Jan 19th News Summary

News summary

Next game : Tue Jan 18th v Bury (a)

Expected to play
http://www.bradfordcityfc.co.uk/page/News/0,,10266~1935242,00.html


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  Glennon signs

Tue Jan 12, 2010 11:37 pm (PST)


http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/4847436.McCall__Glennon_is_a_great_catch/

Matt Glennon today signed for City until the end of the season.

The 31-year-old keeper last night agreed a pay-off with Huddersfield
allowing the Bantams to take over the rest of his contract.

Glennon will make his debut against Notts County at Valley Parade on
Saturday – his first senior appearance since November 2008.

The former Carlisle stopper never played a game under Town boss Lee
Clark because of the form of teenage prodigy Alex Smithies.

But McCall, who has been targeting an experienced replacement since
sending Simon Eastwood back to the Galpharm, has no qualms about
Glennon's recent lack of action.

He said: "It would have concerned me if he was a young kid of 18 or 21
but Matty's got bags and bags of experience. He's a good talker and
hopefully just what we need.

"People will say he hasn't played for a while but it's the same
situation as someone like Carlo Cudicini at Chelsea never getting a game
behind Petr Cech. To be fair, Matty played over 100 consecutive games
for Huddersfield before Smithies came in.

"He's played nine reserve games this season. Now he wants to get back
playing and has the hunger and desire to do well."

Glennon has been on McCall's radar for a while but his Huddersfield
wages always remained a stumbling block.

McCall added: "We had a look in the close season but financially it was
too much for us. Then I spoke to Clarky a couple of weeks ago about the
option of bringing him in but it was still too big a step with the
money. But in the meantime, they came back to us to do the deal. Matty's
agreed a compensation deal there and now I'm delighted that he's our
player."





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 Thu Jan 14, 2010 11:13 am (PST)


McCALL: NO ENQUIRIES FOR JAMES HANSON

Bradford City boss Stuart McCall says no clubs have made an enquiry for
striker James Hanson.

Huddersfield are thought to be one of several clubs looking at Hanson, 22,
who has scored eight goals this season following his move from Guiseley.

McCall told BBC Radio Leeds: "I have had no enquires about James at all.

"He's done very well for us. He is very happy here and I know he just wants
to focus on playing more games for us and scoring more goals."

Bradford and Unibond League side Guiseley have still yet to agree a fee for
Hanson and look set to go to arbitration on the matter.

I've been in the game long enough to sometimes see a player doing well at
one level and then move up a few levels where they then fail to break in

McCall added: "I think the only people that have been looking at him are the
fans that pay the money to come and watch him as far as I'm concerned.

"I'm not saying James is a case for this, but I've been in the game long
enough to sometimes see a player doing well at one level and then move up a
few levels where they then fail to break in.

"They then end up just playing reserve football and then come back down the
leagues to have to start all over again.

"It's not always ideal for a young player when he's playing regular to then
move on to somewhere where he'll only be a sub.

"James has done very well for us but is still raw and is learning all the
time.

"He's played more games than we expected he'd do due to the injuries we've
had. He's carried that burden very well, especially when he's had to play
the lone striker role.

"Hopefully he'll carry on doing very well for us because he's been good for
us so far this season."



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 Fri Jan 15, 2010 2:07 pm (PST)


WINTER? THIS IS NOTHING TO COMPARED TO '63

By Simon Parker (T&A)

It feels like we're stuck in the middle of one of those apocalyptic movies
where the end of the world is nigh.

Each morning Bradford wakes up to more snow, more ice, more nightmares just
to get out of the front door. Life, as we know it, has ground to a halt.

Football has introduced its own domestic winter break and we didn't even
realise.

City can count themselves fortunate to have at least played once this year.
Others in their division haven't kicked a ball for a month now.

And there is still no obvious end to this icy torment in sight.

But there are some who can recall a season far worse than this. For the
survivors of the 1962-63 'ice age', the current freeze is nothing.

That was the winter when Britain really did stop functioning. And football
went into hibernation.

City were hit as hard as anyone. They drew 1-1 at Barrow in a Fourth
Division game three days before Christmas and didn't play again ... for 13
weeks.

Brian Kelly, the right back, recalled: "The bad winter went on a lot longer
than this and the ground was rock hard.

