This weekend, Gary Bowyer will become the 44th man to take charge of Bradford City in the role of permanent manager (NB. There have been 46 permanent appointments; Peter O’Rourke and Stuart McCall have been in charge twice). With that in mind, here’s a rundown of how EVERY single one of the 43 men who preceded Bowyer have got on in their first official game in charge.
Robert Campbell
1st September 1903 v Grimsby Town
Lost 0-2
Peter O’Rourke
4th November 1905 v Grimsby Town
Lost 0-1
David Menzies
27th August 1921 v Oldham Athletic
Drew 0-0
Colin Veitch
26th August 1926 v Port Vale
Lost 1-2 (Alcock)
Jack Peart
30th August 1930 v Charlton Athletic
Won 3-2 (Woolhouse 2, Cochrane)
Dick Ray
6th April 1934 v West Ham United
Lost 0-1
Fred Westgarth
5th March 1938 v Port Vale
Lost 3-4 (Robertson, Whittingham 2)
Jack Barker
31st August 1946 v Accrington Stanley
Won 3-1 (Hinsley, Wass, Wollett)
Jack Milburn
2nd January 1947 v Gateshead
Won 2-0 (Whittingham 2)
David Steele
21st August 1948 v Barrow
Drew 0-0
Ivor Powell
23rd August 1952 v Port Vale
Won 1-0 (King)
Peter Jackson Snr
5th February 1955 v Southport
Lost 0-1
Bob Brocklebank
19th August 1961 v York City
Drew 2-2 (Cartlidge, Reid)
Bill Harris
8th March 1965 v Stockport County
Lost 0-2
Willie Watson
4th April 1966 v Port Vale
Drew 0-0
Grenville Hair
20th January 1968 v Lincoln City
Lost 0-2
Jimmy Wheeler
10th August 1968 v Doncaster Rovers
Drew 1-1 (Swallow)
Bryan Edwards
27th November 1971 v Notts County
Lost 2-3 (C Hall, Middleton)
Bobby Kennedy
16th August 1975 v Brentford
Drew 1-1 (McGinley)
John Napier
4th February 1978 v Chester
Lost 2-3 (Cooke, Ratcliffe)
George Mulhall
18th November 1978 v Barnsley
Won 1-0 (Cooke)
Roy McFarland
29th August 1981 v Wigan Athletic
Drew 3-3 (Campbell 2, Black)
Trevor Cherry
11th December 1982 v Mansfield (FA Cup)
Drew 1-1 (Gray)
Terry Dolan
10th January 1987 v Oldham (FA Cup)
Drew 1-1 (McCall)
Terry Yorath
4th February 1989 v Blackburn Rovers
Lost 1-2 (Abbott)
John Docherty
21st March 1990 v Newcastle United
Won 3-2 (Mitchell, Abbott, Woods)
Frank Stapleton
14th December 1991 v West Bromwich Albion
Drew 1-1 (McCarthy)
Lennie Lawrence
13th August 1994 v Chester City
Won 4-1 (Taylor, Jewell 3)
Chris Kamara
2nd December 1995 v Preston (FA Cup)
Won 2-1 (Jacobs 2)
Paul Jewell
10th January 1998 v Stockport County
Won 2-1 (Jacobs, Blake)
Chris Hutchings
1st July 2000 v FK Atlantis (Intertoto Cup)
Won 3-1 (Blake, Windass, Rankin)
Jim Jeffries
25th November 2000 v Middlesbrough
Drew 2-2 (Carbone, Windass)
Nicky Law
8th January 2002 v Walsall (FA Cup)
Lost 0-2
Bryan Robson
29th November 2003 v Millwall
Won 3-2 (Branch, Gray, Cadamarteri)
Colin Todd
7th August 2004 v Hartlepool United
Lost 1-2 (Windass)
Stuart McCall
11th August 2007 v Macclesfield Town
Drew 1-1 (Ndumbu-Nsungu)
Peter Taylor
20th January 2010 v Accrington Stanley
Lost 0-2
Peter Jackson
5th March 2011 v Gillingham
Lost 0-2
Phil Parkinson
3rd September 2011 v Morecambe
Drew 1-1 (Hannah)
Simon Grayson
13th February 2018 v Charlton Athletic
Drew 1-1 (Robinson)
Michael Collins
4th August 2018 v Shrewsbury Town
Won 1-0 (Payne)
David Hopkin
8th September 2018 v Blackpool
Lost 2-3 (Doyle, Payne)