Friday, June 24, 2011

Weatherall leaves / New chief scout / Parkin latest

Fixtures

Pre-season
http://www.bradfordcityfc.co.uk/page/News/0,,10266~2372524,00.html

Wed 13 July 2011 Silsden AFC A 7.45pm
Fri 15 July 2011 Matlock Town A 7.45pm
Tue 19 July 2011 Guiseley A 7.45pm
Fri 22 July 2011 Bradford (Park Avenue) A 7.45pm
Sun 24 July 2011 Bolton Wanderers H 3.00pm
Sat 30 July 2011 Carlisle United H 3.00pm

Full season
Got adobe PDF reader? See the fixtures here
http://www.bradfordcityfc.co.uk/staticFiles/3/7a/0,,10266~162307,00.pdf

http://www.bradfordcityfc.co.uk/page/News/0,,10266~2376580,00.html

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DAVID WETHERALL LEAVES CITY FOR TOP JOB WITH FOOTBALL LEAGUE
By Simon Parker (T&A)

David Wetherall is ending a 12-year era at City after accepting a new job
with the Football League.

Wetherall has been appointed the league's head of youth development and will
take up the post at their Preston headquarters next month.

The 40-year-old joined the Bantams for £1.4m from Leeds in June 1999 ahead
of the club's first season in the Premier League.

He made 330 appearances at centre half for City, despite suffering a couple
of serious injuries, before hanging up his boots in May 2008. He scored 21
goals - including the famous header against Liverpool which ensured the club
stayed up in the top flight.

Wetherall had a spell as caretaker manager while still playing, reluctantly
taking the reins when Colin Todd was sacked in February 2007. But he was
unable to prevent the club from relegation to the bottom division.

He has run the youth team for the past two seasons, flourishing in the role,
before earning the chance to work for the league.

Wetherall said: "It was a difficult decision to leave because I've developed
a great affinity for the place.

"But this is a top job in youth development football. These opportunities
don't come along very often and it is something I couldn't afford to turn
down."

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It was an offer I couldn't refuse, says Bradford City hero David Wetherall
7:40am Thursday 23rd June 2011
By Simon Parker

David Wetherall today looked towards life beyond Bradford City and admitted: It's going to be strange.

Wetherall is leaving Valley Parade to take up a prestige post as the Football League's head of youth development.

It will end a 12-year spell with the Bantams as captain and centre half, caretaker manager and assistant, first-team coach and – for the last two years – boss of the youth department.

The 40-year-old is excited by the prospect of helping to improve the level of young talent around the country.

But it is still a huge wrench to quit the club he served with distinction on and off the field.

Wetherall said: "Despite this being such a great opportunity, part of me has a certain sadness about it. It's the end of a big chapter in my life. It will be strange not driving into Bradford anymore.

"I've built up a great affinity with the club over the years and that won't change. But an opportunity like this one does not come around often."



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From the BBC...

BRADFORD CITY SCOUT ARCHIE CHRISTIE EYES CHAMPIONSHIP

Bradford City's new chief scout believes the club will be playing in the
Championship within five seasons.

Archie Christie arrived at Valley Parade on Tuesday after a successful spell
with Dagenham & Redbridge.

He told BBC Radio Leeds: "My target is that in four to five years time we'll
be in the Championship.

"I believe over the next two years we'll have a promotion, and I believe two
years after that we'll have another promotion," he added.

"It'll be with a squad that we've developed over four or five years without
spending any money. It'll take us into the Championship and then we can
compete on a level playing field at our level.

"We're a Championship club at the moment playing in League Two."

The recruitment process will see four scouts employed by the club to bring
in new talent.

"We've quality scouts who know what we're looking for," said Christie.

"One scout is ex-Celtic, one is ex-Arsenal. We're not looking for players
for the youth team because Peter Horne has done a stunning and magnificent
job.

"There is a gap between the first team and the youth team, and we're going
to fill that gap.

"We're going to bring in six to eight players who will be part of a
development team that is under my own budget."

And Christie revealed he had already made moves to bring in players.

"I've already signed a 17-year old international who's coming on 1 July," he
said

"I've signed an under-19 international who's coming on 1 July, and I've got
two others coming who are not good enough for the Premiership, but if we
develop them, we'll then take them on."


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From the Official BCFC Website…

LEEDS TICKET PRICES AGREED

Ticket prices for City's Carling Cup 1st round tie at Elland Road have now
been agreed by the football club and Leeds United.

Match tickets for the tie - set to take place on Tuesday 9 August 2011 -
will cost £15.00 for adults and £8.00 for concessions.

Concessions at Elland Road will be deemed as juniors under 16 and senior
citizens 60 and over.

City fans will be allocated the whole of the South Stand at Elland Road with
the option to also use the South East corner if needed.

The official website will be in a position to supply further information,
such as the first date of ticket sales, in due course.

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The football club are now in a position to release the admission details for City's two home pre-season friendlies this summer against Bolton Wanderers and Carlisle United.

City are due to host matches against the Premier League and League 1 outfits on Sunday 24 July and Saturday 30 July respectively.

Entry into either one of these fixtures will cost £10.00 for adults and £5.00 for concessions.

There will also be no advance sales for either match - supporters are therefore asked to pay on the turnstiles.

City supporters will have access to the Co-operative Main Stand on an unreserved basis for both matches.

Bolton Wanderers and Carlisle United supporters will be allocated the Betrescue Stand, equally on an unreserved basis.

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From the YP

Bantams in 'positive' takeover talks with Parkin


Published on Wednesday 22 June 2011 03:26

BRADFORD CITY joint chairman Julian Rhodes has confirmed fresh talks have taken place with millionaire businessman Steve Parkin over his attempts to buy the club.

As exclusively revealed in yesterday's Yorkshire Post, the chief executive of Brighouse-based Clipper Group wants to purchase the Bantams as part of his grand vision to set up a Bradford Sporting Club that would include both the city's senior football and rugby league teams.

Parkin met both Rhodes and fellow joint chairman Mark Lawn at Valley Parade yesterday afternoon in an attempt to move the deal along.

Rhodes confirmed last night: "We have had a meeting with Steve and those talks are on-going. It was a positive meeting that saw a whole host of issues discussed.

"Steve has now gone away and is going to get back to us in the next few days. What we all want is the best for Bradford City. Steve is someone who sees the potential that exists at Bradford City and we all want what is best for the club."

It is understood that, along with Parkin's intention to buy out the existing shareholders, a possible joint venture was also suggested by Lawn and Rhodes that would see all three men work together to drive City forward.

As part of the proposal put forward by City's joint chairmen, Parkin would invest in the Bantams to purchase a third of the shareholding in the League Two club.

This would appear to fly in the face of Parkin's original intention of taking overall control and then installing his own hand-picked management team to run the Bantams on a day-to-day basis.

His grand plan for Bradford sport, which was revealed in this newspaper at the start of last week, would see a similar set-up installed at the Bulls.

The two clubs would also be housed in one stadium with the eventual plan being to build a purpose-built stadium in the city for them both to share.

Rhodes has been on the Valley Parade board since the late Nineties along with his father, Professor David Rhodes, while Lawn joined in 2007. The three men recently bought the office block that stands next to City's home to ease what was, at the time, a crippling rent bill


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JONES, GRIMES ELUDE CITY
Rochdale midfielder Gary Jones and Millwall striker Ashley Grimes have both eluded Peter Jackson's attempts to bring them to Valley Parade next season. Clayton Donaldson has said he will not play at League 2 level.

As "Boy from Brazil" states "...the City boss seems to be moving onto his Plan B list".

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