"The grass at Valley Parade was like concrete and slippy as hell. That was
the reason why we had so many postponements.

"It wasn't the snow causing the problem. They could clear that off but the
ground would just freeze."

Right winger John Hall, who went on to play 430 league games for City, was
in his first year at the club.

"It was hard trying to do any training because we didn't have the facilities
in those days," he said.

"We found a school gym in Manningham to work in but that was about it.

"Of course your fitness dropped because you weren't playing matches but what
could we do?

"The pitches then were a lot worse. You got to November time and there was
no grass left down the middle, it was just solid mud.

"Playing on the wing wasn't quite so bad but the surfaces were terrible. We
played at Mansfield that year and the wing was one solid sheet of ice.

"It had rained and the ground had just frozen over. We started the game but
it had to be abandoned after half an hour."

City had beaten Gateshead 3-2 to reach the FA Cup third round before the
snow arrived. Their reward was a prestige home draw against top-flight
Newcastle, a real David and Goliath occasion.

But the weather refused to play ball. The tie was scheduled for the
traditional first week of January but was postponed.

Then it was called off again and again. And again.

The Football Association grew fed up with the situation. City's
constantly-delayed game was threatening to hold up the whole competition.

There was talk of moving it to a neutral ground or switching to St James'
Park. Eventually, after six postponements, the game finally went ahead on
Thursday, March 7 in front of a bumper 13,605 attendance - three times the
league average.

It was a particularly big occasion for Kelly, who was deputising up front
for the cup-tied David Layne.

He said: "Manager Bob Brocklebank had found out I'd been a centre forward in
my youth.

"I can remember being frightened to death in every training session worrying
that I would let myself and the team down. And playing a team like Newcastle
was very daunting, especially in front of such a big crowd, which we weren't
used to."

Kelly even scored that night. But Newcastle got six in response.

"They were rusty for the first five minutes. Then they played us to death,"
he added. "I think my goal made it 2-1 at the time but they waltzed away
from us after that. They were absolutely unplayable.

"Their right winger Dave Hughes cut us to ribbons. Down the side of the
stand it was icy and I felt really sorry for our full back Stan Storton
because he never stood a chance."

City had to play six games in May because of the huge fixture backlog. They
eventually finished second-from-bottom and had to apply for re-election.

It puts the current frustration into a bit of perspective.

===========================

Barry Conlon
http://www.boyfrombrazil.co.uk/2010/01/barry-conlon-the-short-term-hero/


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BANTAMS LEGENDS SET TO REUNITE
4:54pm Monday 18th January 2010

By Sports Desk (T&A)

Bradford City are hoping to re-unite their Division Three
championship-winning team of 1984-85.

It is hoped that the squad, 25 years on, will be able to attend a sporting
charity dinner in aid of the Bradford Burns Unit Appeal and the Bradford
Down's Syndrome Support Group.

The evening, arranged by Bradford City's game-day entertainment team for the
McCall Suite at the Coral Windows Stadium, is scheduled for Saturday, April
17, when Barnet are the visitors.

It is hoped that the squad will also watch City's game in the afternoon –
left back Chris Withe and Don Goodman (Sky TV commitments pending) have
already confirmed their attendance, with Withe putting his shirt from that
season up for auction.

The evening function includes a four-course meal, and chief guest is
award-winning after-dinner speaker Neil 'Razor' Ruddock, the former
Liverpool and England defender.

The comedian is Tony Gerrard and the compere is Jerry Earl.

This suit and tie or evening-dress function will also have an auction
featuring sporting memorabilia.

The event is ticket only and they can be purchased using a booking form,
which can be found on the website www.worldcupwarmup.org.uk.

Prices start at £40 per seat or £55 for a VIP champagne reception with
Ruddock.

To reserve a table of ten, a deposit of £10 per head can be made.

Details can be found on the booking form, and individual seats are also
available.

City have kindly donated a corporate box for the Barnet match for auction.

* If anyone can help in contacting defender Tony Clegg, can they please
e-mail info@worldcupwarmup.org.uk or contact David Baldwin.

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Aldershot rearranged

City will make a third attempt to play their League Two match at Aldershot on Tuesday, March 2.