Dedicated to Bradford City heritage and statistics. We have compiled the first record of heritage numbers at any British football club. Created by
@AaronBower
A warrior and a winner on the field - with no doubt the same approach off it. Over 1,200 players have represented
#bcafc
: few have the right to call themselves a legend. Stephen Darby is very much in that bracket.
239 appearances, countless magical memories.. one Stephen Darby.
1,348 men have played for Bradford City.
Just six have scored 30 goals or more in a single season.
David Layne, Derek Stokes, John McCole, Rodney Green, Bobby Campbell: and now, Andrew Ellis Cook. The first to do it since 1982-83. 40 years.
Legendary status.
#bcafc
We've checked the EFL record books. Dean Windass was joint-top scorer in 2004-05 with Hull's Stuart Elliott but since 1903, Bradford City have NEVER had a player finish as the division's outright top scorer. That will now change thanks to one man.
Andy. Exceptional.
#bcafc
The last Bradford City manager to win six successive games was Trevor Cherry in 1984.
Graham Alexander, eight games into his tenure as
#bcafc
manager, has just matched it. Six in a row.
GA 🫡
Eight years ago today,
@officialbantams
walked out in a major cup final for only the second time in our history.
It wasn't to be our day in the end - but it was one hell of a ride to get there.
#bcafc
Andy Cook is only the 5th player since 1990 to score 20+ goals in a season for Bradford City:
Sean McCarthy (twice), Lee Mills, Dean Windass (twice), Nahki Wells and now: Andrew Ellis Cook.
City’s number nine.
#bcafc
One year ago today,
#bcafc
confirmed the signing of this man. It's been some switch (so far). 50+ appearances already, and counting with a lot more hopefully still to come.
38 years ago today, a fresh-faced 18-year-old made his Bradford City debut in a 3-2 win against Reading.
460 appearances across two separate spells, 54 goals, two promotions as a player and three spells as our manager.
Here's to you, Stuart McCall. City's favourite son.
#bcafc
Happy 31st birthday to one of the greatest players ever to wear claret and amber - and one of the men who helped create some of
#bcafc
's greatest-ever moments.
335 games, 90 goals, one James Hanson.
Kevin McDonald is the first
@officialbantams
manager - be that caretaker, interim or permanent - to win his first three games in charge since Lennie Lawrence in August 1994: nearly 30 years ago.
🏴
#bcafc
This is the first time Bradford City have conceded just one goal from their opening four games since 1995, making Richard O'Donnell the first goalkeeper with such a record since Gavin Ward in the opening weeks of the 1995-96 season, 24 years ago. Safe hands.
#bcafc
Best wishes to Rory McArdle after announcing his retirement from professional foootball.
231 appearances for
#bcafc
, 15 goals and so many unforgettable memories. A modern-day Bradford City legend
Alex Pattison is the first non-striker to score in three consecutive games for
@officialbantams
since Romain Vincelot did it in September 2017. Only Charlie Wyke and Andy Cook are the others to have done it in that time. Impact. 👊
#bcafc
With his hat-trick today,
@andy9cook
moves to 54 Bradford City goals - and up to =25th on
@officialbantams
' all-time top scorers list. He's now just four goals off the top 20 in history.
The man he's level with in 25th? Stuart McCall. Esteemed company.
#bcafc
🎩
1,361 men have played competitive football for Bradford City. Only TWO - Bobby Campbell (137) and Frank O'Rourke (93) have scored more than James Hanson.
335 games, 91 goals: one legend. From the Co-op to
#bcafc
folklore. Happy retirement, Big Jim - and thanks for the memories!
37 years ago today (28/8/1982), Roy McFarland handed a debut to a promising 18-year-old on the opening day of the 1982-83 season against Reading.
460 appearances - across two spells - later, Stuart McCall had solidified himself as perhaps the greatest player in
#bcafc
history.
1⃣ One defeat from the last six league games
✅ Back-to-back wins for the FIRST TIME in 2018
😍 Out of the bottom four after over two months in the relegation zone
⚽️ Nine goals in the last three league games
Merry Christmas
#bcafc
fans! 🎄
41 years ago today, an unfancied 24-year-old Northern Irish striker made his Bradford City debut against Peterborough.
