Another day, another story in the press about Bradford City's potential move away from Valley Parade. And today's, ironically, comes as City visit Accrington Stanley's Crown Ground - the venue, last season, of a reported attack on chairman Mark Lawn as he left the ground. It was an attack that led to Lawn threatening to withdraw his financial support for the club.
Lawn is clearly a massive City fan. He is clearly a business success. But in the four years he has been at the club, the two have not married. Having promised not to jeopardise the club's future by gambling with money, it's clear the board have. The rent on ground, offices and the associated rates and bills are clearly high - though we're hardly in a unique position here - but so too have been our playing budgets. It goes wrong, and Lawn starts publicly pointing the finger at one Gordon Gibb and yet again opts to air our dirty laundry in public.
It's not pretty. And it doesn't look entirely productive. Here we have three protagonists - in past, present and potentially future chairmen - alongside a council, while sport in the city of Bradford mirrors its other success and problems. Two iconic stadia. One a mirror into the past, a recent past, of ambition and dashed hopes. The other, looking nearly as tired and jaded as the days City were forced to play there in the months after the tragic events of May 1985.
So soon after the club and city remembered those tragic days with such dignity and grace, and so benevolently saved the Burns Unit, it's time for those very same protagonists to put petty differences to one side do exactly the same to find a solution. Or is this just symptomatic of a once-great city that is now down at heel?
Saturday 23 April 2011
Thursday 21 April 2011
Oh, halcyon days
One hundred years ago today, those pioneering footballers of Bradford City's early days boarded a train from Bradford Midland station to make their way to London, Crystal Palace and a date with destiny. Already unexpected finalists, they were given a similar chance in the final against holders Newcastle United. They returned home without the cup - made in Bradford - but instead a goalless draw and a replay. Four days on and a single goal from captain Jimmy Speirs helped City lift their first - and to date only - piece of major silverware.
Oh, halcyon days.
Monday 18 April 2011
A poisoned chalice
On Saturday, Bradford City legend Stuart McCall led his new Motherwell side to the Scottish Cup Final with a convincing 3-0 victory over St Johnstone. Having helped his old club Rangers win the title three times during his playing career, Stuart will lead a team out in a final for the first time as manager against his one-time Old Firm foes Celtic in May. It marks a fantastic turn-around for Stuart less than four months after he took over at Fir Park. But not only that, McCall has guided Motherwell to the semi-finals of the League Cup and is assured of a top six finish in the SPL.
So what has changed for Stuart? Has he learned during his ten months out of management? Is he no longer tied by emotion? Is a lack of undue pressure and expectation helping him realise his potential? Or is it simply the lower standard of the Scottish game?
But he's not the only one. City managed to attract a worthy list of candidates to replace Stuart last February before eventually plumping for Peter Taylor. While there were a number of doubters - who pointed to his failures, style of play and the nature of the clubs he had previously taken over - his was the stand-out CV. No less than five promotions in the professional game. Alas it went wrong for him too.
Just as it had for Jim Jefferies, Nicky Law, Bryan Robson and Colin Todd. Every single one of them had had success before or success since or in many cases both. It is no doubt that Valley Parade has become a graveyard for managers.
Now we not only seek a new manager, but some form of deliverance. Fighting against an unimaginable though unlikely relegation, we're combining it with a fight against survival. A decade after Geoffrey Richmond gambled with the club's futures, it is clear that Julian Rhodes and Mark Lawn have done exactly the same - but not just the once. Having previously slashed Stuart's budget, they gave Taylor a healthy sum and have now ripped the carpet from out underneath the club.
Wherever City's future lies - and one away from Valley Parade is not one this blog advocates - lessons have to be learned. The rent bill is not something that suddenly lands on the doormat unsurprisingly, leaving the owners searching for loose change down the back of the sofa to pay it. Yes, we have massive overheads, but in this division, we also have a massive fanbase to tap into.
