A.F.C Bradford City

No

 

I wish someone would hurry up and do it. It's been a wet dream for certain parts of our fanbase going back to when we went into admin under Richmond. I remember going to a meeting as a kid about what fans could do, and it's all some could talk about.

It's the same set of fans who get excited about relegation because there are some good real ale pubs and obscure railway lines to explore.

 

Yes, yes it is, Start off at Companies House and then set up a crowdfunding page get the money together and then apply for a position in the lowest tier of english football then get a ground and then get a manager and some players. Piece of pi$$.

 

I'm on it... !!

 

All English players? No Jonny Foreigners?

 

Players..? we need players..? oh feck, never thought of that, won't we be able to manage with what we've got.. ?

 

No. It would be easier to start with Eccleshill or Avenue and get them in the league.
OTOH if you want to waste 15-20 years of your life, waste hours arguing with small minded idiots in committee meetings and waste your kids’ inheritance, go for it.

 

Manager for life - Stuart McCall.

See it's coming together nicely.

 

Salford have been around for 80 years? They aren't a pheonix club.

Perhaps you were thinking of FCUM?

 

Mind you, every time I watch City play I think FCUM.

(I'll get my coat).

 

The clubs that have done it well made it into the league and prospered. All seem to have someone or a few people behind them with enough cash to finance that long slog up the pyramid. Having a council that's supportive and would help finance a ground would help as well.

City have neither, we're in a relatively poor city. Even grassroots football in the area isn't as popular as it used to be. Professional sport in Bradford has never been as successful as a city of its size probably deserves. We've got a council that's struggling to keep kids and adults who need care financed sufficiently. There's no chance of any kind of financial help in their direction.

I think if they do finish in the bottom 2 this season. Then that's it, we'll never see a football league club in this city again. That's also why those that are running this club, in whatever capacity, have to treat this current situation incredibly seriously. Not just: 'we'll scrape by after Christmas and collect enough points to finish 3rd bottom come May'.
This coming transfer window is possibly some of the most important few weeks in the club's modern (post World War 2) history IMO. BCAFC's very existence is at stake.

 

Which clubs are you think of when you say they have done it?

 

I'm not sure Wimbledon are a great example either.

They literally morphed into a different club - not really a protest against their owners.

I agree with those in this thread that argue a phoenix club simply would not work with the present Bradford City around - and nor should it, yes it's an awful, horrible time to be a Bradford City fan, but we've had multiple chairmen these past few decades, we can't let those pretending that nobody would ever buy Bradford City get to us. The Edin Rahic era is over, the Stefan Rupp era is coming to a close.

However, should the worst happen this season, I'm not sure how long this club would last in non-league - and it's at that point that a phoenix club with none of the deadweight and ridiculous overheads would be more likely to succeed than this colossal club. We have our share of debates on this forum about what constitutes a 'big club', and we get all sorts of qualitative data espoused to show we aren't one - but the actual quantifiable facts of the matter revolve around cold, hard cash and operating costs. We are far, far too big for non-league, and it's delusional for anyone to suggest otherwise. We are one bulky club, about as easy to turn around as an oil tanker.

For as long as we're in the relegation zone, we can't turn our backs on the idea of a phoenix club - if we need to, it will be out of our hands to stop it, and it might already be too late.

 

I don't think any fans will get exited about relegation, especially relegation to the National League.
I may be one of the set of fans you are talking about though because if the unthinkable happens and we go out of the league, I will carry on supporting City and watching them home and away. I also like real ale and also prefer to travel by rail because copious amounts of real ale and driving don't mix very well.

 

That's the thing.

If we go out the league, you won't be able to carry on watching them for long.

 

AFC Wimbledon made sense because they moved the original club to Milton Keynes.

FC United has proved fruitless long term as any real threat to the owners of Manchester United but they’ve got a nice wee Northern Premier League club, but they’re going nowhere long term, not like Salford City.

AFC Bury, to early too tell how they will do but they make sense because they didn’t have a club left due to a rogue owner.

But if it’s a choice between None League Bradford City and None League fan owned AFC Bradford City I would choose None League Bradford City. Fans of our club have little to no chance of taking us to where AFC Wimbledon have made it. Also we’re not gonna go out of business, Rupp will learn a nasty financial lesson when McCall takes us down into the None League but we aren’t in financial trouble and Rupp isn’t rogue, he just doesn’t have passion for the club and has taken a stupid gamble on clowns to run the club, when he realises it isn’t gonna pay off he’ll have to sell at a loss to someone more passionate about the club (I hope, we could end up with a worse owner than Rupp) The only rogue was Rahic and he’s gone, but we’ve inherited a circus instead.

A fan owned Bradford City will never properly take off and would take many years to mount any really progress towards glory, no thanks a fan owned AFC Bradford City isn’t something I’d be interested in.

I love this club and I’ll fight for it and we won’t end up like Bury, this I remain highly optimistic of. We’re just gonna have to have a good moan when we drop into the National League. It’s happening and it’s time to get used to it. This club is on its way down but I don’t think a fan owned club playing in the North East Counties league is a better option.

 

I liked your post, but I'm going to ask you about this statement.

Which fans do you feel masterminded the AFC Wimbledon accomplishments, and why can't it be replicated?