Across two spells, he would score 143 goals in 320 games: the highest in the club's history.
Here's to you, big Bob. Never forgotten and always loved.
#bcafc
There was one more milestone achieved during Saturday's draw with Wrexham: and it was a big one.
Alex Gilliead made his 150th league appearance for
@officialbantams
. Alex is only the 81st player in our entire history to reach that mark.
#bcafc
👏
(total includes play-offs)
Five years ago today,
@GrJones18
made his 100th and final appearance for
#bcafc
in the 2-1 victory away at Tranmere Rovers.
87 of Gary's 100 appearances came in the league, and he scored eight times. He also helped create a fair bit of history along the way..
Five years ago today.
Stead (41), Morais (75), Halliday (82), Yeates (90+4).
The greatest FA Cup shock in history. Little old Bradford City dump Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea out of the cup. A day like no other.
#bcafc
With Andy Cook's 14th goal of the season already tonight, this is the fastest any Bradford City player has reached that tally in a season for almost 30 years.
The last player to reach 14 goals faster than Cook was Sean McCarthy in the 1993-94 season.
City's number 9.
#bcafc
Where we started, others follow. All clubs will have heritage numbers in time, but
@officialbantams
will always be the first in English football to do so.
#bcafc
I want to be in that number 🎶
Following extensive research from Club historians, 879 legacy numbers have now been assigned 🤍
Check out the full list! ⤵️
On
#RemembranceSunday
, we remember former
#bcafc
players who gave the ultimate sacrifice. They are:
Jimmy Speirs
Evelyn Lintott
George Draycott
Ernest Goodwin
James Comrie
Jimmy Conlin
Harry Potter
Gerald Kirk
Ernest Kenworthy
Rob Torrance
Ernest Tuckett
Alf Keeling
Sid Pugh
Happy 55th birthday to one of Bradford City's favourite sons, Stuart McCall. Two spells as a player with over 450 appearances, two as a manager and many unforgettable memories in claret and amber
#bcafc
Ten years ago today (6/8/2011),
#bcafc
handed a debut to a young Bermudan striker against Aldershot.
@nahkiwells
earned Heritage Number
#1115
in the process. He would score 53 goals in 112 appearances for City, and playing a vital part in the 'History Makers' season in 2012-13.
.
@andy9cook
is the first man in 7⃣,7⃣8⃣9⃣ days to score a first-half hat-trick for
@officialbantams
.
The last man to do it was the great
@DWindass10
in the 4-4 draw against Derby County on April 21, 2000.
It's been a long time coming!
#bcafc
For the first time in Bradford City's ENTIRE 115-year history, we have lost 11 of our first 15 league games. It has never happened before. In terms of losses, it is
#bcafc
's worst-ever start to a league season.
A stat I never thought I'd have to research, let alone type.
It's two years to the day since this man made his Bradford City debut, against Forest Green Rovers on August 24th, 2019.
74 appearances in, with hopefully lots more still to come!
#bcafc
👨🍳
The outright 18th-highest goal-scorer in Bradford City history now and now just NINE away from the all-time top 10.
139 games, 61 goals. City's number 9 keeps climbing the charts.
#bcafc
#onthisday
six years ago today..
#bcafc
came from 2-0 down to reach the last 16 of the League Cup for the first time since 1988 after beating Burton Albion 3-2.
The match-winner? This guy, of course - with his only goal for Bradford City: but boy was it a big one!
.
@SamHornby
is only the fourth
@officialbantams
goalkeeper this century to keep consecutive clean sheets in his first two league games for the club.
The others were Paul Henderson (2004-05), Lenny Pidgeley (2010-11) and Colin Doyle (2016-17).
Well done, Sam!
#bcafc
18 years ago today, local Academy product Danny Forrest made his
#bcafc
debut against Wrexham.
Danny scored five goals in 17 starts for City, with appearances from the bench. Those five goals included this beauty, one of the best goals scored at VP in a long time!