After a decade of failure, patience is understandably wearing thin among the City faithful. But a step back is required. When Stuart was tempted to stay on for another season, one message read "Rome was not built in a day". Quite true. But the club re-building must start at the very top. There's no point keeping a manager on if lessons aren't learned elsewhere. No more excessive spending, no more extravagant rants in the press. A cursory glance at the teams that have been relegated out of the league ever since we arrived at this level shows all have suffered from financial woes or boardroom wrangles. Let's get one thing straight - Mark Lawn's threat is a very real one. But let's get another thing straight - ripping out of the heart of the club is not the answer to avoiding the financial armageddon which will lead to our eventual, unavoidable drop out of the league.
So what has changed for Stuart? Has he learned during his ten months out of management? Is he no longer tied by emotion? Is a lack of undue pressure and expectation helping him realise his potential? Or is it simply the lower standard of the Scottish game?
But he's not the only one. City managed to attract a worthy list of candidates to replace Stuart last February before eventually plumping for Peter Taylor. While there were a number of doubters - who pointed to his failures, style of play and the nature of the clubs he had previously taken over - his was the stand-out CV. No less than five promotions in the professional game. Alas it went wrong for him too.
Just as it had for Jim Jefferies, Nicky Law, Bryan Robson and Colin Todd. Every single one of them had had success before or success since or in many cases both. It is no doubt that Valley Parade has become a graveyard for managers.
Now we not only seek a new manager, but some form of deliverance. Fighting against an unimaginable though unlikely relegation, we're combining it with a fight against survival. A decade after Geoffrey Richmond gambled with the club's futures, it is clear that Julian Rhodes and Mark Lawn have done exactly the same - but not just the once. Having previously slashed Stuart's budget, they gave Taylor a healthy sum and have now ripped the carpet from out underneath the club.
Wherever City's future lies - and one away from Valley Parade is not one this blog advocates - lessons have to be learned. The rent bill is not something that suddenly lands on the doormat unsurprisingly, leaving the owners searching for loose change down the back of the sofa to pay it. Yes, we have massive overheads, but in this division, we also have a massive fanbase to tap into.
After a decade of failure, patience is understandably wearing thin among the City faithful. But a step back is required. When Stuart was tempted to stay on for another season, one message read "Rome was not built in a day". Quite true. But the club re-building must start at the very top. There's no point keeping a manager on if lessons aren't learned elsewhere. No more excessive spending, no more extravagant rants in the press. A cursory glance at the teams that have been relegated out of the league ever since we arrived at this level shows all have suffered from financial woes or boardroom wrangles. Let's get one thing straight - Mark Lawn's threat is a very real one. But let's get another thing straight - ripping out of the heart of the club is not the answer to avoiding the financial armageddon which will lead to our eventual, unavoidable drop out of the league.
Thursday 14 April 2011
On or off parade?
So once again, as April comes round with Bradford City struggling on the field and looking at gloomy finances, so has the pesky, perennial problem about what a strain Valley Parade is on the club finances. This time though, it is laden with very dark storm clouds.
Ever since City meandered from crisis to crisis as a result of reckless spending during the Premier League days, the ownership of the ground has been a thorny issue. Loaned off by Geoffrey Richmond to meet spiralling debt, Julian Rhodes once later took creditors round to show what they could seize as assets. Pretty much nothing. Instead, his co-owner Gordon Gibb, who had jumped off one rollercoaster straight onto another, tried to apply the brakes and bought the ground. But the Gibb-Rhodes friendship was worn, even torn, at the edges, and culminated in a very public falling out.
Gibb rode off back to Flamingoland but still holding the keys. The keys and the terms to a 25-year £370,000 per annum rent bill. With nearly the same paid out for Richmond's plus offices. Figures the club cannot afford to give away so easily. With the cars showing no signs of levelling off from its hurtling descent, the figures prove even more of a millstone. More than £1m paid out before the club starts to find budgets for players.
