Most liked posts in thread: We Should Be The New Rangers!

I think you’ve already been on the whisky.

 

Again, such an essay full of absolute rubbish. We aren't Rangers, we're Bradford City and historically the bottom two division is where we belong, doesn't mean we shouldn't think that that is our ceiling but that is what history tells us.

For the life of me I can't understand why you spend so much time typing your posts out on both here and twitter when they're always full of such crap?

 

Bradford served a purpose in the rise of the industrial revolution which was to make entrepeneurs and industrialists wealthy. Thats all its purpose was, just like many other cities in this country. Unfortunately that purpose disappeared a long time ago, Bradford was on the decline a lot longer than 50 years ago. Now it serves no real purpose other than a dumping ground for cheap migrant labour desperately looking for a better life.

 

What period are you sampling your data from? Our complete history, post WW1, post WW2? My time a a supporter, 68 onwards has seen a small number of years outside of the bottom two division (whatever you want to call them) and most of our time scrambling and scratching around lower leagues. I agree we should aim higher but before you move on you need to accept, determine why this is/was the case and then make the necessary changes. However, if I am completely honest with myself, although for a town this size we SHOULD be higher up, we won't be. Our level is League 1 with the odd run at and in the Championship and the odd year in League 2.

If I may express a further opinion. Something to stimulate some debate....I hope debate but likely shouting and vitriol.

Until we move out of Manningham and VP, build a ground that can meet our needs and provide an income stream then we are doomed to keep repeating. We need to take a leaf out of Lutons book. They have been looking to leave Kennilworth Road for years. They recognised that no matter how much they redeveloped it, where it was and the restrictions on any development were never going to put them in a position to move forward. I believe VP and the area around VP does the same to us. I get the attachment but history and nostalgia doesn't pay the bills.

 

Yes, whereas Odsal is often known as the Monte Carlo of the north.

 

Not cash then?

 

To be truly modern, even futuristic, we should set up on the moon and become the first truly galactic team, sign some Martians, develop the best academy for interplanetary talent ever, that would attract rich backers, rich fans even, and we'd be the absolute best.

Meanwhile, what about non-day dream Bradford City, what should WE do while living within our means?

 

I get that but as @Rogered Tart alludes to, to have done that in Bradford would have been swimming against the tide.

Inequality has grown sharply in this country over the last thirty five years. The cost of dealing with the implications of that inequality continues to rise. Bradford is a prime example of an area that has continued to suffer and more so than most. Against that backdrop, broadly we are where we are as a football club. The political will, and I include both political parties here, to improve the lot of Northern cities has not been there. The success stories in football over the past few years have been mainly driven by foreign investment, not wonderful utopian partnerships between the private sector and local councils.

 

We're really fortunate to support a club based on the periphery of the city centre. All roads lead there.

I was at Anfield yesterday for the Magic Weekend and, being a few miles out of town, it wasn't an ideal location to get to. The areas around Anfield and Goodison don't appear to be particulary prosperous but it hasn't stopped those two clubs from prospering.

 

Just to throw in the numbers of League matches to go with the numbers of seasons:

4602 matches played, of which:

• 468 in the first tier (Div. 1 / Premiership)
• 1224 in the second tier (Div. 2 / Championship / etc.)
• 1854 in the third tier (Div. 3N + Div. 3 / League 1 / etc.)
• 1056 in the fourth tier (Div. 4 / League 2 / etc.)

(704 matches were in Div. 3N, 1150 matches in Div. 3 / League 1 / etc.)

So by numbers of matches overall, we are a third-, then a second-, and then a fourth-tier side, and will be so for a few more seasons.

True though, that our higher levels were more in our earlier years, and lower levels later. In my time, for instance, we have been a fourth & third-tier side with only rather brief stays up higher. So there is that gap between history, and what has been the case in our lifetimes.

RCB

 

The newest stadium in England is hardly in a vibrant salubrious area in Tottenham is it?.

 

How would it be funded though? What you describe would be in the tens of millions.

I do think you have a point, but I just can't see how it would happen.

 

Some of the biggest clubs in England are located in deprived areas, so i don’t really get your point.
‘out of town’ stadia can difficult to get to without a car plus pubs/ eateries can be hard to come by.
And building a shiny new ground doesn’t guarantee success, just ask Chesterfield, Darlington, Coventry etc.
We know VP has parking issues, but if people are too lazy or tight to park in Broadway and walk up, then thats their problem.

 

Obviously it is a long time ago, but I remember going to Odsal from Bingley on public transport when we played there after the fire. It was a right mission. I really don't think Odsal would be a better place to get to for many fans.

 

Or, how about the best option, staying where we are