22 years ago today, one of the greatest
#bcafc
players in modern history made his debut for the club:
@Blake1976Rob
.
Robbie made 174 appearances for City in all competitions, scoring 47 goals - including 16 during the promotion-winning campaign of 1998-99.
Stuart McCall's second spell in charge of
#bcafc
started with a 12-game unbeaten run in the league in 2015-16.
However, that run had a League Cup defeat (on pens) in there, which makes Mark Trueman & Conor Sellars the FIRST manager(s) to not lose any of their first eight games.
10 years ago today, Bradford City handed a two-year deal to a non-league striker who had previously played at Guiseley and Eccleshill.
It turned out to be a shrewd decision.
#bcafc
It's a 50th
@officialbantams
appearance for this man today. Still on track to become the first
#bcafc
this century to play every single match in a season.
Here's to many, many more in the years ahead. 🧤
Next season, we will become the first English club to wear heritage numbers on our shirts after approval from the EFL. Our history is part of what makes
#bcafc
who we are today - that will now be recognised. Thanks so much to the club for their backing:
Alex Gilliead is fast closing in on his 200th Bradford City appearance in all competitions.
Yesterday was Gilly's 185th appearance for the club - with 160 of those in league football, putting him 72nd in that particular all-time list out of over 1,300 men.
Servant ⭐️
#bcafc
49 years ago today, the greatest overseas player ever to play for Bradford City made his
#bcafc
debut.
Ces Podd's debut against Chesterfield on September 26th 1970 was the first of what would become a record 574 City appearances, including 502 in the league: another club record.
One of our own. 👊
A first team debut for
@bobby_pointon
yesterday, meaning a new heritage number awarded. Bobby will wear
#1355
on his shirt moving forwards.
The first
@officialbantams
academy product to debut for the first team since November 2020.
#bcafc
Another
#bcafc
milestone last night too - as Jamie Walker brought up his 50th
@officialbantams
appearance in all competitions. Hopefully many more to come, too. 🏴🪄
Most goals for Bradford City this century - and the games it took them to reach those tallies:
1. James Hanson 91 in 335 games
2. Dean Windass: 81 in 209 games
3. Nahki Wells: 53 in 112 games
4. Andy Cook: 35 in 82 games
#bcafc
Harry Lewis is on course to become the first Bradford City goalkeeper to play in every game - league AND cup - in a season since Gary Walsh in 1998-99. Walsh played 53 games that season; if City reach the play-off final and Lewis plays every game, he'll have played 55.
#bcafc
City have conceded just five goals in the opening eight league games this season: the best defensive return at this stage of a season for a quarter of a century.
The last time
#bcafc
only conceded five in the first eight was way back in 1994-95, with Paul Tomlinson in goal. 🧤
Seven years ago today,
#bcafc
appeared in a major cup final for the first time in 102 years: and only the second time in our entire history.
It wasn't to be our day on the pitch, but everyone involved with our club that day did themselves proud.
Andy Cook is now joint-18th in the ALL-TIME
@officialbantams
goal-scorers list with his 60th goal for the club tonight.
Cook now level with Charlie Moore on 60. His next target: Paul Jewell, David McNiven and Derek Stokes on 66.
70 goals gets him into the top 10.
#bcafc
#OnThisDay
108 years ago:
@officialbantams
won the FA Cup for the first time in our history as Jimmy Spiers’ goal ensured a 1-0 win over Newcastle in a replay.
The team: Mellors, Campbell, Taylor, Robinson, Torrance, McDonald, Logan, Spiers, O’Rourke, Devine, Thompson.
#bcafc
As everyone knows by now,
#bcafc
will be first English football club to carry heritage numbers on the shirt thanks to the support from the EFL and the club.
Here's more details in the Guardian, along with some talk from Gary Bowyer about its importance:
Back to where it all began. Almost 116 years ago,
#bcafc
played their first-ever league game on this very ground. Today, for the first time in almost a decade, we’re back at Grimsby Town
A warm welcome back home today for
#bcafc
's favourite son. 443 appearances across two different spells - Stuart McCall will always be a Bradford City legend.
