I came across this link yesterday, and I must say that I like the new Bradford City shirts. Kind of like a low rent Roma, which may have influenced the signing of Benito Carbone upon their entry into the Premier League in 2000. That signing was a financial disaster, but without getting into grisly specifics, is not the worst disaster Bradford City has faced.
In 1985 Bradford City won their league for the first time in almost 60 years. On the day they were to lift the trophy in front of their home fans, a fire started underneath the dilapidated, and wooden, home stand. Many of the approximately 3000 fans who were in the stand made it to safety, but 56 did not. The main stand was fully consumed by flames within four minutes. This year's Bradford City shirt pays tribute to those lost with an embroidered black ribbon on the back.
A couple of years after the fire, Bradford City was relegated back to Division 3. This is the shirt they wore that year.
How many different stripes does one shirt need? The amber stripes on this shirt all seem to be of uniform width, but the claret ones have three different widths. It's as if Bukta, the shirt's manufacturer could not decide whether to use equal width stripes, pinstripes, or something in between. So they decided to throw all three on there and hope it worked. It didn't.
I can't really tell what's on that badge either. It looks like a boar's head. For a team that is known as The Bantams, and were previously known as the Paraders, this makes no sense. Perhaps it was secondary advertising for a certain maker of sliced meat that the team tried to slip under the radar?
As for the shirt sponsor itself, modern-day Grattan in the UK seems to be the rough equivalent of Sears or Ross in the US--a store which sells a wide range of items, but has a focus on clothing, especially women's. No wonder then that the shirt above was the last season that Grattan sponsored Bradford City. With fashion advertising like that, who would need rivals to steal business?
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
The Good, The Bad, The WTF
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
The gift of Bradford.
Bradford City have devised a novel way to help fans get through the current credit-crunch while hoping to attract stay-aways for next season.
The 99 quid season ticket. Bradford City for $7.00 a game. Not bad if you have nothing against League two football. In-fact it's a real bargain, but will people come back and what does Bradford City have to offer that would make you happy to receive 22 Bradford City games for Christmas?
So what DO Bradford have going for them. They are currently 4th in League two so there is a chance that your Christmas gift could see you watching Q.P.R, Derby, Norwich and Reading. If they stay down however, you could be welcoming Burton Albion to Valley Pardade (Coral windows stadium for now) for your Saturday afernoon entertainment.
Bradford have done a good job of keeping the fans coming through the gates since dropping from the Premier league to League 2 over the last 7 years. This season they are getting between 12 and 14 thousand supporters to a home game. Not bad for a team with many lower-league sides to compete with. Bradford doesn't just have one or two clubs nearby, they have 12 or so. Their part of the U.K is a hot-bed of football league action. Leeds, Rochdale, Doncaster, Barnsley, Huddersfield, Burnley, Halifax, Oldham, Rotherham, Bury and Scunthorpe are all close by. That means there are plenty of rivals to despise and lots of derby's to enjoy.
What else does Bradford City have to offer for 99 smackers. Well, there is a proud 105 year history, including many years in the top-flight. Most recently under Paul Jewell back in 99/00.
Chairman Mark Lawn thinks the drop in price can be good for the supporters and the club...
"Stuart McCall and the players say that the support we get does give them a big lift. We thought about what we can do to help the fans because there is a credit crunch, It's a genuine opportunity for people to buy something for partners, spouses, children at Christmas. We appreciate that Bradford is not the most affluent of places and if we can do something, and if we can do it at Christmas, then I think we should."
If the crunch continues and the Bradford City model proves successful then we may see more clubs offering discount season tickets. Arsenal and Chelsea fans should not get their hopes up though.
-Bigus
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