Bradford City away preview for Saturday

[Sweden Stag]

It wasn’t a good midweek for the League Two top sides. While the Stags lost 1-2 at Tranmere Rovers, who are IMO in a false league position, other sides in automatics and playoff mix failed to capitalize.
The proof: Stockport drew at Salford, Wrexham drew blank at home to Harrogate, MK Dons lost at Grimsby. Barrow drew at Walsall. Out of the top six sides, only Crewe Alexandra managed a hard-fought win at headquarters against bottom side Sutton. These results mean that the Stags still are in League Two pole position ahead of Saturday’s away game at enigmatic Bradford City.

Proof there: They lost at home to much-improved Forest Green last Tuesday and have managed just six home victories all season. But one of those was a 4-0 rout inflicted on MK Dons a month ago. Eight home draws, more than any other side above the drop zone and several low-scoring games are also reasons why Bradford City are sitting in mid-table this season. They have also taken four points off Wrexham, and early on this season played out a goal-less draw at One Call.

Bradford City are also one out of a couple of sides who have changed their manager this season. Our went Mark Hughes, who was appointed around the time of the game at Bradford between the sides two years ago, Bradford City disposed of Derek Adams (who then returned to Morecambe), and was succeeded by Mark Hughes. He had to go last October, and manager now is Graham Alexander, axed by MK Dons a few weeks after the departure of Mark Hughes at Bradford City.

Alexander has previously managed Fleetwood, Salford and Scunthorpe. His sacking at Scunthorpe started their downfall from League One playoff contenders to National League North in just a few seasons. And since the arrival of Nigel Clough at One Call, Bradford City have called upon five bosses, one in two separate spells. Hardly a sign of managerial consistency.

Still, Andy Cook is definitely a player to watch out for but he had not scored against the Stags before the game at One Call in August 2021 when he scored once. He played for Barrow when the Stags clipped the Bluebirds to a 7-0 scoreline in March 2012, did also appear in a 1-1 draw before a paltry 1253 crowd weeks before the Stags’ FA Trophy final the previous year. And Cook represented Grimsby against the Stags during the 2012-13 Championship campaign, also without finding the net.

Last season, Cook netted at home to the Stags in a 1-1 draw, secured dramatically by the Stags in added time, and so far this season, Cook has scored 14 League Two goals.

Will it be a battle between Cook and Keillor-Dunn in front of goal on Saturday?

The 2020-21 fixtures against Bradford City belong to those being forgotten as quickly as possible. Yet Andy Cook netted the Stags’ consolation goal at headquarters then.

But the game between the sides at One Call in the 2019-20 campaign was one of the most one-sided ones as the Stags routed the Bantams to a heavy and well-deserved 3-0 scoreline, which also was the much-needed revenge mission as the Stags’ final game in the calendar year of 2019 at Valley Parade ended in a 2-0 defeat thanks to two converted Bradford City penalties.

Scoring at Tranmere last Tuesday means that the Stags maintained their habit of scoring in every away game this season and have now scored in 24 consecutive away League games (a record?) spread over two seasons (and a year) following a blank at Northampton on March 14, 2023.

The Bantams were promoted to League One via a 3-0 playoff final victory against Northampton during the same 2012-13 campaign in which the Stags returned to the EFL. That season, Bradford City made EFL Cup headlines by reaching the final as a League Two outfit, beating top-flight sides like Arsenal, Aston Villa and the 2012-13 FA Cup winners Wigan, then in the PL, before losing the final against Swansea. Will Atkinson played for the Bantams in that final. After the EFL Trophy heroics, Bradford City made FA Cup ones, too. On January 24, 2015, the Bantams produced one of the biggest FA Cup shocks in recent years. Being 2-0 down at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge, the Bantams produced a sensational comeback by dumping Chelsea out of the FA Cup to a 4-2 scoreline. In the following round, Sunderland were kayoed to a 2-0 scoreline at Valley Parade. A couple of seasons later, Bradford City reached the League One playoff final, only to lose against Millwall. Since then, the Bantams declined noth on and off the field, culminating in relegation at the end of the 2018-19 campaign.

