2018/19 Prediction League; Game 26 v Bradford City (away)

Div3North · 30-12-2018, 18:22

Bradford City Bantams

V

Accrington Stanley

2018/19 Prediction League; Game 26 v Bratfud (away)

Well that didn’t do a lot for our GD, did it? And still we manage to keep our place in the top half – nay, the top ten – by virtue, in part, of other results, including JoeyBadBoy’s Fleetwood succumbing 5-2 at home to Pompey, Blackpool doing the decent thing and sharing a goalless Desmond at the Wombles, and Southend generously losing 1-0 at Coventry TwoCathedrals, which sadly did allow the latter (Grace au Dieu) to hop above us into 9th ............ actually, there were only three home wins on Saturday (Barnsley, Coventry and The Iron), plus four draws and five away wins (5-2, 4-0 twice, 3-1 and 2-0). Luton now have 4 wins and a draw in their last five, Pompey have seven points from 15, Posh have six (three draws, one defeat and a large helping of Cold Revenge at the Wham) .................. the teams from 8th to 13th (Blackpool, Coventry, the Stanley, Fleetwood, Southend and Wycombe have all lost 3 of their last 5 – hence the lack of massive positional changes in the table), Brizzle won their third in a row, to move to 19th, Plymouth are Rock Bottom (the only side with fewer than 6 wins all season, and a GD of -19, bettered (or worsered, correctly) by Scunnie, who did at least win for the first time in about four years, who’ve conceded 51 ............... which is the same as Notts County, still bottom of League Two

There have been some squad changes at Valley Parade since last summer; in September Bradfud (aka the Citizens, the Paraders and, curiously (it’s historical, apparently) the Robins) ProperSigned Scottish CMF Jim O’Brien from Ross (the fish finger people), Blackburn’s ex Scottish RB Paul Caddis arrived in mid-November, and a week later 36-year old DMF Karl Levi Daniel Henry (ex Wolves and QPR) signed on from the Trotters, although he got a Seasonal Bonus by being MutuallyConsented out again on Chrissymas Eve; CB Matthew Kilgallon also Mutuallied to Hamilton Academicals, and the mid-term departures were rounded off by MF Ellis Hudson, who Mutuallied to the Foot of Our Stairs; bits and bats of loans, most recently Rotherham striker David Ball, who came in to replace striker Omari Patrick, who in turn had gone out to Yeovil (which is a bit like being sent to Coventry, but further away). This week’s starter for ten – a multiple choice question (well, it’s a “yes” or “no” question); once upon a time Bradford City FC were known as “The Wasps” ............... True or false?

Their early days are quite interesting; the Club, as I mentioned when we played them earlier in the season, was formed in 1903; in effect, they took over the team and ground of rugby league side Manningham FC, and were immediately elected into League Two of the Football League ...... four days later Manningham FC, so the story goes, decided to give up rugby league and take up soccer; Bradford City were formed without having ever played a game, and took over the Manningham colours (although Manningham played in black initially, swapping to claret and amber hoops, whereas Bratfud City went for claret and amber stripes) , and their Valley Parade ground (which Manningham had occupied since 1886).

Valley Parade was the site of a quarry (owned by the Midland Railway Co) on the hillside below Manningham; the rugby club bought 1/3rd of the site and leased the rest, finally buying it by 1952. They spent £1400 erecting a ground with a capacity of 20,000, ‘tis said, and also levelled the land and built “Facilities” (might be loos, but it doesn’t specify!), and VP was also, apparently, the HQ of the 2nd West Riding Brigade Royal Field Artillery (Territorial Force) ......... The team played their first game on 5th September 1903 against Gainsborough Trinity, with a crowd of 11,000; after five years they won promotion to Division One, and three years later they won the FA Cup (1911); relegated in 1922, it took them 77 years (much of which was spent footling around Div Two, Div 3 and Div3N) to get back to the top tier, and that only lasted two seasons!

Last season they finished 11th on 63 points and with a -10 GD; this is, it seems, Officially their worst start to a season for 53 years; by 17th November they’d played 18 in the League, drawn two (0-0 at home to Brizzle and a half-Desmond at the Posh), won three (Shrewsbury 1-0 away, Burton 1-0 and the Wombles, also away, also 1-0) .............. and all three of those goals were scored by on-loan Huddersfield AMF and one-time Big Band Leader Jack Payne .............. and lost 13 ............. their record then was W1, L2, W1, L5, D1, W1, L6 and D1 ................ and they were out of the EFL Cup to Macclesfield on pens after a 1-1 away, out of the EFLTroffy in the group stages, and facing a home replay in the FA Cup First Round, having managed a half-Desmond away at Aldershot; they won that replay 4-1 on pens after another 1-1, but it only postponed the inevitable, because they came out of the hat against the Posh in the Second Round, drew 2-2 away, 4-4 at home, and lost the shootout 3-2 .............and then things changed ........... of their last seven in the League they’ve won four (including putting Walsall to the sword 4-0 in Yarkshire and Rochdale to the same sword last Saturday, also 4-0, in GM ........ they also drew 3-3 at Plymouth, and their two defeats were 1-0 at The BlackMoggies, and 4-0 at the Louts ........... currently they’re 21st, with a home record of W4 D1 L7 GF13 GA15, an away record of W3 D2 L8 GF15 GA25, and a combined P25 W7 D3 L15 GF28 GA40 for 24 points – above the Iron on GD (-12 v -21) ................ they’ve drawn a blank nine times in the League, and kept eight clean sheets – and of those eight ‘clean sheet’ games they’ve won seven and drawn one .................

In the league, 28 goals; in the Cup competitions, another 12; conceded, 40 in the League, 16 in the Cups ......... all in all, GF40 GA56 .......... leading scorers are The BandLeader with 8, Eoin Doyle (who’s Irish, so he is) with 6, George Miller (once of Witton Albion) and Anthony O’Connor (also Irish, to be sure) with 5 each and Michael Ball – sorry, David Ball – well actually, David Michael Ball - (but he can’t sing) has four.

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on New Year’s Day, 1st January; last time out, chez nous, we contributed to their “games lost” column with a 3-1 success (goals by Billy Whizz from the spot, Offrande Zanzala and Sean McPlayeroftheSeason moving us into the playoff places; I remember it well) ................. it’s happen a sign of how far we’ve come that we’re disappointed to be 10th in League One with a record of W9 D7 L8 and 34 points ........... a few more goals would be nice, maybe, but lets not be greedy ................ as long as we win all our remaining games I’m sure we’ll be relatively satisfied!

And for the record, Bradford City AFC seemingly were, “once upon a time”, known as The Wasps – a reference to the claret and amber hoops of their parent club ...................... and if anyone can find me a claret and amber wasp, please give me a shout, because that, as they say, I’d like to see!

Good luck to everyone! .............. Keep the Faith! ............. Don’t be a Lidl, be a Waitrose! ............ And thanks for playing!

Seriously, Chris? 27 entries, and no-one got a single point! Absolutely piggin’ pointless? ‘Pon my Soul! What is the World coming to?

Happy New Year from Me, by the way, and a Peaceful Brexit from Him! Maybe ...............