Finally, Jackson appointed Bradford City manager
6:30am Wednesday 25th May 2011
By Simon Parker
Peter Jackson was today given the City job for keeps and admitted: That must be the longest job interview in British football.
Eighty seven days after replacing Peter Taylor in a caretaker role, Jackson has signed a one-year deal at the helm. His assistant Colin Cooper, who arrived a week later, is also staying on.
The former City skipper has now promised to put everything into dragging the club out of the doldrums after their lowest finish since 1966.
"The Peter Taylor era has gone now," he said. "I will be judged on my team, my results and my performances and I'm really excited by what's ahead.
"This club cannot go any lower and the most important thing is to build for the next couple of years. There has been far too much doom and gloom surrounding the place and that's got to change."
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May 31st...
NEW DEALS TO WOO BACK BRADFORD CITY FANS
By Simon Parker (T&A)
Bradford City will officially relaunch their season tickets tomorrow as
preparations crank up a gear for the new campaign.
Adult tickets will cost £195 – which works out around £8.50 a game – with
youngsters aged 11 to 16 paying £87.50. Under-11s go free subject to the
usual conditions.
Fans choosing to watch from the TL Dallas Stand will pay £150 or £75. There
will also be suite upgrades for the corporate areas, including the Bantams
Bar, for an extra £110 or £55.
City have also set up an easy payment plan, allowing fans to spread the cost
over the season. Supporters will pay nine monthly installments of £26 (£13
for juniors) between August and April at a total cost of £234.
With the recent off-pitch turmoil put to bed, the club can concentrate on
attracting fans back to Valley Parade once more.
The deal will run for six weeks until close of business on Saturday, July
16. After that, adult prices will revert to £275.
Tickets go on sale tomorrow from the ground and details can also be found
online at the club's website www.bradfordcityfc.co.uk.
===========================
Friends set to provide cash lifeline to Bradford City
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/sportbcfc/9055037.Friends_set_to_provide_cash_lifeline_to_Bradford_City
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From the Official BCFC Website...
BANTAMS WIN BOARDROOM OF THE YEAR - AGAIN!
For the third year in succession, Bantams officials have a reason to
celebrate after retaining their title of League 2's Boardroom of the Year at
the Official Football Hospitality Awards.
After picking up the award at the end of the 2008/09 and 2009/10 seasons,
City made it a hat-trick of wins this Thursday evening during a ceremony at
Wolverhampton Wanderers' Molinenux Stadium.
Decided by directors of fellow League 2 clubs, the award is given to the
football club who is deemed to have offered the best overall boardroom
experience to officials from visiting clubs.
Upon receiving the award, the Bantams were praised for their friendly and
welcoming attitude shown towards visiting directors throughout the whole of
the 2010/2011 season.
Club Director Graham Jones, who picked up the award along with Associate
Director Mark Richardson, admitted he was delighted to see City win for the
third year on the trot.
"It's an incredible achievement for the football club and a nice reward for
the team's efforts throughout the season": said Mr. Jones.
"To win this award for the third year in succession makes it even more
special.
"I hope the fact that we have won this now three times shows that we really
aim to make everyone who attends a match at the Coral Windows Stadium feel
welcome, not just home supporters."
===========================
Bradford City shareholders buy office block to ease rent worries and avert move to Odsal
6:30am Tuesday 24th May 2011
By Simon Parker
City are staying at Valley Parade next season after the owners pulled off a deal to buy the office block.
Joint chairmen Julian Rhodes, Mark Lawn and fellow shareholder Professor David Rhodes have set up their own parent company, BC Bantams Limited, to purchase the building and take over control of the club.
The deal, which was completed late on Friday, eases the overheads burden on City which had threatened their existence at their 108-year home.
It will come as a huge relief to fans, who feared they could be forced to watch football at Odsal from August.
City claim they would not have been in a position to pay the May wages at the end of the week if the deal had not gone through.
Julian Rhodes, who opened talks with previous owners Prupim in January, confirmed: "We're saving the club a hell of a lot of money. It also gives us complete flexibility because it means the club can pay rent when it can afford to do so.
"It alleviates all our more pressing problems. I'm not saying it solves everything but it means we will be here for next season."
---
Additional article
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/sportbcfc/9043764.Relief_as_Bradford_City_chiefs_toast__good_Friday__agreement/
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The Bantams will host Premier League side Bolton Wanderers in late July in
one of six now confirmed pre-season fixtures for City this summer.
Along with the previously announced Carlisle United home fixture, the
Bantams will welcome Owen Coyle's Bolton to Bradford on Sunday 24 July 2011
(kick off 3:00pm).
The Bantams will kick off their preparations for another season on Wednesday
13th July 2011 at Silsden before moving to face Matlock two days later.
As part of the agreement that saw James Hanson move to the Coral Windows
Stadium nearly two years ago, City will then eventually play their
long-arranged fixture at Guiseley on Tuesday 19 July 2011.
The trip to Horsfall Stadium to face Avenue for the annual Tom Banks
Memorial Trophy fixture, which City won last season, will be sandwiched
between the Bolton and Carlisle match on Wednesday 27 July 2011.
===========================
Bradford Show Price Matters
ATTENDANCES STAY HEALTHY AS BRADFORD SHOW PRICE MATTERS
By Paul Newman (The Independent)
The Football League Column: Bradford City's example shows what can be
achieved with a sensible pricing policy
Figures released last week showed a drop in Football League attendances this
season, yet support for the fourth-most successful competition in Europe is
still impressive.
