bantamspast Re-opens in a Book

A History of Bradford City AFC in Objects


A 330+ page, all colour book; planned publication at the end of September/early October, 2014.

The book records the changing match day experience at Valley Parade and the acceleration of change in the last thirty years, coincidentally since the fire disaster. The content of the book promises to be unique in comparison to histories previously written about football clubs in Britain, let alone Bradford City AFC. This is not a statistical record about players or games, it is literally an illustrated history of the club in objects but not limited to the popular '100 objects only' formula.

A History of Bradford City AFC In Objects has been written and compiled by John Dewhirst who has one of the largest and most comprehensive private collections of BCAFC memorabilia. The book will include items from his collection supplemented with that provided by other collectors and supporters as well as material previously featured in the bantamspast museum. Most of the content has never previously been displayed or included in earlier publications.

John was co-founder of The City Gent in 1984. He previously compiled City Memories in 1997 and has assisted with a number of books about the club including Of Boars and Bantams in 1988, Along The Midland Road in 1996, Glorious 1911 in 2010 and Paraders: The 125 Year History of Valley Parade in 2011. John has also been involved with a number of projects celebrating the history of the club and in April, 2011 he organised the sell-out dinner at the Midland Hotel to commemorate the centenary of the FA Cup triumph.

Profits from the sale of the book will go to Bradford City AFC. Proceeds of badge and book sales will fund historic displays in Valley Parade to keep the club’s history alive and accessible.

Subscriber copies can be ordered until 31 August, 2014. Subscriber copies will have a different cover to those which go on general sale in the autumn.

Ordered copies can be collected from Valley Parade either at a launch event (tba) in the 1911 Club or from reception. Copies can be posted to those unable to collect in person.

We are also promoting a number of limited edition badges. These are strictly limited to one each per person. The badges will be posted separately to the books.

If you wish to collect the badges in person before a forthcoming game at Valley Parade then please notify by email to

glorious1911 at paraders.co.uk


Payment can be made by paypal through prior arrangement. Otherwise please make cheques payable to bantamspast.

11 May 1985

 

As the Town Hall bells boomed out eleven o'clock, the sky began to cry gently onto the crowd gathered around the memorial to the Valley Parade fire. 

The light spots of rain were almost a physical expression of the pain still felt twenty-nine years on from the afternoon when fifty-six people did not come home from a football match. The rain drops also reflected the quiet dignity that has marked the public way that Bradford has long dealt with the aftermath of the terrible tragedy that befell us on that sunny May afternoon. 

In the year that the world begins to remember the centenary of the Great War, it is perhaps appropriate to reflect on the fact that how the Bradford fire is remembered will inevitably change. 

Personal communications have been transformed in recent years. Today we have instant communication. In the aftermath of the fire people queued to use telephone boxes to let relatives know that they were OK. I was standing in the Paddock that fateful day and until I walked into the house my family had no idea if I was alive or dead. 

Today we can hand out praise or condemnation in an instant. Those opinions will be read by thousands, potentially millions, in the blink of an eye in all parts of the globe. Our brilliant ideas, and our very worst, are there for all to witness. We can judge and be judged in an instant. 

The Bradford fire used to be publicly remembered once a year at 11am in Centenary Square. Today it can be remembered by websites and social media and shared by millions on their laptops and mobile phones. How the fire is remembered can be compared to how others remember similar tragedies. 

Hillsborough seems to be the benchmark. A small number of fans appear to be outraged if the fire fails to receive a one minute silence at other clubs matches or saturation media coverage. There were even unsubstantiated reports of fans being berated for not joining in the applause in the 56th minute of last season's League Cup Final. 

That aspect saddens me. We are not in some kind of grief competition with Liverpool or any other club. The events, and more importantly aftermath, of Hillsborough were completely different to what occurred at Valley Parade. There are very good reasons why Hillsborough has received such a high media profile. That tragedy has been kept in the public spotlight because it had unresolved issues and ones that had to be campaigned hard for. I have long been a supporter of the Justice campaign and I can only admire the tenacity of the victims families who have had to not only deal with their personal grief, but also have had to fight institutionalised attempts to smear the victims and avoid the truth of Hillsborough. I sincerely hope that they finally find the closure (such as it can be) they richly deserve. 

As the rain fell gently upon us, and Phil Parkinson became the first City manager to make a reading at the memorial service, I was reminded that we have been lucky to have been able to deal with the fire in our own way. Sheltered from the mass media, Bradford quietly did its own thing. 

Future generations will remember 11 May 1985 differently, that is inevitable. The fact that they wish to remember must be a good thing. We who were there on that terrible afternoon should not preach to them, but gently remind them of how, and why, we have chose to remember it.