On The Road: Bradford City

Phil Yelland has been delving into the history books to examine Barrow's previous record in Bradford ahead of this weekend's League Two encounter.

Saturday’s game will be the 55^th meeting between the clubs in all competitions.

We first met City at Valley Parade in the FA Cup back in the 1905/06 season when we lost 3-2 when we were in the Lancashire Combination. Another meeting often forgotten is the 2-2 draw here at the start of the 1939/40 season before the War intervened. That was our last game played in Division Three North before the hostilities commenced.

Our first Football League trip to Valley Parade came in March 1928 after City had been relegated to Division Three North for the first time. It was not a happy experience as we lost 4-1 with John Nairn getting the only Barrow goal. The following season we conceded eight goals on our visit to Yorkshire – indeed, our first four games at the ground all ended in defeat.

Our first win at Valley Parade did not come until the end of World War Two when we played them in the latter stages of the 1945/46 Division Three North West season. That time, in April 1946, we won 3-2 with goals from Kevin Clarke, James Mullen and Eddie Miller.

However, we conceded five goals in defeats in the 1946/47 campaign in January 1947 and again in the October of the 1950/51 season in October.

Our second win at City came in the 1948/49 season in January when goals from Alf Burnett and an Alf McIntosh penalty gave us a 2-0 triumph. We repeated that victory in 1956/57 season when we won with goals from Robert Callaghan and Willie Ormond in October.

In many ways, our best win came in the 1964/65 season, which was one of struggle for the team towards the foot of Division Four. Two goals from Roy McCarthy and one from Bobbie Tait gave us a 3-1 win in February 1965.

We visited the ground in April 1970 for our last game in Division Three. There was a league debut for local goalkeeper Ian Elliott in a 3-3 draw with all of our goals coming from Dave Storf. It was his second hat-trick for the Club having scored one against Colchester United two seasons earlier.

In 2020/21, despite an equaliser from Scott Quigley from the penalty spot, we went down to a 2-1 defeat. Last season saw The Bluebirds held to a 1-1 draw, despite a dominating performance.

In 27 previous games at Valley Parade, we have won four times, drawn eight times and lost the rest.

Let’s hope for win number five this weekend.