All posts by Aaron Bower

Season Database

Below is a record of every season in Bradford City history. Over time, every season will have its own unique page linking to every game played in all competitive, domestic football throughout that season.

SeasonDivPtsPosFA CupEFL Cup
1903-04Div 23110th4Q
1904-05Div 2328thIR
1905-06Div 23411thR3
1906-07Div 2475thR3
1907-08Div 2541st (P)R1
1908-09Div 13418thR3
1909-10Div 1427thR2
1910-11Div 1455thW
1911-12Div 13811thQF
1912-13Div 13513thR1
1913-14Div 1389thR2
1914-15Div 14010thQF
1919-20Div 13915thQF
1920-21Div 13915thR2
1921-22Div 13221stR2
1922-23Div 23715thR1
1923-24Div 23718thR1
1924-25Div 23816thR3
1925-26Div 23616thR3
1926-27Div 22322nd (R)R3
1927-28Div 3N486thR2
1928-29Div 3N631st (P)R4
1929-30Div 23618thR5
1930-31Div 24410thR4
1931-32Div 2457thR3
1932-33Div 24111thR3
1933-34Div 2466thR3
1934-35Div 23220thR4
1935-36Div 24312thR5
1936-37Div 23021st (R)R3
1937-38Div 3N3814thR3
1938-39Div 3N523rdR1
1939-40Div 3N121stN/A
1945-46Div 3NN/AN/AR1
1946-47Div 3N505thR1
1947-48Div 3N4014thR2
1948-49Div 3N2922ndR2
1949-50Div 3N3219thR2
1950-51Div 3N527thR1
1951-52Div 3N4215thR2
1952-53Div 3N4616thR2
1953-54Div 3N535thR1
1954-55Div 3N3621stR3
1955-56Div 3N498thR2
1956-57Div 3N529thR1
1957-58Div 3N573rdR3
1958-59Div 3*4711thR4
1959-60Div 34219thR5
1960-61Div 33622nd (R)R2R3
1961-62Div 4515thR3R1
1962-63Div 43223rdR3R1
1963-64Div 4565thR1R1
1964-65Div 43219thR1QF
1965-66Div 43723rdR1R1
1966-67Div 44811thR1R1
1967-68Div 4475thR2R1
1968-69Div 4564th (P)R1R2
1969-70Div 34610thR3R4
1970-71Div 34019thR2R1
1971-72Div 33224th (R)R1R1
1972-73Div 44316thR4R1
1973-74Div 4488tbR4R1
1974-75Div 44710thR1R2
1975-76Div 44117thQFR1
1976-77Div 4594th (P)R1R2
1977-78Div 33422nd (R)R1R1
1978-79Div 44315thR2R2
1979-80Div 4605thR3R2
1980-81Div 44414thR1R2
1981-82Div 4912nd (P)R1R3
1982-83Div 36112thR3R3
1983-84Div 3717thR1R1
1984-85Div 3941st (P)R3R2
1985-86Div 25413thR3R2
1986-87Div 25510thR4R4
1987-88Div 2774thR5QF
1988-89Div 25614thR4QF
1989-90Div 24123rd (R)R3R2
1990-91Div 3708thR1R3
1991-92Div 35816thR2R2
1992-93Div 2**6810thR2R1
1993-94Div 2707thR1R2
1994-95Div 26014thR1R2
1995-96Div 2736th (P)R3R3
1996-97Div 14821stR5R1
1997-98Div 15713thR3R1
1998-99Div 1872nd (P)R4R3
1999-00Prem3617th R4R3
2000-01Prem2620th (R)R3R3
2001-02Div 15515thR3R3
2002-03Div 15219thR3R1
2003-04Div 13623rd (R)R3R1
2004-05L1***6511thR1R1
2005-06L16111thR2R2
2006-07L14722nd (R)R2R1
2007-08L26210thR2R1
2008-09L2679thR2R1
2009-10L26214thR1R1
2010-11L25218thR1R2
2011-12L25018thR1R1
2012-13L2697th (P)R2F
2013-14L15911thR1R1
2014-15L1657thQFR3
2015-16L1805thR3R1
2016-17L1795thR1R1
2017-18L16311thR3R1
2018-19L14124th (R)R2R1
2019-20L2549thR1R1
2020-21L25915thR2R2
2021-22L25815thR1R1

Bradford City hat-tricks: a brief history following Andy Cook’s treble

Andy Cook joined an illustrious club on Tuesday evening when scoring his first Bradford City hat-trick.

Cook’s treble – a perfect hat-trick of a header, left foot and right foot finish – made him the latest player to score three times in one match for Bradford City Football Club. This is a brief history of hat-tricks at the club since 1903.

The first-half hat-trick

The fact Cook’s goals all came in the first half of the 4-1 victory against Stevenage prompted the obvious question to start with: who was the last man to score three times before half-time?

