Bradford City 1-0 Barnsley, Saturday 25th April 2015

30th Anniversary of the Bradford fire disaster.  R.I.P.

Never forget.

On a day we commemorated the 30th anniversary of the 56 people who died in the Bradford Fire disaster, I’m still left with a bitter taste in my mouth after Saturday.  Not at the abject nature of another end of season away game with nought to play for, but at Bradford City FC and their sh*thole of an away end.  Looks nice on telly, a cosy modern double decker behind the goal. However (and it’s a big however),  there are posts everywhere.  Even Bramall Lane’s upper tier isn’t plagued by posts (though, yes, Hillsboro is).   But these posts, with CCTV plastered all over them, blocked out the entire centre circle from where we were sat, nevermind whatever happened on our right wing.  (Nothing?)  I wouldn’t even mind so much, had Bradford advertised the seats as having an ‘obstructed view’. 

Fortress Valley Parade.

In this day and age, with the level of engineering out there, there’s little excuse for Bradford, particularly how they’ve spent fortunes and gone into administration to build their 2 super stands.  It’s a 3^rd division Sportsdirect.com@StJamesPark, as these stands tower over their lowly neighbours.  And yet, to our right, there were Reds fans in another bunch of seats, in the cantilevered (ie, no posts) Midland Road stand, where I sat last time I was here (0-4, Dire up front - things could be worse!)  At half time, we elected to go down and see if we could move seats.

Guess again.  (No programmes today, matey)

You know the answer.  Not a chance.  ‘They don’t allow transfers’. Who?  Who are ‘THEY’?  Dunno, but the stewards themselves acknowledged that some fans had left due to the s*** view, while a couple with more money than sense (or principles) left and PAID to get in the Midland Road stand. You see, if you’d NOT bothered to buy your ticket in advance, you could have got yourselves a better seat.  Go figure.

See them seats? Them's Barnsley fans over there an' all.

We stood behind the seats in the lower tier.  ‘You can’t stand there’ said chief pr*ck Barry Sh*tskill (not far off).  ‘Why don’t you sit in one of those seats?’ he said, pointing at a few empty seats close to the front.  ‘I can’t’, I said.  ‘I don’t have a ticket for those seats’.  ‘Well, I’m giving you permission’.  Ok then, I wouldn’t mind a sit down if FA is happening on the pitch, which it wasn’t (or was, if you're being pedantic with my English).

If I EVER sit in this end again it's cos we are 15 points clear at the top of the league.  I look forward to it.

Good job nothing everything happens in midfield!

Oh yeah, Bradford scored a goal, 1^st half.  A super cross left Nyatanga thinking/praying Stead would miss, but he never.  Smart volley.  That was it.

I could also whine about the lack of any match programmes, but, y’know, I’d have begrudged them the extra 3 quid, ba5tards. 

*** Hicksy, Loko and the West Stand Bogs crew.  Well done on walking the 30 odd miles to Bradford.  Meantime, the closest the players got to giving a s*** was Davies going up for a corner late on.  

** Jabo Ibehre.  Good movement, good hold up play, keen, enthusiastic – playing for a contract?

* I dunno.  Davies – for not making any mistakes and showing more forward movement, in running 80 yards for a corner, than virtually anyone else in a white shirt.

Despatches:
Johnson says we’ll make signings in the summer.  Well, duh!  Please let’s not make any of ‘em Declan John, George Waring, Jacob Mellis…any more?

Drink du jour: Great pub pre-match. I thought we’d agreed to keep the Bradford Brewery a secret, but since Salisbury has named and acclaimed it already…anyway, wheat beer on tap but I plumped for Krusovice.  Why does Czech beer taste so much better than Fosters, Peroni, etc etc. On the train?  Vodka and orange.  In keeping with our day of anti-climax, we never even finished it.  One of us had been out too late doing techno (Jon Hopkins) the nite before in Brixton.

The Damage: 
£20 ent (as in 'entrance' not 'entertainment')
£35.60 train

Crowd: 15, 560  Away: Maybe 1500 (at kick-off).

Coral Stadium?  Coral Windows?  Make your mind up.

The Main Stand

That corner would've housed us nicely too.

Action shot of CCTV camera

Disputed territory...

Where I was last time I came here.

Come on you Reds Whites! 

Upper tier behind the goal.

Don;t worry, there were obstructions no matter where you looked.

Things you really ought not to see #647.

I know folk wider than these toilets.  'An experience'.

Note: when visiting Croatia, this is NOT the hotel you want.

You don't have to have tatts to work here (but it helps).