Yet, when Bradford City left the basement league in 1981-82, not to return for 25 years, their final game was an away one at Field Mill. On May 15, 1982, the Bantams, already having secured promotion, won 2-0, thus taking revenge for a 4-3 reverse at Bradford a few months earlier. On January 20, 1982, Lumby scored twice, Morgan and Parkinson once apiece in the 4-3 victory at Valley Parade in front of 3729, while the game at Field Mill attracted 3109. Incredibly enough, the sides faced each other in the League Cup earlier that season with exactly the same results as in the Division Four games! A Stags 4-3 win at Bradford but a 2-0 reverse at Field Mill. That was during a time in which some League cup rounds before the semifinals were two-legged ones. Another memorable win at Bradford took place in the big freeze season which was to be the Stags' first promotion one. On April 3, 1963, the Stags won 3-1 at Valley Parade in a fixture which was Albert Scanlon's first as a Stag. He scored once but Ray Chapman scored twice in front of just 2776. This was the third of five consecutive Stags league wins within fourteen days. In these games, the goals flew in left, right and centre as the scoreline 21 for, 7 against, did prove big style. On the other hand, the Stags' worst-ever defeat at Valley Parade was a 6-1-mauling on March 10, 1962, when Ray Chapman netted the consolation in front of 5697. After that game, the Stags weren't hit for six for more than three and a half years. That happened at Swindon in a 2-6 defeat in the old Third Division on November 20, 1965. At that time, there were two league clubs in Bradford. The other was Bradford Park Avenue, bypassed by the Stags at the end of the 1962-63 due to relegation from the third tier on goal average, later to be voted out after the 1969-70 season in favour of Cambridge United after finishing rock-bottom for three seasons running. A couple of seasons later, that Bradford Park Avenue club folded after having spent some seasons in the Northern Premier League. A newer Bradford Park Avenue outfit has since then been formed and are currently playing in National League North along with some other former League clubs, i.e. Southport, Darlington and Kidderminster to name but a few.

That 1969-70 campaign was also Bradford City’s first above the basement for eight years, and their first defeat was incidentally in the sixth game of the season when the Stags won to a 2-1 scoreline on September 6, 1969 with Ledger and Goodfellow as Stags scorers. And the Stags’ final game that campaign was a 1-0 victory at Bradford City with Goodfellow as Stags scorer.

At the very beginning of the 2000’s, Bradford City played Premier League football. On the final day of the 1999-2000 season, May 14, 2000, the Bantams beat Liverpool 1-0 to secure PL status for another season. And in the Bantams' first 2000-01 home fixture, on August 22, 2000, Chelsea were sent home with a 2-0 packing. But since then, Bradford City went downhill both on and off the field. Could any Bradford City supporter in 2000 imagine that the Bantams instead of playing PL heavy-weight likes of Chelsea and Liverpool were to be beaten by sides like Accrington and Morecambe in League Two seven years later? Relegation from PL in May 2001 were followed by another three years later, and after a 3-0 defeat at Chesterfield on April 28, 2007, the Bantams were condemned to the basement for the first time in 25 years.

But all the Stags' league and cup fixtures against Bradford City have taken place after the second World War.

The first-ever one took place at Bradford on December 6, 1947, when Banks scored the only goal of the game at Valley Parade in front of 9322. And the first-ever Stags v Bantams league fixture at Field Mill was the last Stags' home fixture in the 1947-48 campaign. On April 24, 1948, 6799 saw Cooling score for the Stags in a 1-1 draw. That season, the Stags finished eighth, their then best-ever in the League, while Bradford City, then the second string there as Bradford Park Avenue (voted out in 1969-70) then played on current Championship level and there faced sides like Spurs, Newcastle and West Bromwich, finished six rangs lower in the old northern section of the third division.

Starting in 1947-48, the Stags were to face Bradford City for thirteen consecutive league seasons and only once during that time did the Bantams win at Field Mill. This happened on April 22, 1950, when 9915 watched a Stags 2-0 defeat. After that game, the Stags were unbeaten in 34 home games, the sequence ending with a 0-1 reverse against Hartlepools (as they were called then) on Boxing Day, 1951.

On two occasions, the Stags have hit Bradford City for five. On Christmas Day, 1957, five different players (Morris, Chapman, Keery, Watson and Mitten) scored in a 5-2 victory. 5-2 was also the result in another home victory vs the Bantams. On September 12, 1992, Greg Fee scored twice. Holland, Stringfellow and Charles (from the spot) were the other Stags scorers. This was also (like last season) our sixth League fixture, then after a few winless fixtures. Finally, on March 10, 1973, the Bantams were hit by a Duncan McKenzie hat-trick when the Stags thrashed Bradford City 4-1 in a Division Four outing at Field Mill.

On one occasion, Bradford City have scored five at Field Mill. That was in the Stags v Bantams game producing most goals. On January 30, 1971 Bradford City won 5-3 thanks to four goals from Bruce Bannister, later to play for i.e. Bristol Rovers and Plymouth, while Dudley Roberts, Dai Jones and Phil Waller netted for the Stags. In that game, goalie Graham Brown was injured. That was also to be the start of Rod Arnold's long Stags goalkeeping career as Arnold's FL debut marked a creditable goal-less draw at Fulham the following Saturday, February 6, 1971.

For the record, six Stags v Bantams league fixtures at Mansfield have been goal-less as well as one at Valley Parade, that one during the 1992-93 campaign. The one on April 6, 1974, marked the only home league game in which the Stags failed to score in the 1973-74 season. Compare that to only one 0-0 game at Bradford, on January 2, 1993.

