Valley Parade celebrated its 120th birthday on Monday. To the fervent City fan, the ground is an indelible part of the clubs identity. On at least two occasions a move away from the constraints of Valley Parade made logical and financial sense. However, both plans were defeated by the fury and passion of the fans. Bradford City without Valley Parade is as unthinkable as ditching the famous claret and amber stripes.
Dug into a steep hillside and hemmed in by terraced houses, the ground is a world away from the identikit grounds skulking on ring roads that are currently in vogue. Valley Parade's development has been sporadic, the two main transformations coming in tandem with all too brief spells in the top flight. The need to make ends meet and keep the club alive has more often taken precedence over developing the ground. Decades of neglect were responsible for one of the worst disasters in British sporting history. It's a lesson we would do well to remember.
Valley Parade was constructed by Manningham Rugby Club from a former quarry in the summer of 1886. The ground was hacked out of the hillside in less than three months, which was a notable achievement in itself. Having said that the ground was fairly basic with three sides being little more than open, ash covered slopes. The capacity was around 18,000.
The one construction of note was a wooden stand, which was transferred from Manningham's Carlisle Road ground and re-erected on South Parade (the site of the main stand). The stand stood at the rear of the bank behind a stepped enclosure, it accommodated 2,000, but ran less than half the length of the pitch.
The opening game came on 25 September 1886 when visitors Wakefield Trinity narrowly defeated Manningham in front of a near capacity crowd. I wonder whether the fans who trudged up Manningham Lane on that September afternoon 120 years ago realised the tradition they were starting and that thousands would follow in their footsteps right into the 21st century?