The new fixtures for season 2012-13 can be found at the Official BCFC
website:
http://www.bradfordcityfc.co.uk/page/News/0,,10266~2814598,00.html
A quick glace shows the following key dates:
14/08/12 (A) Notts County - League Cup (Capital One) 1st round.
18/08/12 (A) Gillingham - first league match of season.
04/09/12 Johnstone's Paint Trophy 1st Round.
01/12/12 FA Cup (Budweiser) 1st round.
26/12/12 (H) Accrington - Boxing Day
01/01/13 (A) Morecambe - New Years Day
30/03/13 (H) Southend - Easter (Saturday)
01/04/13 (A) Torquay - Easter (Monday)
27/04/13 (A) Cheltenham - Last match of season.
===========================
Signings
June 22
BRADFORD CITY SNAP UP ROCHDALE'S GARY JONES
By Simon Parker (T&A)
City today swooped for experienced Rochdale skipper Gary Jones on a one-year
deal.
The 35-year-old midfielder made 531 appearances for Dale and steered them to
their first promotion in 41 years in 2010.
Jones, who nearly signed for Peter Jackson last summer, has a reputation for
scoring goals from midfield and replaces Doncaster-bound David Syers.
He said: "You seek fresh challenges in football and this is a great one for
myself.
"I came here last year but the Rochdale manager persuaded me to stay. I
didn't think it was the right time to leave then.
"But I met Phil Parkinson a few weeks ago and was really impressed by him.
I've played here a lot of times, it's a great club and I can't wait to get
started."
Parkinson was delighted to make Jones his third signing of the summer.
The City chief said: "He's a leader and has a great desire to play football.
"He played 50 games last season in League One and the same the year before.
"With Dave Syers going, we had the opportunity to utilise that money and
we've done that to bring Gary in.
"I think he's going to be a big signing for us."
----
James McFadden
==========================
July 19th
Bradford City 2012/2013 squad numbers
1. Jon McLaughlin
2. Stephen Darby
3. James Meredith
4. Ricky Ravenhill
5. Andrew Davies
6. Luke Oliver
7. Kyel Reid
8. Ritchie Jones
9. James Hanson
10. Ross Hannah
11. Garry Thompson
12. Matt Duke
14. Will Atkinson
18. Gary Jones
19. Adam Baker
21. Nahki Wells
23. Rory McArdle
?? Alan Connell (added July 21)
===========================
Stattos corner
Record of transfers for BCFC since 93/94
http://www.transferleague.co.uk/premiership-transfers/bradford.html
Disclaimer: Information not verified
===========================
Want City's fixtures in your Outlook, Gmail or other calendar?
download the .ics file from this link and import directly into
Outlook. Is also compatible with all the other major calendar apps.
http://subscriptions.thismonkey.com/fixtures/football/calendars/eng/2012
Google also have the fixtures available on Google Calendar (which can then
be sync'd with Outlook).
Settings>Calendars>Browse Interesting Calendars>Sports>Eng League 2
===========================
The funny...
"City's latest addition means veteran player Gary Jones isn't now going to
be the oldest player at the club despite recently turning 35!"
http://spiveyworld.net/bcfc.jpg
===========================
Bog off! Bradford City say good riddance to pitch problems
7:00am Thursday 19th July 2012
By Simon Parker
City have carried out a £50,000 pitch revamp in an attempt to solve Valley Parade's boggy wings.
The heavy state of the surface on the flanks has been a constant problem in recent seasons. But extensive work through the summer has left the
club confident that the issue has finally been resolved.
Director of operations David Baldwin said: "It's quite an extreme cost but an essential one. It is our stage and worth paying out a sizeable
chunk of money.
"We made as much saving as we possibly could in order to generate some more budget availability for this close season.
"Ultimately if you want to do well and entertain, you try to make available the best provisions possible within the resources.
"It will help with the nature of football the manager wants to play without any shadow of doubt. Hopefully it gives him the best opportunity to
get us out of this division."
Work began in late May to resurface the pitch and lay fibre sand along the sides to help with drainage. It should bring it in line with the
centre of the pitch, which had already been treated in the same way. The exceptionally wet weather has helped the grass bed in – and also
provided it with an early test.
Baldwin added: "The pitch has historically always been a battle. There's a 1930s massive 30-foot concrete wall underneath, that runs down almost
to the depth of Midland Road.
"The backfill of water that used to build on the main stand side of the stadium has been an ongoing problem.