More than 16 million spectators watched Football League matches in 2010-11,
which will be bettered only by the Premier League, the Bundesliga and La
Liga. A six per cent drop on last season's 50-year high is put down to the
difficult economic climate.
Championship matches were watched by more than 9,500,000 fans at an average
of 17,389. Leeds topped the list, with average gates of 27,299, while
Scunthorpe were the only Championship club to average fewer than 10,000.
Southampton, League One's best supported team, averaged 22,160, which was
more than 18 Championship clubs, while Sheffield Wednesday (17,817),
Charlton (15,582) and Huddersfield (13,728) all broke the 10,000 mark.
The most remarkable attendances of all, however, were Bradford City's in
League Two. The Yorkshire club finished 18th – their worst end-of-season
position for nearly half a century – yet enjoyed average crowds of 11,127,
nearly 4,000 more than the second-best supported club, Oxford United. The
Bantams' lowest gate of 10,392 was higher than the best crowd at any other
League Two match.
Bradford's example shows what can be achieved with a sensible pricing
policy. When they were relegated four years ago for the third time in seven
seasons – their first return to the League's bottom division for 25 years –
their gates averaged 8,694. The club reduced season-ticket prices to £138
and the response to what was named as the Football League's marketing
campaign of the year was hugely positive, with 12,200 fans buying season
tickets to boost the average to 13,756.
The average attendance dropped by 1,000 in the second season and by about
the same figure in each of the subsequent campaigns as the players'
performances failed to match those of the fans: in their four seasons in
League Two Bradford have finished 10th, ninth, 14th and 18th.
Since the new pricing policy was introduced, the current season has been the
only year in which season ticket sales fell below 10,000 (to 9,600).
Some 6,000 tickets for 2011-12 were sold (at an advance price of £150 each)
in December last year, putting the club on course to match the 2010-11
figure. David Baldwin, the club's director of operations, said: "We started
the Christmas campaign simply because I had a request from a grandparent
asking: 'Why can't I buy a season ticket now for my grandson for next year
as a Christmas present?' The first year we ran it 2,000 people took up the
option, the second year 4,000 and the third year 6,000."
The final phase of sales for next season will start soon. Prices have not
been announced yet, but the club have always kept the cost below £200.
"Pricing is important," Baldwin said. "You have to realise that in the
current economic climate."
Bradford offer season tickets at half-price to under-16s, while under-11s
are admitted free if accompanied by an adult. "We know that around 18 per
cent of a crowd of 10,000 are under-11s," Baldwin said.
"There's no greater way of promoting future fans than creating a situation
where a dad can bring his son or daughter to a game for free. We hope that
they become Bradford City fans for life."
The club's support is all the more remarkable when you consider what they
have been through since losing their Premier League place 10 years ago. One
of the last clubs to be relegated before the introduction of parachute
payments, Bradford went into administration three years later, which
resulted in their stadium and offices being sold off. They now have to pay
£1.3m a year just to use the premises, including £750,000 in rent for the
25,500-capacity stadium.
"I think the vast majority of fans realise that we're operating in a
difficult set of circumstances," Baldwin said. "We're carrying the costs of
a Championship stadium and operating on a League Two budget."
He added: "We've had fantastic support when you consider the decade we've
had as a club. We have very long-suffering fans and we're desperate to give
them something to smile about in the future."
===========================
DONALDSON BEGINS TALKS WITH OTHER CLUBS
Clayton Donaldson has spoken to Bradford City over a possible move whilst
Carlisle, Chesterfield and Oxford are all interested in the Alex's top
goalscorer.
New Bradford City manager Peter Jackson confirmed today that he spoke to
Donaldson on Tuesday about a move to Valley Parade but admitted they faced a
fight for his signature, suggesting 'eight or nine' clubs have expressed an
interest.
A few clubs we already know are interested include fellow League Two rivals
Oxford United and Gillingham. Oxford's chairman has recently said they'd
like Donaldson in yellow whilst Gills boss Andy Hessenthaler almost admitted
defeat in his pursuit.
Speaking for the first time about his top target, the City chief said: "I've
spoken to Clayton and met him and hopefully I'll be talking to him again.
"Obviously he is expecting interest coming in but we've put our marker down
with Clayton Donaldson. We have to invest in strikers.
"Strikers that can score you 20 to 25 goals a season can push you into the
play-offs. Strikers who get 30 to 35 goals, which Clayton is well capable of
doing, can get you to promotion."
===========================
From the Official BCFC Website…
HANNAH PICKS UP GOLDEN BOOT AWARD
New Bradford City striker Ross Hannah was at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge this
Thursday to collect his Non-League Golden Boot award for the 2010/2011
season.
Hannah earned the honour - given to the player who has scored the most goals
in the whole Non-League pyramid - thanks to his amazing tally of 52 goals
last season for previous club Matlock Town.
The 25 year old picked up his award during the ESPN Soccernet.com National
Games Awards ceremony - the Non-League's own end of the season awards
dinner.
Hannah is also scheduled to pick up the Evo-Stik Premier Division Golden
Boot award at the league's end of season presentation evening at Blackpool
on Saturday 18 June.
===========================
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