Most liked posts in thread: Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

After being a City fan since 1955 and hardly missing a home game, plus many many away games, (wild horses couldn't have kept me away) we then moved to Greece.
At first it was very hard not being at the games but I managed to listen on the radio, via SKY or by any other means.
As the years went by I grew used to the fact that I couldn't go to games any more and although I always checked to see how the team were getting on, I honestly can say that I didn't miss it any more.

When we returned to the UK to visit family, we always took in as many games at VP as we could but......so many times we asked ourselves "what the hell are we doing here? Nothing has changed, the games are still rubbish" in fact we were sometimes ready to leave well before full time. Yet we still returned!!!

Since returning to the UK to live we still take in the odd game and the desire for the club to do well is still there, it always will be - it's in the blood. But have we missed not watching football either live or on TV? Most certainly not.
We won't bother with season tickets anymore, something that used to be a ritual and something that HAD to be done.

We will (maybe) pick the odd game and take it from there. We have found that football is not now the "be all and end all" in our lives any more sadly.

 

Been going to VP since 65 , seen some very good and very poor City teams down the years . Witnessed all the ups and mainly downs in this time . Since the Wembley defeat and the seasons since it's becoming harder and harder to go to VP , i travel a fair distance and visit my family as well as the game . To be fair i actually miss the pre-game meet ups on North parade more than the game , VP as been a large part of mine and many others live's down the years . I will still go( it's in the blood ) but like other's have pointed out most off our current fan base is the newer fans . These will take a lot of persuading to return , and the longer it goes on the worse it will get , worrying times for me and more importently the Club . Stay safe everyone .

 

Don't know whether it's you or not Dave but we both watched some pretty dire stuff from the mid sixties to mid eighties but I never lost the desire to go and be part of it I felt liked I couldn't wait for the next match the old VP under the floodlights was quite some experience All That has now sadly dwindled for me We had characters on the pitch and on the terraces nowadays the players are more bothered about their hairstyles than winning the match I can name nearly every player in the 70s I bet in 10 years time none of our youngsters can name many of this seasons squad Football and not just Bradford City has changed sadly not for the better When allowed I will probably return to VP but it's more the Saturday ritual rather than the football that tempts me

 

Whilst there is a club and I can go safely I will be there. Whilst of course nobody likes or enjoys the form we have been on for the last couple of seasons but we are supporters through thick and thin.
I have a neighbour a lady in her sixties who is a Pickering town supporter who goes t every match and organises a coach to all away matches. They have done very little in their history but they have loyal fans, few in number but highly enthusiastic to me that is what a fan is.

 

I’ve not missed football on TV one bit, but I have missed the crap down at VP. Even when we’re garbage the whole Saturday is my favourite day of the week, meeting mates, the walk to VP, the moaning or every now and then the feeling of joy over a great win can’t be replicated by staying at home on a Saturday or going shopping.

I’ll be back there as soon as possible and it’ll be a massive step to feeling normal again and feeling like the nightmare is over, even if it’s a bunch of young Bradford lads who have to take to the field with Mr Bradford City managing them I’ll support them all the way.

As for TV, not sure I’ll waste money getting sky sports back as I’ve not missed it at all.

For now though bigger things to worry about, but I’d love to worry about getting pumped to Salford again.

 

Maybe its just me, yes its not always been great watching the club and Im sure at times its more a loyalty thing rather than product on the pitch, and yes maybe I'm easily please but I can't see me not attending Bradford City games when sadly the likes of Ron has had that opportunity taken from him.
I'll be going without doubt and I hope to be sharing a beer or two with faces from off here.

 

Whilst I m not against progress and I know the premiership has brought great players to our shores. I enjoyed general football a lot more in the old first division days when well run small clubs had a chance of going all the way with a bit of luck. Teams like Carlisle spent a few weeks top of the league. The powers that be are only concerned with the elite now

 

It’s a strange one. I was at Salford away and as our last ‘performance’ it was a bum note to finish the season on. Maybe because of that I’ve not missed football. It’s a habit / addiction if you like yet now that’s been broken I’m finding that I haven’t yearned for footy in particular and even my posts on here have become less than normal. I certainly haven’t missed ‘watching ‘ Akpan ...

This is actually a brilliant opportunity to reset football particularly up the ladder where sovereign countries are buying clubs.
PL greed is sickening. The Olympics demonstrated that a few years ago yet we sleepwalked back into the status quo. NHS heroes show what’s important in life and how we have our priorities misaligned after years of messaging from SKY and BT. The PFA have shown what an out of date organisation they are and footballers many of whom do brilliant things for charity have taken a kicking because of it. That’s not fair but many don’t help themselves and their moral stock appears to be in the realms of greedy corporate owners and capitalist bankers. Like several others I’ve watched little sky sports since however I would miss the cricket.

