textile mills after 2pm on a Saturday. The legislation was primarily aimed at restricting the working hours of women and children, but adult males benefited as it was uneconomic to keep the mills open without the labour of women and children who formed a large proportion of the workforce. By the early 1870s Bradford workers were given all Saturday afternoon off, it allowed time for sports to be played as an escape from the rigours of work. Cricket and rugby were the main pastimes, in fact a good proportion of rugby clubs were formed by members of cricket clubs who wished to have some sport in the winter months. Although football - or the association game as it was known - had a toehold, it was the oval ball game that ruled the roost once bat and pad had been put into hibernation.

Confusingly titled ‘football’, rugby was played across the city; areas such as Horton, Girlington and Manningham were the hotbeds of the game. The teams that faced each other on bare fields were similar in stature to today’s pub football teams. The situation was often chaotic with a variety of ‘home’ fields being employed. On occasion’s teams were difficult to raise, but from these unpromising roots, several well-organised teams emerged. Inevitably they attracted the better players and two clubs - Manningham and Bradford - became what amounted to semi-professional sides.

The search for the origins of Manningham rugby club - and thus Bradford City - is an often-frustrating trawl through years of contemporary, and occasionally contradictory, newspapers. Trevor Delany’s ‘Grounds of Rugby League’ suggested that City’s predecessors, Manningham Albion, were formed in 1876 and played their home games in Manningham Park.

Manningham Albion certainly was active in 1876, but such are the sketchy nature of those early reports, it’s almost impossible to confirm that they were resident in the Park. However, there’s strong evidence to suggest that they were formed prior to 1876 and that they played at a variety of grounds throughout their early history.

One of the few contemporary sources suggests that Manningham Albion’s formation came as early as 1872. The Bradford Observer of 6th June 1885 reported on the clubs annual dinner. In a speech to the assembled members the clubs chairman, William Lister, referring to the clubs past said ‘as the Manningham Albion club for eight years and the Manningham club for the past few years.’

We know from numerous contemporary sources that the Albion tag was dropped in 1880, which - if the reporting of Lister’s speech is accurate - dates the formation of Manningham Albion as 1872.

A notice placed in the Bradford Observer on Saturday 4 October 1873 confirms the presence of rugby in Manningham prior to 1876. It advertised a match against Horton ‘to be played in the field below Manningham Mills’. No match report was published of the game, it appears that the club were unrelated to Manningham Albion as they played at a much higher level. Indeed there was a range of clubs playing in the township, most were short lived and decidedly amateur teams.

As indicated earlier in the text, Manningham Albion’s embryonic days were amateur in the extreme with sporadic matches and a variety of ‘home’ grounds employed. However, by the 1878/79-season match reports were a regular feature in the local press. Albion were then playing home games in Girlington, but the following season they had decamped to Shipley, ‘near the Branch Hotel’ according to the Bradford Observer.

By 1879 a reserve team had been added, fixtures became well organised and personnel settled. The emergence of the club is confirmed by references to crowds watching their games. From being a club formed so men could fill their leisure time playing the game, they were now advanced to such a state that others chose to use their free time watching the club in action. A reference was made during a game against Undercliffe Junior in November 1879. The Bradford Observer said ‘the spectators were numerous and rather interfered with the game by intruding in the field of play’.

As the club grew, the need for a permanent home became a necessity. In the summer of 1880, the club rented a field in Whetley Hill. The ground took its name from the adjacent Carlisle Road and the Albion tag was dropped in favour of plain Manningham FC. The transition from mere pastime to serious sporting club was complete. It could be argued that 1880 marked the beginning of the road to Valley Parade and the formation of Bradford City.

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)

Chapter Thirteen: Dark Clouds Gather (1897-98)