At 3pm today however, for just a couple of hours, he's the enemy!
Boyhood fan. Ballboy. Club captain.
And last night, Niall Canavan joined the list of players to have scored a league goal for Bradford City, becoming the 707th man to do so.
#bcafc
Ten years ago today, a little-known striker by the name of James Hanson made his Bradford City debut in the opening game of the 2009-10 season against Notts County.
It's safe to say he left a fairly decent legacy during his time in claret and amber.
Our final post of the day should only be reserved for one man on such a poignant anniversary.
Today marks two years to the day since Bradford City lost its greatest-ever goal-scorer: the one and only Bobby Campbell.
Rest in peace, Bobby.
#bcafc
24 games in, and
#bcafc
have conceded just 19 goals. It is the joint-best in the Football League - but more impressively, it is City's best start defensively at this stage for 35 years: namely the 1984-85 season, when Trevor Cherry's side won the league:
Richard O'Donnell is now inside Bradford City's all-time top 20 when it comes to clean sheets in all competitions.
Richard kept his 26th clean sheet for
#bcafc
today, bringing him level with Peter Litchfield. Only 17 men have now kept more clean sheets for the club.
Today is
#bcafc
's biggest victory in any competition for over two years - when City beat Rochdale 4-0 on November 12th, 2016.
It now means that having lost six in a row in the league, David Hopkin's side have now just lost one of the last five in the league! Well done lads 😍
Huge congratulations to Eoin Doyle - the first Bradford City player to win an EFL Player of the Month award since Rory McArdle in December 2014. Fully deserved 😁
#bcafc
💉
Mark Trueman is only the SECOND manager in City's entire history - caretaker or permanent - to secure 10 points from his first four games in charge.
The other man to do it? Trueman's predecessor, Stuart McCall, at the start of the 2016-17 season.
Genuine
#bcafc
history made!
Fewest goals conceded after 25 games of a league season in Bradford City history:
1984-85: 2⃣0⃣
2019-20: 2⃣0⃣
#bcafc
now on par with Trevor Cherry's Division Three winners, and we've got the joint-best record at this stage of a season in our entire 117-year history. Incredible.
No man has managed Bradford City on three separate occasions.. until now. It has happened in English football on just a handful of occasions.
460 games as a player. 229 as a manager and counting.
#bcafc
’s favourite son is home.
Your weekly
@andy9cook
update:
- Now on 46 City goals, level with George Murphy and David Layne, joint-31st all-time.
- Four goals shy of becoming only the sixth man in
#bcafc
history to score 30 goals in one season.
- Most goals in a season since Dean Windass (28, 2004-05)
Harry Lewis is now one clean sheet away from entering the top 20 all-time list when it comes to most for Bradford City.
Lewis kept his 24th clean sheet for the club in Saturday's win over Accrington: Mitchell Downie is 20th with 25 clean sheets.
#bcafc
Another win, another clean sheet yesterday - meaning Harry Lewis continues to climb the all-time clean sheet charts.
Lewis is now on 27 clean sheets for
#bcafc
- level with John Gill and Richard O'Donnell. And only two behind City team-mate Colin Doyle!
Connor Wood has not only started every one of City's 20 league games so far this season, but he has played in every single minute of every game, too.
He's the first player to do that since Nicky Law and Nat Knight-Percival did so at the start of the 2016-17 season.
#bcafc
Mark Trueman and Conor Sellars are only the second managerial team in Bradford City's entire history to go unbeaten in their first six league games.
Stuart McCall, at the start of his second spell in charge at the beginning of 2016-17, was the other. More
#bcafc
history.
Eight years ago today, six players made their
#bcafc
debuts in a League Cup tie at Notts County. They would go on to make genuine Bradford City history. The eight included:
Stephen Darby (
#1137
)
@GrJones18
(
#1138
)
Rory McArdle (
#1139
)
James Meredith (
#1140
)
History makers.
“Hanson coming iiiiiinnn..”
