11 May 1985…

City fan Nick Kitchen will be giving a presentation about the signed football from 1985 he has recently loaned to the bantamspast museum. The ball features the signatures of the team that won the Third Division Championship in 1985. The celebrations were, of course, tragically cut short by the fire that killed fifty six fans. Twenty five years on from that sobering event Nick will give his perspective on those times. The talk will commence at 2pm and as ever admission is completely free of charge.

Bradford City Fire Disaster – Anniversary Service of Remembrance at Bradford Cathedral

The Cathedral, in collaboration with Bradford City Football Club, is marking the 25th anniversary of the Bradford Fire with a special Service of Remembrance to be attended by the Lord Mayors of Bradford and Hamm, members of the team’s management and players, and other invited guests. The Cathedral will also be open from 8.30am until 5.30pm – with a candle under the memorial plaque in the North Transept – for anyone wishing to spend quiet time in prayer. A tenor bell will be tolled at 3.40pm, the time the fire was first noticed, and a half-muffled peal will be rung before the service which starts at 7.30pm.

The Dean, the Very Revd Dr David Ison, will lead the service which has been arranged to complement the big public memorial event being held in the morning in Centenary Square. This service will provide a quieter opportunity to remember, including the lighting of 57 candles – 56 to remember each person who died as a result of the fire, and one for all those injured, in body or mind, on that terrible day.

David Markham, the T&A reporter who was there on the day with his two sons, will talk about his personal experience of the day and Ben Miranda will speak about the achievements and aspirations of the Burns Unit.

All are welcome, for more details please contact the Cathedral Office on 01274 777720.

Glorious 2011!

This afternoon, prior to the Barnet game, bantamspast co-curator, David Pendleton, gave an illustrated presentation which outlined some of the many events being held in 2011 - the centenary of City's famous FA Cup win.

A large and enthusiastic crowd listened attentively as he spoke of the importance of the win back in 1911 and how essential it is that it be commemorated.

Briefly, the main features of the celebration are: a book, an exhibition at Bradford Industrial Museum and a Spring-Summer visit to the graves and memorials of the nine City players who died in the First World War.

David himself is currently writing the book, Glorious 1911, which will cover not only the cup run itself but also the lead up and aftermath - a period running from 1908 until 1922. He described how people can now become subscribers to the book. This will enable them to buy it at a reduced price of £10 (instead of £12), have their names printed in the book itself and also receive a commemorative 1911-2011 badge. A reminder that the application form to become a subscriber can be downloaded by clicking here.

The exhibition will run from March 19 until June 12 2011. Hopefully, at least 4 of the players' winning medals will be on display, in addition to a large number of artefacts and images.

The club have confirmed that the team will wear a replica 1911 kit for the home cup games next season.

The bantamspast team will also give a series of pre-match presentations to coincide with the anniversary of each game in the cup run. These will include the stories of players and officials along with a description of other events in the Bradford area at the time. We hope to give a real flavour of Bradford life in 1911.

We will give further information about these and other events as it becomes available. Once more we attempted to record the audio of David's presentation. Again, this was not successful but you can view the slides above.

Glorious 1911 - the book

The forthcoming book, GLORIOUS 1911 by bantamspast curator and former City Gent editor, David Pendleton, is a celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the FA Cup winning season in 1910/11.

The book is being released next October in advance of an exhibition at the Industrial Museum from January, 2011 but it is possible to subscribe for a copy in advance. Subscribers are able to get a discount on the cover price as well as purchase one of the limited edition FA Cup centenary badges. Further details are included on the form.

Hard copies of the subscriber application form will be distributed at Valley Parade on Saturday, April 17th at the bantamspast museum following the aforementioned presentation (see below). Completed forms can also be handed in or sent to the address given on the form itself. Copies of the application form can be downloaded here.

1911-2011: A Presentation Previewing Next Season's Celebrations

bantamspast museum curator David Pendleton will be giving supporters a sneak preview of the 2011 centenary of City's FA Cup triumph. Many events are planned, including a large scale exhibition at Bradford Industrial Museum, a book and a trip to visit the graves of the nine City players killed in the Great War - which includes those of two Cup winners.

The talk will take place on 17 April at 2pm, prior to the Barnet game. As usual with all museum events, admission is completely free.