The answer: the great Dean Windass – 7,789 days prior to Cook’s first-half hat-trick.

That is a lengthy wait between drinks!

How many players have scored City hat-tricks?

Andy Cook is now the 115th players have scored a hat-trick in competitive football for Bradford City, starting with John Forrest in the 1904-05 season, through to Cook.

Only 18 individuals have managed to score hat-tricks in more than one game for the club, though: 

5 hat-tricks: Frank O’Rourke, Jack Deakin, Eddie Carr.
4 hat-tricks: Jack Hallows, Dean Windass.
3 hat-tricks: Albert Whitehurst, Oscar Fox, Bruce Bannister, Jack Forrest, Gerry Ingram, Wallace Smith, George Handley, David Layne, John McCole, Derek Stokes, Robert Whittingham, Sean McCarthy.
2 hat-tricks: Nahki Wells, Bobby Campbell.

Four or more

Cook missed out on joining an even more illustrious club on Tuesday – which contains just 13 men.

Only 13 players have the distinction of scoring more than three times in a single competitive game for Bradford City. Ten of them feature on the list above, as well as three more individuals. They are:

7 goals in one game: Albert Whitehurst (a club record)

5 goals in one game: Jack Hallows

4 goals in one game: Eddie Carr, Jack Deakin, Frank O’Rourke, Albert Whitehurst, Oscar Fox, Bruce Bannister, Jack Forrest, Gerry Ingram, Wallace Smith, Willie Hibbert, Derek McNiven, John Hawley. 

Back-to-back hat-tricks

Only one man has scored hat-tricks in consecutive Bradford City matches. Albert Whitehurst scored seven times in an 8-0 win against Tranmere in March 1929, before following that up with four more goals three days later as City defeated Barrow on their way to the Division Three North title. Whitehurst finished that season with 24 goals in just 15 games.

The kids are alright: City set record for homegrown players in first-team one week into season

The new season is barely a week old, and Stuart McCall’s Bradford City are setting club records.

Our history with youth development has been, it’s fair to say, mixed. While some of the club’s all-time greats have come through our own Academy and left their mark on the club, recent years have been somewhat leaner.

However, there are signs that this season will be markedly different for City, with six Academy products already featuring in a first-team match this season, just two games into the campaign. That, certainly in the club’s modern-day history, is a record by some distance.

Three of them made their debut for the club in the EFL Trophy match against Doncaster Rovers: Kian Scales, Connor Shanks and Finn Cousin-Dawson.

Jorge Sikora, another product of the same Academy class, debuted in last season’s EFL Trophy, but has already added to his one appearance in that competition last year.

The other two Academy products to have featured are defender Reece Staunton, who has now made a number of appearances for the first-team since he debuted, and Dylan Mottley-Henry, who is in his second spell at City but also classes as a homegrown talent.

In the last decade, from 2010 to 2020, City blooded the following Academy graduates in at least one first-team game: Louis Horne, Luke Dean, Dominic Rowe, Alex Flett, Adam Baker, Scott Brown, Kwame Boateng, Daniel Devine Ellis Hudson, Tom Windle, James King, Sam Wright, Alex Laird, Cameron Hawkes, Elliot Goldthorp, Raeece Ellington,  Connor Morris and George Sykes-Kenworthy.

However, the expectation is that this current class will feature much more prominently, with a large portion of those playing only once for the club, and an even smaller fraction making any sort of appearance in league football.

It seems that the future is bright at City.

#3: Jack Forrest

Born: 1878 in Lanarkshire, Scotland

Bradford City debut: 1 September 1903 v Grimsby Town

Appearances: 58
Goals: 24

Achievements: Top scorer in 1904-05 season (17 goals)

Profile

Scottish-born forward Jack Forrest was signed for Bradford City in the summer of 1903, following a spell at Stoke City which started with him scoring twice on his debut, but ended just a handful of appearances later after he became homesick.

Forrest had earlier impressed for Wishaw United and Motherwell north of the border, and was lured back to England by the City directors ahead of the club’s inaugural league campaign in 1903.

Forrest scored seven goals in 30 games in 1903-04, but would prove to be much more effective the following season. He ended 1904-05 as the club’s top scorer, scoring 17 times in 25 games: including four in a 9-0 FA Cup victory against Sunderland WE. However, that summer, he left City and returned to Scotland, signing for Hamilton Academical.

#2: Thomas Farnall

Born: 1876

Bradford City debut: 1 September 1903 v Grimsby Town

Appearances: 26
Goals: 2

Profile

Already possessing Football League experience with Small Heath, wing-half Thomas Farnall was a vital addition to Bradford City’s first-ever league squad of 1903-04.

Signed from Watford – he had also played for Bristol Rovers – Farnall made 26 appearances for the Paraders in total: all of them coming in the club’s first season. He left in 1905 to join Walsall, before later playing for Barrow and Gloucester City.