Valley Parade
Bradford (Park Avenue) (1973–1974)[5] Rugby League Manningham RFC (1886–1903) Bradford Bulls (2001–2002)[6] |
Valley Parade, known as the University of Bradford Stadium for
Football architect
History
Manningham Rugby Football Club, formed in 1876, originally played games at Cardigan Fields, in the Carlisle Road area of Bradford.[1] When their ground was sold to facilitate the construction of Drummond School, the club required a new home. Consequently, they bought one-third of the Valley Parade site in Manningham,[4] taking a short-term lease out on the rest of the land in time to play there for the 1886–87 season.[1] The new ground and the road it was built upon both adopted the name of the local area, Valley Parade, a name deriving from the steep hillside below Manningham.[1][2][8] The land was previously a quarry, and formed part of a greater site owned by Midland Railway Company.[1]
The club spent
On Christmas Day 1888, 12-year old Thomas Coyle was killed at the ground when the barrier under which he was sitting collapsed on him breaking his neck. An inquest decided the death was accidental and the accident happened due to the weight of spectators leaning on the barrier. The takings from the game totalling £115 were distributed to Coyle's family and the families of other boys injured in the incident.[9]
Manningham RFC continued playing until 1903, when financial difficulties, caused by relegation at the turn of the century,
After Bradford City won the Division Two championship in
On 17 March 1932, Bradford City paid Midland Railway Company £3,750 for the remaining two-thirds of the site to become outright owners of the ground, which was now 45 years old.[21] The stadium had remained virtually unchanged since 1908, and did so until 1952,[10][18] when the capacity of the ground was reduced after examinations of the foundations were ordered following the 1946 Burnden Park disaster. The investigation resulted in the closure of half the Midland Road stand. The stand's steel frame was then sold to Berwick Rangers for £450 and a smaller replacement stand was built at Valley Parade in 1954.[21] Six years later, the stand had to be demolished for a second time because of continuing foundation problems.[22] It was another six years before all four stands at Valley Parade were able to be opened for the first time. To enable construction of a new stand on the Midland Road side of the ground, the club directors moved the pitch 3 yards (2.7 m) closer to the main stand. The new stand was then the narrowest stand in the league.[22] Further improvements were made to the stand in 1969, ready for the club's FA Cup tie with Division One side Tottenham Hotspur on 3 January 1970,[22] which ended in a 2–2 draw in front of 23,000 fans.[23] The cost of the work forced the club to sell Valley Parade to Bradford Corporation for £35,000, but it was bought back by 1979 for the same price.[24]
During the period from 1908 to 1985, the club carried out a number of other lesser work to the rest of the ground.
On 11 May 1985, one of the
The two stands which were not altered after the fire were both improved during the 1990s. The Bradford end of the ground was made a double-decker, all-seater stand, with a new scoreboard, in 1991. City's promotion to
Richmond also planned to increase the main stand's capacity by a further 1,800 seats by building new changing rooms and office blocks, and add a second tier to the Midland Road stand, to increase the ground capacity to more than 35,000.
The ground has been renamed a number of times for sponsorship reasons. Sponsors have included
Structure and facilities
The stadium is divided into five
Many of the stands have more traditional names, but have since been renamed because of sponsorship deals. The JCT600 Stand is the ground's main stand, and is often called the latter by fans, but is also known as the Sunwin stand owing to the former sponsor. The
The total capacity of Valley Parade is 25,136. The largest stand is the JCT600 Stand, which holds 9,004 supporters, followed by the Kop, which has a capacity of 7,492. The Midland Road Stand holds 4,500, and the North West Corner 2,300. The TL Dallas Stand is the smallest of the five stands with a capacity of 1,840.[2] The stadium includes 134 seats for media representatives.[51]
The Sunwin Stand has further room for expansion,
Visiting team fans sat in the TL Dallas Stand from 1995 to 2008,[56] but have also been given other parts of the ground for larger matches.[57][58] In March 2008, the club announced that the TL Dallas Stand would be made available for home fans for the 2008–09 season. The decision came after an overwhelmingly positive text message poll from the club's supporters to use the Bradford End of the ground. Visiting team fans have been accommodated in the end blocks of the East Stand since the start of the 2008–09 season.[56]
Fire disaster
On 11 May 1985, a crowd of 11,076 attended Bradford City's final
"All of a sudden, a sheet of flame went up to the roof and along the entire length of the stand. Within five minutes of it starting, the whole stand was burnt down. In fact, I think it was timed at 4min 35sec. The strong wind was fanning it from the end where the blaze had started."
Steve Smith, former club official[65]
Sir Oliver Popplewell published his inquiry into the fire in 1986, which introduced new safety legislation for sports grounds across the country.[27] Forensic scientist David Woolley believed the cause of the fire was from a discarded cigarette or match, which had dropped through gaps between the seating to a void below the stand where rubbish had built up.[61][64] A number of police officers and 22 spectators were later awarded bravery awards for their deeds on the day.[27]
The old wooden roof of the stand was due to be replaced the day after the Lincoln match, because it did not meet the safety regulations required for Division Two, where the team would be playing in the following season.[66] Instead, it took until July 1986 for rebuilding work to begin.[30] The ground was used for reserve team fixtures from September 1985, but only journalists and club officials were present to watch.[4] Bradford City's senior team played home games at other grounds in West Yorkshire for 19 months while Valley Parade was rebuilt.[28] The new ground cost £2.6 million (£8.1 million today) to rebuild, and was reopened in December 1986.[30]
More than £3.5 million (£11.3 million today) was raised for victims of the fire and their families through the Bradford Disaster Appeal Fund.[27] Memorials have been erected at the ground and at Bradford City Hall, the latter of which was provided by Bradford's twin town of Hamm, in Germany.[64] The disaster is also marked by an annual remembrance ceremony on 11 May at Bradford City Hall,[67] and an annual Easter-weekend youth tournament, contested between Bradford, Lincoln and other teams from across Europe.[68]
Other uses
Valley Parade was the headquarters of
Records
The record attendance at Valley Parade is 39,146, for Bradford City's
Official attendance figures for league games were not kept by
During their two years at Valley Parade, the
Transport
Bradford is served by two railway stations.
References
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- ^ a b Parker, Simon (26 July 2007). "Another name for Valley Parade!". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 24 March 2008.
- ^ a b Parker, Simon (29 July 2007). "The Coral Windows Stadium". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 24 March 2008.
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- ^ Baker, Hannah (18 September 2009). "Dental surgery to open at Valley Parade". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 18 September 2009.
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- ^ Pithers, Malcolm (13 May 1985). "Hideous images linger after carnage of 'celebration' day". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
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- ^ Parker, Simon (29 May 2009). "England hit form at Valley Parade". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
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- ^ a b Frost. Bradford City A Complete Record 1903–1988. p. 64.
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- ^ "Bradford City 0-0 Reading". BBC Sport. 7 March 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
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External links
- "West Yorkshire in 360°! Valley Parade, Bradford". BBC Bradford & West Yorkshire. Archived from the original on 11 March 2008. Retrieved 24 March 2008.