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Signings, Loans and Injuries
Injuries
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Preview
BBC
http://bbc.in/1kAx5fMCity prepared to drop Tranmere Rovers in it
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/sportbcfc/11187664.Bradford_City_prepared_to_drop_Tranmere_in_it/ Bradford City have confirmed that an applause on the 56th minute (for the fans who were lost in 1985) would be welcomed by
both sets of fans.
https://www.facebook.com/TranmereRoversSupporters Game links
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/sportbcfc/11191002.FT__Tranmere_1_City_2/ http://m.espn.go.com/soccer/gamecast?gameId=368608&action=stats&lang=EN&wjb= http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/27167768Highlight/ Goals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb1KwvhROMo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Owf8P-FzKwMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R77p_eHzIAgPost Game Interview
http://t.co/825g32Iii2Images from Saturday's final game of the league season at Tranmere Rovers by @GaryChadwick3
http://t.co/FQdLgQZQbp ===========================
Final whistle - match report
League One:
Tranmere R (1) 1 Pennington 7
Bradford C (0) 2 Stead 81, McLean 87
Att: 9,598
Report by Simon Parker (TA):
City finished with a flourish and relegated Tranmere with a come-from-behind
win at Prenton Park.
Goals in the last ten minutes from strikers Jon Stead and Aaron Mclean
clinched victory against a home side reduced to ten men before half-time.
City began with an early flurry - only to concede the softest of goals after
five minutes.
Jon McLaughlin tried to palm Matthew Pennington's looping effort over the
bar but only succeeded in batting it into the net.
Defensively, City looked shaky on several occasions and Jean-Louis Akpa
Akpro and Max Power both could have doubled the lead.
But tempers rose after Ryan Lowe seemed to stand on Rory McArdle and
Tranmere winger Junior Brown was shown a straight red for a lunge on Nathan
Doyle.
City had an hour to make the man advantage count as Tranmere hung on and
listened anxiously for scores elsewhere.
While fortunes fluctuated for Tranmere's nearest rivals Crewe and Notts
County, City struggled to turn possession into goals.
But the equaliser finally arrived nine minutes from time when James
Meredith's pass landed to Stead whose deflected shot beat keeper Jason
Mooney.
And with Tranmere deflated, it got even better for the visitors as Mclean
fired home from just inside the area.
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When the dust settled - match report
Agony for Tranmere and ecstasy for Bantams as curtain comes down on the season
8:50am Monday 5th May 2014
By Simon Parker
Tranmere Rovers 1 Bradford City 2
The challenge was thrown down to the City dressing room in the wake of losing at Wolves.
Phil Parkinson's troops were on the slide at the time – a bleak mid-season slump that saw only one win in four long months.
With 18 games to go, the spectre of being dragged towards the wrong end of League One was growing.
But the team meeting that followed did not discuss that gloomy prospect. The goal was set to finish in the top half.
City were just under the bar at the time in 13th and it was another 17 days before that pivotal home win over Port Vale
released the pressure valve.
On Saturday, two goals in the final nine minutes secured the objective.
While the main focus naturally centred on Tranmere's relegation, the victorious visitors could head for the beach basking in
the glow of an 11th-place send off.
And pretty much everyone connected with the club would have taken that before a ball was kicked in their first year back in
the third tier.
Fourteenth looked on the cards for so long after Tranmere's ridiculously soft fifth-minute opener but those late strikes from
Jon Stead and Aaron Mclean – one deflected, the other rocket-fuelled – ensured a late jump of three positions. Mission
accomplished.
For Tranmere, the afternoon panned out as the nightmare scenario. They began the day in the fourth relegation slot and ended
the same – only this time the trapdoor had slammed shut.
Infuriatingly for the locals, there were passages of hope and periods that suggested they would clamber free at the last
moment.
Half the fun on these sort of occasions – as long as you're not the ones locked in the battle – is watching the mood swings
in the crowd.
The roars and groans go up as news filters through of goals from elsewhere. And there was plenty of that as every Tranmere
ear was trained on the goings-on involving Crewe and Notts County, the two sides they could overhaul.