Seven years ago today,
#bcafc
reached a major cup final for the first time in 102 years after knocking Aston Villa out of the semi-finals of the League Cup! One of the most incredible nights in our entire history
With Tyler Smith on 10 and Andy Cook on 12, for the first time in nearly a decade, Bradford City have two players that have scored ten goals or more in a season.
The last time it happened was 2014-15 when James Hanson (11), Billy Clarke (14) and Jon Stead (11) scored 10+.
#bcafc
.
@andy9cook
is only the 10th man since World War II to score 25 goals or more in a season for Bradford City.
He joins some of the club's greatest-ever strikers, including Bobby Campbell and Dean Windass, on that list. Illustrious company.
#bcafc
Jamie Walker made his 50th start in league football for Bradford City on Saturday against Wrexham.
Jamie has made 59
#bcafc
appearances in all competitions, scoring 11 goals. 🏴🪄
Late to this, so apologies, but
@cooke_8
recently passed through the 50-game milestone for Bradford City.
Here's to another 50 - and a few more after that - Callum!
#bcafc
What a way to mark your 150th Bradford City appearance.
With his 65th
#bcafc
goal today, Andy Cook moves one away from being equal 15th on the club's all-time scorers list.
That would move him level with Paul Jewell, David McNiven and Derek Stokes, who all have 66.
👨🍳
Another debut tonight which means another Heritage Number - as
@bantamsacademy
graduate Freddy Jeffreys takes number
#1361
. He'll wear the number on his shirt moving forwards. Congratulations Freddy.
#bcafc
Happy birthday to us! 116 years ago today, Manningham FC’s committee voted to switch from rugby league to football and thus, Bradford City FC was born. It’s been a heck of a ride..
#bcafc
With 13 games to go, Connor Wood and
@ell_watt00
are still ever-presents for
#bcafc
in 2020-21, having featured in every game for the club so far this season.
58 men have played in every league game of a single season for City; the last to do it was Stephen Darby in 2015-16.
One of Bradford City's greatest servants made his debut on this day 49 years ago.
Joe Cooke's first
#bcafc
appearance came on September 11th, 1971 against Chesterfield. He went on to make 307 appearances in all competitions: including 266 in the league.
A true City great!
🇺🇸 20 years on from the first, we finally have our second USA Bantam:
Boaz Myhill
Jonathan Tomkinson
Myhill conceded 5 on his debut, by the way - no pressure Jon 😅
#bcafc
#OnThisDay
22 years ago,
#bcafc
handed out a first-team debut - and Heritage Number
#875
- to a young Brazilian player who went on to cement his place in Bradford City folklore.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Bradford City goal number 66 for our number 9⃣ tonight - which brings up another huge milestone.
Andy Cook is now joint-15th on the
@officialbantams
all-time top-scorers list, level with Derek Stokes, David McNiven and Paul Jewell.
Just four goals away from the top ten.
#bcafc
Seven years ago today, Premier League side Arsenal came to Valley Parade to face
#bcafc
in the quarter-finals of the League Cup. It was a pretty special night in case you'd forgotten! 👇🏼
🧤 T H E S K I P P E R 🧤
Huge congratulations to
@RichODonnell23
- who today became only the 15th goalkeeper in Bradford City's 118-year history to reach 100 league appearances for the club.
#bcafc
✅ First victory in the league since November 3rd
✅ First clean sheet since the same day (3-0 v Southend)
✅ First victory OF THE SEASON against a team in the top half (and any team above us currently in the table)
Enjoy tonight
#bcafc
fans, it's been a long time coming!
Today's goal was Andy Cook's 47th for
@officialbantams
: and it moves him into the club's top 30 all-time scorers, too.
Cook is now level with Robbie Blake on 47, and three away from becoming only the 28th man in
#bcafc
history to get to 50 goals for the club.
Richard O'Donnell is the first Bradford City goalkeeper to start all of the first 20 games of a league season in three consecutive league campaigns for nearly 40 years.
Title-winning keeper Eric McManus was the last to do it: in 1982-83, 1983-84 and 1984-85.
#bcafc