Mark Lawn joined along for the ride, and yet the rollercoaster continues at runaway pace, no-one really in charge of the controls. Stories may have emerged that we were one of just two clubs to post a profit, then more recently of operating losses turned into profits thanks to a sell-on fee for youngster Fabian Delph. But now, who do we believe any more? Having got rid of one expensive manager who blew and failed with an adequate budget, we find there is no more money for another.
Valley Parade offers us unique opportunities. As tenants, it gives us options on sub-letting certain aspects and negotiating deals on the club, food, etc. And while the rent bill is only part of the £1m+ overheads, we'd drag some of those costs elsewhere. As owners, our trouble would be gone. But will we ever own Valley Parade again? Gibb is set to make a fortune for the ground. Bought for £5m, he'll turn that into a profit for his pension fund within little more than a decade at the quoted rental agreements. But he seems unwilling to budge over any rental agreement. Is this the man really still at the controls of the rollercoaster?
So when Lawn talks of moving to Odsal, you can easily see the attraction. Cut ties, get rid of the millstone and lose the overheads. But you also lose the opportunity - we won't own Odsal either. And how to get out of the 25-year lease? Go to court? Take a trip down memory lane and a hit of administration? This time, it would have serious repercussions. Stiff points deductions, almost certain relegation and the threat that the Blue Square League - who don't accept clubs in administration - won't even have us.
So are these very empty threats by Lawn to get Gibb to finally give in or is the situation that perilious? And is that right on the real owners of the ground - its fans? Yes, we support Bradford City and not Valley Parade, and the owners have to make the right decisions for the club's well-being. But Valley Parade ain't just any other football ground. It's the very soul of the club, a survivor of the club's darkest day when 56 people went to a football match to cheer on their team and never returned. They are the true owners of Valley Parade. The club owe it to the 54 City fans who were among the dead on 11 May 1985 to continue to survive, but should also strive to do everything in its power to survive at the most precious of homes of English football.
Ever since City meandered from crisis to crisis as a result of reckless spending during the Premier League days, the ownership of the ground has been a thorny issue. Loaned off by Geoffrey Richmond to meet spiralling debt, Julian Rhodes once later took creditors round to show what they could seize as assets. Pretty much nothing. Instead, his co-owner Gordon Gibb, who had jumped off one rollercoaster straight onto another, tried to apply the brakes and bought the ground. But the Gibb-Rhodes friendship was worn, even torn, at the edges, and culminated in a very public falling out.
Gibb rode off back to Flamingoland but still holding the keys. The keys and the terms to a 25-year £370,000 per annum rent bill. With nearly the same paid out for Richmond's plus offices. Figures the club cannot afford to give away so easily. With the cars showing no signs of levelling off from its hurtling descent, the figures prove even more of a millstone. More than £1m paid out before the club starts to find budgets for players.
Mark Lawn joined along for the ride, and yet the rollercoaster continues at runaway pace, no-one really in charge of the controls. Stories may have emerged that we were one of just two clubs to post a profit, then more recently of operating losses turned into profits thanks to a sell-on fee for youngster Fabian Delph. But now, who do we believe any more? Having got rid of one expensive manager who blew and failed with an adequate budget, we find there is no more money for another.
Valley Parade offers us unique opportunities. As tenants, it gives us options on sub-letting certain aspects and negotiating deals on the club, food, etc. And while the rent bill is only part of the £1m+ overheads, we'd drag some of those costs elsewhere. As owners, our trouble would be gone. But will we ever own Valley Parade again? Gibb is set to make a fortune for the ground. Bought for £5m, he'll turn that into a profit for his pension fund within little more than a decade at the quoted rental agreements. But he seems unwilling to budge over any rental agreement. Is this the man really still at the controls of the rollercoaster?