In the days of the transistor, it was common for the "phantom" cheer to go up to acknowledge something that hadn't actually
happened.
We even had a few seconds like that when the home support jumped for joy at news of another goal at Crewe – only to learn
that it had been a second for their rivals. So instantly the tables turned with the 2,000-strong travelling City army
taunting their response.
Ultimately, this result meant nothing in the grand scheme of things. Crewe's win and a point for Notts County made any
Tranmere reward academic.
But that only became apparent in the closing stages when City's domination of possession finally broke through the white wall
of resistance.
There had been no sense of hopelessness earlier as the teams emerged to banners proclaiming "One more battle", "Make it
count" and, simply, "Believe".
And after a frisky opening from the Bantams, that Birkenhead belief went into overdrive when they were gifted a fifth-minute
lead.
Handed is probably the more appropriate description after Jon McLaughlin's attempt to palm Matthew Pennington's loopy effort
over the bar went horribly wrong.
Parkinson labelled it an "absolute shocker" and it was hardly the greatest advert for the ever-present keeper when his
future, like so many others, comes under discussion in the next few days.
McLaughlin's confidence certainly took a hit and he looked wobbly for much of the first half. He at least regained some
composure as the game wore on, redeeming himself with one late tip-over from the same defender.
"We are staying up" boomed three sides of Prenton Park's biggest audience of the season by far and they had good reason to
think that Tranmere would do their side of the bargain.
Despite a wretched campaign, Rovers had the best record of any side in the division after scoring first. They had gone on to
win 11 and draw twice on the 13 previous occasions.
But the adrenaline bubbled over into aggression and Tranmere paid the price.
Ryan Lowe was fortunate to get away with treading on Rory McArdle right in front of the City dug-out, who sprung to their
feet to protest.
Goalkeeping coach Lee Butler squared up to Shaun Garnett from Tranmere's backroom staff and he was slightly fortunate that
referee Graham Scott only opted for a word with Parkinson to get his man to calm down.
But the official had no doubts about the punishment when Junior Brown recklessly slid into Nathan Doyle minutes later,
reaching straight for his red.
It was a brainless act from the winger given his team's position and yet some supporters still clapped him from the field.
Doyle, who had done nothing wrong, was then booed solidly.
The red card predictably changed the dynamic of the game. Tranmere retreated into two solid banks of four behind Lowe with a
"hold your ground" mentality.
It's a situation that City have encountered before – and struggled to open up, particularly without the pace of a Nahki Wells
or Kyel Reid to bust through a gap.
Carlisle away was a similar scenario as another side at the bottom threw everyone behind the ball to protect their precious
one-goal lead. Now Tranmere tried to do the same.
Parkinson preached patience to his players at the break. He was confident there would be plenty of the ball and urged them
not to force the issue.
The wingers were encouraged to stretch the play, the full backs told to push further forward and take advantage of playing
down a deceptively sharp slope.
Garry Thompson, probably appearing for the final time as a Bantam, made way for Kyel Bennett on the hour. Adam Drury, the
steady loan arrival who could well be in Parkinson's summer thoughts, was replaced by James Meredith.
Both substitutes had a part in the goals that subsequently turned this contest.
With scorelines going wrong for them everywhere else, Tranmere's own finally imploded in the 81st minute.
Meredith's low cross was blocked by Ash Taylor, diverting it into the path of Stead. His shot then struck the grounded centre
half and the deflection took it beyond keeper Jason Mooney.
A fortunate break for Stead, maybe, but the only City goal on his short stay from Huddersfield was the icing on the cake
after a week that also saw him become a dad to baby girl Sophia.
Tranmere were gone and City's jubilation was complete five minutes later with a rapier effort from Mclean.
Bennett fed him the ball on the edge of the box and the striker let it run across him before rifling an effort into the far
bottom corner. Mooney barely blinked as it flew past him.
A satisfying way for City to close the season; their goal had been achieved.
===========================
City goalkeeper put off by Zeppelin in tour match 100 years ago
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/sportbcfc/11189449.Bradford_City_goalkeeper_put_off_by_Zeppelin/ 