Among those having played for both sides, Barry Conlon, Tony Ford and Carl Muggleton are to be named. Muggleton, playing AGAINST the Stags for Cheltenham in a 3-2 win there early on in our latest EFL promotion campaign, played four league games on loan to Bradford City that same 2001-02 season. Tony Ford is the one outfield player with the most league appearances, five of them for Bradford City in the 1993-94 campaign, but three seasons for the Stags. Ian Bowling, another goalie, as well as Gus Uhlenbeek (who also played for Halifax) are also to be mentioned. A couple of former Bradford City players played for the Stags in their Conf days. For full list, see below.

Played for both sides: Paul Anderson, Lee Angol, Craig Armstrong, Will Atkinson, Michael Boulding, Rory Boulding, Jordan Bowery, Ian Bowling, John Bramley, Lee Bullock, Gary Chapman, Barry Conlon, Andy Cook, Tony Ford, Barry Gallagher, Andrew Geddes, Paul Heckingbottom, Colin Hoyle, Luke Medley, Louis Moult, Carl Muggleton, Tom Naylor, Kyle Nix, Vadaine Oliver, Lenny Pidgeley, Ricky Ravenhill, Nialle Rodney, William Shaw, Alan Sheehan, Jake Speight, Mark Stallard, Adrian Thorpe, Solomon Tremelling, Gus Uhlenbeek, Michael Walker, George Williams, Chris Withe, Neil Woods.

Stats file:

Home games: 31, won 14, drawn 9, lost 8, Stags goals 48, Bradford City goals 33.
Away games: 30, won 8, drawn 9, lost 13, Stags goals 39, Bradford City goals 50.

1947-48 1-1 1948-04-24 1-0 1947-12-06 Division 3 (N)
1948-49 1-0 1948-08-30 0-1 1948-08-25 Division 3 (N)
1949-50 0-2 1950-04-22 1-2 1949-12-03 Division 3 (N)
1950-51 1-1 1951-04-07 3-2 1950-11-18 Division 3 (N)
1951-52 2-1 1951-10-06 1-2 1952-02-16 Division 3 (N)
1952-53 3-1 1953-04-25 1-2 1953-04-20 Division 3 (N)
1953-54 0-0 1953-08-31 2-2 1953-08-26 Division 3 (N)
1954-55 1-0 1954-09-27 0-1 1954-09-22 Division 3 (N)
1955-56 0-0 1955-09-26 2-4 1956-04-25 Division 3 (N)
1956-57 3-1 1956-09-03 3-4 1956-09-12 Division 3 (N)
1957-58 5-2 1957-12-25 1-1 1957-12-26 Division 3 (N)
1958-59 2-1 1958-09-01 1-1 1958-08-27 Division 3 (old)
1959-60 0-0 1959-08-24 1-4 1959-09-01 Division 3 (old)
1961-62 0-1 1961-10-21 1-6 1962-03-10 Division 4 (old)
1962-63 3-1 1963-04-29 3-1 1963-04-03 Division 4 (old)
1969-70 2-1 1969-09-06 1-0 1970-04-22 Division 3 (old)
1970-71 3-5 1971-01-30 1-1 1970-11-28 Division 3 (old)
1971-72 1-1 1972-04-29 2-2 1972-01-15 Division 3 (old)
1972-73 4-1 1973-03-10 1-1 1972-10-14 Division 4 (old)
1973-74 0-0 1974-04-06 1-3 1973-11-14 Division 4 (old)
1974-75 3-0 1974-11-02 1-1 1975-02-08 Division 4 (old)
1980-81 1-0 1980-10-11 2-0 1981-03-14 Division 4 (old)
1981-82 0-2 1982-05-15 4-3 1982-01-20 Division 4 (old)
1990-91 0-1 1990-10-20 0-1 1991-04-20 Division 3 (old)
1992-93 5-2 1992-09-12 0-0 1993-01-02 Division 2
2007-08 0-0 2007-12-05 2-1 2008-03-15 League Two
2019-20 3-0 2020-01-25 0-2 2019-12-29 League Two
2020-21 1-3 2020-10-17 0-1 2021-03-02 League Two
2021-22 2-3 2021-08-21 2-0 2022-02-26 League Two
2022-23 1-2 2022-11-08 1-1 2023-02-04 League Two
2023-24 0-0 2023-09-02 (at One Call) League Two

FA Cup

1954-55 1-3 1954-11-20 first round at Bradford
1958-59 3-4 1958-11-15 first round at Field Mill
1982-83 1-1 1982-12-11 second round at Field Mill
1982-83 2-3 1982-12-15 second round replay at Bradford
1984-85 1-2 1984-12-08 second round at Bradford

League Cup

1981-82 4-3 1981-10-10 second round, first leg at Bradford
1981-82 0-2 1981-10-26 second round, second leg at Field Mill
1982-83 0-1 1982-09-01 first round, first leg at Bradford
1982-83 0-2 1982-09-13 first round, second leg at Field Mill

Expect a very good test on Saturday. Come on Mansfield!