So when Lawn talks of moving to Odsal, you can easily see the attraction. Cut ties, get rid of the millstone and lose the overheads. But you also lose the opportunity - we won't own Odsal either. And how to get out of the 25-year lease? Go to court? Take a trip down memory lane and a hit of administration? This time, it would have serious repercussions. Stiff points deductions, almost certain relegation and the threat that the Blue Square League - who don't accept clubs in administration - won't even have us.
So are these very empty threats by Lawn to get Gibb to finally give in or is the situation that perilious? And is that right on the real owners of the ground - its fans? Yes, we support Bradford City and not Valley Parade, and the owners have to make the right decisions for the club's well-being. But Valley Parade ain't just any other football ground. It's the very soul of the club, a survivor of the club's darkest day when 56 people went to a football match to cheer on their team and never returned. They are the true owners of Valley Parade. The club owe it to the 54 City fans who were among the dead on 11 May 1985 to continue to survive, but should also strive to do everything in its power to survive at the most precious of homes of English football.
Wednesday 6 April 2011
A new hope
When this blog launched in February, ahead of what we all bizarelly knew was Peter Taylor's final game as manager of Bradford City, in a bid to herald in a new period of Bantam Progressivism, we pinned our colours firmly to John Coleman's mast. Coleman had served 13 years in charge of Accrington Stanley catapulting them into the Football League with some aplomb. Still young, Coleman would not only have been a wise choice but he was also coveted by the board.
Alas, it does appear that Coleman's four-year contract will be a stumbling block in any attempts of the club prising him away from the club he has served so well. So, who next, from the shortlist of six? One tweet tonight has certainly taken this blog's fancy. Lee Duxbury.
Duxbury is a City legend. Having spent his tender years among the Valley Parade faithful and been a member of the club's youth set-up during the first period of Bantam Progessivism, Duxbury briefly flew the nest and played a part as Huddersfield missed out on promotion by a whisker. But he returned home, and played a key role during the first half of City's 1990s upsurge. He was a born winner and gained the rewards he deserved with the club he loved.
Again he left - this time to Oldham Athletic, a club to where he has returned and is now a coach. He has patiently served his apprenticeship at Boundary Park and seems to be well-respected. His years at Oldham have had their ups and downs, but he was a winner and knows our club. He deserves a chance.
Okay, appointing Duxbury, would certainly be a gamble. And secondly, we've been here before. Stuart McCall was the overwhelming popular choice when he walked in to the club he was destined to manage in 2007. His career reached heights Duxbury can only dream of, but both are of similar character and have similar background at City.
Now, I'm not going to re-write history here. But was McCall really the failure as City manager that he was made out to be? He certainly didn't achieve the success he wanted, but he came close to promotion in his second season. The foundations buckled, when first Omar Daley was pole-axed by Neil Austin, then secondly when Barry Conlon and Matt Clarke undermined a 5-0 win with a late night and a later morning. But all McCall's good work was undone. Instead of building on and improving his team, the budget was gone, and McCall was forced to dismantle. He began to lose his own belief, and the rest we all know.
What the club need to do is learn from those mistakes and give Duxbury the same backing they gave McCall, but do so in a measured way. None of us want to be in League Two in four years time, but no club is guaranteed anything and if that is the patience we require, then so be it.
Perhaps there are better choices out there; can we possibly afford Coleman given Accrington's troubles, Keith Hill has even been mentioned and there will be many who say Peter Jackson deserves a full chance. But Duxbury has the right background to finally herald in a long-awaited upturn.
Alas, it does appear that Coleman's four-year contract will be a stumbling block in any attempts of the club prising him away from the club he has served so well. So, who next, from the shortlist of six? One tweet tonight has certainly taken this blog's fancy. Lee Duxbury.
Duxbury is a City legend. Having spent his tender years among the Valley Parade faithful and been a member of the club's youth set-up during the first period of Bantam Progessivism, Duxbury briefly flew the nest and played a part as Huddersfield missed out on promotion by a whisker. But he returned home, and played a key role during the first half of City's 1990s upsurge. He was a born winner and gained the rewards he deserved with the club he loved.
