Bradford City’s fall from grace over the last decade has been as painful as it has been relentless. Ten years ago the Bantams were in their second Premier League season, celebrating survival with stars like Benito Carbone and Dan Petrescu in claret and amber. Supporters still talk about the day they beat Liverpool 1–0 at Valley Parade to stay up in May 2000. Four years earlier, 30,000 had followed City to Wembley for a play-off triumph. From that high point, the only way seemed up. But what followed was one of English football’s harshest descents.
Six Weeks of Madness
The turning point came in the summer of 2000. Chairman Geoffrey Richmond, the architect of City’s meteoric rise, decided to double down. He announced a costly stadium expansion, funded by a £7.5m loan, and launched a spending spree on high-profile players—Carbone’s £40k-per-week contract epitomised the gamble. Richmond later dubbed this spree “six weeks of madness.” It was exactly that. City were relegated with barely a fight, and Richmond allowed Paul Jewell, the manager who had masterminded promotion and survival, to walk away.
Decline and Disillusion
From there, the spiral accelerated. Jewell’s successors, Chris Hutchings and Jim Jefferies, couldn’t halt the slide. By 2001, City were back in the Football League. Worse was to come. In 2002, with debts of £36m, the club went into administration. The Rhodes family and Gordon Gibb, a theme park owner, brokered a rescue deal, but it left scars. Gibb later bought Valley Parade with his family pension fund, leaving City tenants in their own home, paying £600,000 rent each year. Crowds dipped, the stadium expansion felt like an albatross, and another administration soon followed.
Survival and Struggles
On the pitch, Bradford’s fortunes mirrored the chaos off it. Managers came and went—Nicky Law, Bryan Robson, Colin Todd, David Wetherall. Defeats piled up, often agonisingly narrow. A second administration threatened the club’s very survival; fans raised £250,000 to keep the lights on. League One provided brief stability, but the decline continued. By 2007 City were in League Two. Club legend Stuart McCall returned as manager and attendances surged thanks to innovative cheap season tickets, but the hope quickly soured. An expensive gamble on new signings in 2008 flopped, echoing Richmond’s mistakes years earlier.
Life at the Bottom
Now, in 2010, City are near the foot of League Two. Peter Taylor is under fire after yet another dismal run, the supporters restless and exhausted. The vast Valley Parade looks hollow on matchdays, impressive compared to rival grounds but more a burden than a fortress. Rent and running costs weigh heavily, and the spectre of non-league football looms. Supporters joke bitterly about winning an award for the most suffering in English football—but behind the gallows humour is real pain. A decade of torment has left them pleading with the football gods: surely now, it’s someone else’s turn.