"We spent a lot of money on the pitch a few years back, taking up 200 tonnes of soil to lay 100 tonnes of fibre sand. But that was predominantly
run down the crown of the pitch, from the halfway line out to the penalty area both sides.
"As a result of that, the crown dries out much quicker than the flanks. So that becomes very apparent.
"The perfect solution would have been to dig the whole lot out, blow out the concrete wall and start again. If you've got £500,000 and time is no
objective then that's fine.
"We've had to do it step by step but ultimately to fix the problem we needed to have fibre sand across the whole pitch. We now have that."
The new-look pitch will get its first work-out in City's friendly with Bury on August 4. With Barnsley's visit the following week cancelled
because of the Capital One Cup shift, there is a 17-day break before the next home game against Fleetwood.
Baldwin said: "The pitch is looking quite lush at the minute with the weather we've had.
"Most importantly, we've got an even texture underneath because the fibre sand has covered every parameter.
"We're talking about a ten-week period to grow the grass back and let it bed down. That is the minimum limit.
"We're feeling very positive about it. The groundsman, Mick Doyle, really wants to go for that best pitch in the division award again."
===========================
Appliance of science benefits Bradford City players
6:30am Tuesday 17th July 2012
By Simon Parker
What would Howard Wilkinson and football's old school say?
The days of pounding up and down the terraces until you throw up in a bucket have been consigned to the past.
With few exceptions, training is now dictated by the appliance of science – and pre-season will never be the same again.
Where it was once a case of run, run and run some more, the focus now is on the aerobic fitness. The effectiveness of sessions are measured on
the quality of work, not the amount of time you're out there.
Nick Allamby is the man behind the programme at City. As the club's sports scientist, he decides on the timings and levels of work for the
players each day.
Phil Parkinson and his coaching staff put the squad through their paces but everything has been factored first with Allamby.
He said: "The traditional pre-season would involve thrashing the lads for the first two weeks. They would just run their guts out for thousands
and thousands of metres without seeing a ball.
"But for me that just builds up fatigue and doesn't do you any good. What we try to do is structure the holiday break. So although the players
were away from the place for eight or nine weeks, we gave them stuff to do with set points when they had to come back to be tested.
"A footballer needs to be aerobically fit. That's the starting point, so we know that they came back in a decent enough position.
"If they've done nothing before pre-season, then we have to start them at a lower level. You have to catch the others up, which obviously carries
a bigger injury risk.
"But all the lads got up to the required standard. Now we can have a structured, gradual build-up and it's my job to monitor them day to day to
make sure they are improving."
Not that it's a cushy number for the modern-day footballer; far from it. Allamby is not afraid to put them through the grinder when the need
demands.
He said: "I do differ from some others because I don't mind a bit of old-fashioned hard work. They don't enjoy some of the really hard aerobic
sessions but it's all within a structured plan. It's what we call a periodised system.
"But rather than coming back and just running all the time, most of the work is done through the football."
Parkinson is a firm believer in sports science, which is why he was so keen to tie down the former head of fitness at Middlesbrough to a new
contract after working on a consultancy basis last term. Allamby values the support from above.
He said: "You can't put this in place without a coaching staff who believe in it. Our manager is very good at understanding sports science. We
train at set intensities for every day; one will be at high intensity, then the next a lot lower.
"When it first came in, coaches did their bit and sports scientists did theirs and we didn't intermingle. But when you look at the overall load
that players are subjected to, 80 per cent of that work is with a football. You have to work together.
"So I guide the coaches on how hard their training sessions should be from one day to the next. That goes all the way down to number of players
on each side to the size of the pitch they are playing on."
Fixture congestion is the biggest headache. Allamby admitted he could do little to help City during last season's manic March, with ten games in
the space of 32 days – including five successive Tuesday nights.
He recalled: "That was almost unmanageable. How the fixtures had come together like that was ridiculous.
"We didn't do anything bar play the games, do a recovery session and bit of tactical work and then we were playing again."
As football evolves, sports science has become the accepted method of preparation and maintaining fitness. Allamby estimates that more than three
quarters of clubs now use it and the vast majority of players and coaches are no longer sceptical.
He said: "There are still a few managers who want to do things their way and don't believe in it. But a lot of the newer breed have gone through
their coaching badges and it's a massive part of the UEFA B, A and Pro Licence.
"It's gone full circle now. When players go to clubs where it is still old school, they don't enjoy it. Before, we were convincing them that this
might help you. Now a lot are wondering what's happening when it isn't there.
