New 1910-11 Squad Image: Update

There are many pictures of the 1910-11 FA Cup winning team, often reproduced as postcards to commemorate what was, arguably, City's finest hour. This one is a little unusual, however, in that it shows the whole squad in front of a match day crowd.
We have most of the names as well:
Back (left to right) Chaplin, Spendiff, Bigland, Speirs, Mellors, Lintott, Campbell, Farren, Blair, Maskrey, Robinson;
Centre: P. O'Rourke (secretary-manager), Torrance, Peart, McDonald, Graham, O'Rourke, Young, Logan, Potter, Handley.
Front: D.L. Menzies (asst trainer), Harewood, Bond R., Pimbley, Hampton, Boocock, ---, Bond A., Devine, C. Harper (trainer).
Thanks to Bill for providing names originally missing from this post.

A Brand New Team Group!

Doesn't happen much these days, so with an extra note of celebration we tick off another season for which we now have a team group picture - 1923-24! And what a gem it is too. The whole squad with the famous old Midland Road stand in the background. All the names, including Front Room of Famer Donald Duckett, are handwritten on the back so we'll be adding it to our Century of Teams Gallery in coming days.

Team Group Update: Season 1983-84

Another from our newly acquired picture archive is an improved team group from season 1983-84. Seeing as you've helped us out with names from previous images, why not have a go with this lot?

FA Cup Memories

This weekend's FA Cup 4th round gives us an opportunity to show another of our newly acquired images and remember a time when City's involvement in the competition went beyond the second or third round.
It takes us back to January 6th 1962, when the Bantams faced the mighty Arsenal at Highbury. Former T&A City correspondent, David Markham, takes up the story by describing the career of City goalkeeper Mitchell Downie: "Mitchell was a spectacular, acrobatic goalkeeper who originally came from Scotland to play at Park Avenue in 1950 and joined City after spells at Lincoln and Goole. He spent four years at Valley Parade - 1959-1963 - before ending his career with Doncaster Rovers. I remember the Arsenal game very well. It was a third round FA Cup tie in January 1962 and I joined a special train run by the T&A. We set off at 7am and the £6-plus cost included breakfast and evening meal. The T&A arranged for 400 copies of the Yorkshire Sports to be delivered to the train when it stopped at Doncaster so we could read a report of the match on the last stage of our journey home. It was a great day out. City didn't disgrace themselves, but were comfortably beaten 3-0. They were in the Fourth Division then and, after the cup defeat, they had a great run to the end of the season before missing out on promotion by one place - four teams were promoted and they finished fifth."
In the picture, Mel Charles, Arsenal's centre-forward (second left) beats Downie, Bradford's goalkeeper and Storton, Bradford's left-back, to score Arsenal's second goal. The ball is completely covered by Storton.

Great New Campbell Image

A gem from our recently acquired archive is this shot of Bobby Campbell being welcomed back to Valley Parade by his team-mates after a short spell at Derby County during season 1983-84. It will now take pride of place on his page in the Front Room of Fame. Looks like a youthful Stuart McCall in the background. Other names?
Update: Thanks for the two comments which have provided names for the other pictured players: (left to right) Terry Gray, Steve Lampkin, Bobby Campbell, Stuart McCall, Chris Withe and Greg Abbott.

Archive Acquired

Amidst all the other activity on Saturday, we were also given a carrier bag full of images! For the most part these come from the 1980s although there are many from earlier times. Quite a few scanning evenings ahead before we can get them out to a wider audience, but here's one to whet your appetite.
It shows City's centre-forward Derek Stokes scoring his side's second goal against Burnley in the fifth round of the FA Cup. The match was played at Valley Parade in front of more than 26,000 on Saturday February 20th 1960. Although City were two goals ahead after 75 minutes, the game was eventually drawn, 2-2. The Bantams eventually lost the replay 5-0 and Burnley finished the season as First Division Champions.

Another Lively Afternoon for the Museum

Saturday's match against Accrington was preceded by a number of happenings in the bantamspast museum. Regular readers of the City Gent will know of John Holman's recent regular articles which link his love of 1960s music and supporting City during that era. These memories and sounds were brought together in his excellent presentation.
Meanwhile, CG editor Mike Harrison was being tailed by a camera crew gathering material for a forthcoming film about football supporters. The image to the right shows the camera crew getting a close look at George Mulholland.
David Pendleton's article for the game is now available in the programme notes section.

Website Tweaks

One or two small additions and amendments to the website today. We noticed that the fourth chapter in the Early Days section, Defence of the Cup, 1912-1918 no longer had the images it had on the original site. This has now been corrected. A page that used to link to that section, Bradford City v Bradford Park Avenue, 1912-1969, has now also been resurrected.

Front Room Almost Complete

Today more of our heroes have been returned to the Front Room. Two members of our current management team, David Wetherall and Stuart McCall, are now in residence along with John Hendrie and a hero of the 1920s, Willie Watson (right). Jimmy Speirs' details will be added soon, but don't forget you can find much more about him at his own site.

More Front Room Returns

Goal ace Bobby Campbell, whose action photo is featured in the bantamspast museum, is now back in the Front Room. Also it's a happy return for 1920s stalwart Donald Duckett. Donald's last contract with City is on display in the museum and an extract from it is shown on his page. It reads: 'In the event of the said player being prevented from playing football on account of any accident whilst riding a motor vehicle for pleasure, the club shall withhold payment of wages during the period of incapacity.'

Returning to The Front Room

Following the Christmas break we have resumed our refurbishment of the site. Today Bobby Ham, Ces Podd (right), Don Hutchins, Peter Downsborough and Peter Beagrie have taken their places once more in the Front Room of Fame.

Shrewsbury Programme Notes

Describing the club's fundraising efforts throughout its history, the bantamspast column for the Shrewsbury game can now be found in our Programme Notes section.