Will we return to VP. Probably. Will we continue with expensive sky sports not so sure. Football needs a reset. It’s a great opportunity that the hierarchy has an opportunity to grasp but they won’t because of self interest.

 

Blimey reading some of the posts on here and around the t'internet it seems that covid 19 is really ripping fan bases apart.

I spent an hour last Monday talking to Ryan Sparks and most of it was around our love for the club and our passion for it to succeed. Nice bloke by the way and not anything like I have read about online.

For me I will always be a City fan and will try to attend as many games as I can. Like others have said its the sort of matchday ritual, the pre game buzz and more recently the after game depression. Those highs and lows are the intangible part of football. That misplaced hope that THIS is the week we wallop a team 5-0.

Like @Rogered Tart I have in recent years left going to away games until the absolute last minute. My last one was Carlisle , boxing day. Left Keighley at 12 ish. At 11.30 I was on the sofa in my pyjamas watching BT sport. Wished I had stayed on the sofa.

In the 84/85 season I attended 45 out of the 46 games. I missed the last home game as I was playing footy in London and I knew we had already won the trophy and my parents were to record the whole game for me.

I am not religious but having been spared the events of that day somehow, really irrationally I know, I feel I have a moral duty to keep the club around by supporting it to keep the memories of those that perished alive. Yes I know its left field and totally irrational but that's just how I feel.

Yes the last few seasons have been dog shite but so many other have been as well.

We have spent 70% of our entire existence as a lower league club.

I think, like a few others do, that football will now become a brand new game once its restarted. The money at the top will still slosh around the PL. The EFL clubs, that are left, will have hit the reset button and footballers will get contracts that are at least 40% lower than they are right now. Agents will still be in some position of power but their clients ain't getting the £6K a week that Salford are paying to one of their players.

Now if that's the case then next season could be one where we go for it and with a budget of say £2.5 mill you could hoover up some real talent and build a team that would be capable of promotion.

Time will tell.

 

I think there were a lot of supporters on the brink after Rahic and Bowyer and wouldn't be surprised if this carry on today hasn't pushed quite a few over the edge.....

 

i for one wouldn't want it. Money has ruined football in my humble opinion, fans the likes of me and you mean nothing anymore. In a really harsh way i'd like to see clubs go to the wall because of this virus, just to show what a mess football was in before it came along. Clubs would start again anyway if the demand was there from existing fans.

 

I haven't missed the football at all but i have missed the routine of the day. I have missed away days far more, Valley Parade had become a dull affair over the last season or two.

 

During my little non posting break on here I watched Matter Of The Heart and throughout i thought what is this club about? From the off moaning about the lack of money in the area and kind of playing on that as an excuse, totally making James Hanson look like a prick and then both owners just looking to milk the club for profit. It was grim viewing.

The club has no ambition and I am with @Faithful Bantam on what he is saying.

I miss football, I want the game back as I enjoy then the emotions the game brings but I don't miss the club.

I would rather £150 when to charity that needs it at this moment. It feels like Bradford City has had enough chances to reset and start again but fails every time because it's a club full of excuses with no direction.

 

I think this sums it up for me. I've just been with my lad to drop some supplies off at my parents house. And talking we realised what the last three seasons have done in terms of killing both our enthusiasms somewhat for football. We actually do miss football, just not the dross of league 2. Those occasions like Parkys return to VP or the 3-3 draw with Sheffield UTD were up there with the best games i've seen at Valley Parade, atmosphere that sent a shiver down your spine. Even the defeats, the likes of the 6-0 against Bristol City, i didn't mind that much because i knew we were competing against teams that played bloody good football. The likes of Sheffield Utd, Wolves, Preston etc, decent teams dropping from the championship but raising the level of league 1 football with it. If we were still playing the likes of those in league 1 we would definitely miss the football more.
But being honest i don't miss league 2 football at all. The football is generally poor and we end up going out of some form of loyalty rather than looking forward to the game. Been a few times where we've left it right to the last minute as to whether to go and thats with season tickets.

 

You need another break from this forum I think you've lost it.

 

That's sad mate when you hear from fans as yourself and many more who frequent this forum saying they may not return, there is nothing we can compare the present situation with, but I'm not writing you off just yet .