"We don't do everything right all the time. Our job is support; it's not the be all and end all. The crux of a sports scientist is to make sure
by Saturday that the manager has as many players as possible to choose from."
===========================
Connell joins Bradford City
6:00pm Friday 20th July 2012
By Simon Parker
City have snapped up Swindon striker Alan Connell on a two-year deal.
The 29-year-old becomes Phil Parkinson's eighth summer signing and links up with his new team-mates in time for their week-long trip to Ireland.
Parkinson said: "I'm obviously delighted to get Alan on board. He's an intelligent striker with a good goalscoring record in recent years and
will add something different to our attack."
Connell finished top scorer with 13 goals in Paulo Di Canio's title-winning side but was deemed surplus to requirements by the Italian for League
One.
The former Bournemouth, Brentford and Hereford hitman joined Swindon a year ago from Grimsby for a fee believed to be over £100,000.
City swooped after Swindon came to an agreement with London-born Connell, who had another 12 months on his County Ground contract to run. He
passed a medical before putting pen to paper.
Scunthorpe and Stevenage were among several clubs who had also been linked with him.
===========================
Promotion expert Connell on why he opted for Bantams
8:00am Saturday 21st July 2012
Exclusive By Simon Parker
Alan Connell is dreaming of making it back-to-back League Two promotions with City.
The former Swindon striker will meet his new team for the Ireland tour after signing a two-year deal yesterday.
Having top-scored for Paulo Di Canio's title-winners last term, Connell believes he can match that success at Valley Parade.
He said: "Winning the league was a really big achievement and hopefully I can repeat that this season with Bradford.
"I want to be challenging up there in the top seven and I think we can do that with the squad we've got."
Swindon paid around £115,000 to take Connell from Grimsby last year and he netted 13 times. But Di Canio made it clear that he would not be taking him into League One.
Connell added: "It's something I didn't see coming after such a good season. But football is a game of opinions and once I knew I wasn't going to be part of it, I had to do what was right for myself.
"It's been a strange period and I've been waiting for the right option to come along. I think Bradford City are the best club at this point of my career.
"I've had promotions from this league before with Bournemouth and Swindon and expectations were high at both clubs. Here it will be no different because this is the best supported club in the division."
Phil Parkinson believes the 29-year-old will add something different to City's strikeforce.
The City chief said: "He's a very intelligent footballer. We did a lot of homework about Alan and everyone spoke highly of him as a player and character.
"It's a good bit of business for us. He's another good addition to the squad and slowly but surely we're getting there."
Connell is attracted by the prospect of giving City's fanbase something to cheer.
He said: "To achieve success at Bradford would mean a lot to me personally. The club have been under-performing for quite a long time and if we could do something for the fans then it would be very special.
"The support was a big factor. I'm from London and the size of the crowd was a big aspect in me joining Bradford."
===========================
Trialists invited to join Bradford City in Ireland
7:40am Monday 23rd July 2012
By Simon Parker
Phil Parkinson will run his eye over a couple more new faces during City's week in Ireland.
The Bantams were training for the first time at their County Meath base this morning after flying in to Dublin yesterday.
But Parkinson has not ruled out adding to the squad that are already there.
"Some trialists have come with us and we'll get one or two more to join us during the week," he said.
"There are quite a lot of players still looking for clubs and we've got to make sure we get the balance in our squad right. That's what we are working towards.
"It's tough to go on trial because you've got to be better than what's already there. It's our job to make sure they are right, not just as a person but as a character."
City fielded five trialists in Saturday's 7-1 stroll at Tadcaster Albion – former Carlisle midfielder Tom Taiwo, winger Anthony McNamee and defenders Christophe Lowinsky, Michael Boateng and Javan Vidal.
"I can't fault any of them and they all put themselves in the reckoning," said Parkinson.
"But we're assessing the players all the time in training as well. You want to see they can do the basics of the job first of all, but also how they fit in character-wise with the rest of the group.
"That's very important and being in Ireland now gives us a great opportunity with everybody under the same roof."
Parkinson was happy with the fitness of the players in the opening friendly.
He said: "Everything went to plan. It was a good exercise, they all played 45 minutes and did some running on the pitch at half-time.
"We're in good shape at this stage and we've still got players who weren't out there on Saturday as well as new signing Alan (Connell). There are good options starting to form."
Connell has joined up with the squad after making his own way separately from the south.
"You're always a little bit nervous joining a new club as you try to fit into the group," he said.
"It's important you get on with everyone as quickly as possible and this trip is a good chance to do that."
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