Again he left - this time to Oldham Athletic, a club to where he has returned and is now a coach. He has patiently served his apprenticeship at Boundary Park and seems to be well-respected. His years at Oldham have had their ups and downs, but he was a winner and knows our club. He deserves a chance.
Okay, appointing Duxbury, would certainly be a gamble. And secondly, we've been here before. Stuart McCall was the overwhelming popular choice when he walked in to the club he was destined to manage in 2007. His career reached heights Duxbury can only dream of, but both are of similar character and have similar background at City.
Now, I'm not going to re-write history here. But was McCall really the failure as City manager that he was made out to be? He certainly didn't achieve the success he wanted, but he came close to promotion in his second season. The foundations buckled, when first Omar Daley was pole-axed by Neil Austin, then secondly when Barry Conlon and Matt Clarke undermined a 5-0 win with a late night and a later morning. But all McCall's good work was undone. Instead of building on and improving his team, the budget was gone, and McCall was forced to dismantle. He began to lose his own belief, and the rest we all know.
What the club need to do is learn from those mistakes and give Duxbury the same backing they gave McCall, but do so in a measured way. None of us want to be in League Two in four years time, but no club is guaranteed anything and if that is the patience we require, then so be it.
Perhaps there are better choices out there; can we possibly afford Coleman given Accrington's troubles, Keith Hill has even been mentioned and there will be many who say Peter Jackson deserves a full chance. But Duxbury has the right background to finally herald in a long-awaited upturn.
Saturday 2 April 2011
Wanted: Miracle worker
Wanted: One miracle worker. No money to spend. Demoralised and limited set of players. Huge expectations. Apply to Julian Rhodes and Mark Lawn at Valley Parade.
After another defeat, this time 2-1 to Stevenage, a team already on a run of five successive victories but one that was non-league until last season, the writing may be on the wall for Peter Jackson. After the initial spark which greeted his entry back to Bradford City, it's all but gone. Gone is the thrill at victory over Ronnie Moore's Rotherham. Gone is the passion at the end of a victory at Morecambe. Instead, back is negative tactics. Back is Luke Oliver up front. Back are successive defeats.
Jackson put himself on the line. Succeed, and he was in pole position to become the permanent manager. Fail, and his interview was pointless. Jackson poked his head above the parapet and took over the poisoned chalice, but did so with someone else's poison in the chalice. Unluckily or not, his hands are well and truly slipping from the managerial position.
But where on earth do we go from here? We've tried relative unknowns who boast a bold CV. We've tried up-and-coming young managers. We've tried hugely experienced managers. We've tried club legends. We've tried men with runners with course and distance form. The only plausible thing we haven't tried is football heavyweights. Oh, or a miracle worker.
After another defeat, this time 2-1 to Stevenage, a team already on a run of five successive victories but one that was non-league until last season, the writing may be on the wall for Peter Jackson. After the initial spark which greeted his entry back to Bradford City, it's all but gone. Gone is the thrill at victory over Ronnie Moore's Rotherham. Gone is the passion at the end of a victory at Morecambe. Instead, back is negative tactics. Back is Luke Oliver up front. Back are successive defeats.
Jackson put himself on the line. Succeed, and he was in pole position to become the permanent manager. Fail, and his interview was pointless. Jackson poked his head above the parapet and took over the poisoned chalice, but did so with someone else's poison in the chalice. Unluckily or not, his hands are well and truly slipping from the managerial position.
But where on earth do we go from here? We've tried relative unknowns who boast a bold CV. We've tried up-and-coming young managers. We've tried hugely experienced managers. We've tried club legends. We've tried men with runners with course and distance form. The only plausible thing we haven't tried is football heavyweights. Oh, or a miracle worker.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)