Bygones: Celebrating the day Bradford City reached the Premier League

For the man himself, however, it is a very different memory that springs to mind when asked about the day the Bantams ended a 77-year absence from the top flight.

“We were 3-2 ahead at Wolves with about five minutes to go and it was all hands to the pump as anything but a win meant Ipswich would go up instead,” the 54-year-old recalls to The Yorkshire Post almost exactly two decades to the day since that trip to Molineux.

“Wolves got a free-kick and I was in the wall. Paul Simpson curled this shot over the top of us all. Straight away I looked over my shoulder, absolutely certain it was going in. Our whole season was on the line but, thankfully, it hit the post.

“Every team needs a little bit of luck to be promoted and that was probably ours.”

As the ball bounced to safety, Paul Jewell, the mastermind of City’s unexpected promotion push, turned to Wolves manager Colin Lee and puffed on an imaginary cigar.

His cool-as-ice reaction hid the unbearable tension of an afternoon that had already contained more twists and turns than a rollercoaster at Alton Towers, 40 miles away.

First, Håvard Flo had stunned City by breaking the deadlock early on. News filtering through moments later that Ipswich had gone ahead at home to Sheffield United through Jim Magilton only added to the gloom.

This mood of dejection was transformed by goals from Peter Beagrie and Lee Mills before the break. Robbie Blake adding a third just after the hour merely made those Bradfordian smiles even broader.

Beagrie missed a penalty soon after but it was not until Simpson reduced the arrears that the furrowed brows made a return. Then came the moment thousands of Bantams hearts missed a beat as Simpson’s free-kick crashed against the post with Gary Walsh well beaten.

“The final day at Wolves summed up that team for me,” says Jewell, who led Bradford and Wigan Athletic into the Premier League as a manager. “There was a total belief among the players that lasted throughout the season. If we suffered a setback, everyone just rolled up their sleeves and got on with it.

“Against Wolves, we went 1-0 down after a foul on Gary Walsh but I remember thinking, ‘We will win this’.

“That was a special team. I keep getting asked to go on TV and name my best XI but always refuse. Basically, I do not want to upset anyone in those Wigan and Bradford teams.

“They were both fantastic groups. A bit more pace and power at Wigan but both had very strong characters.”

Unconfined joy may have been the ultimate emotion for City fans on May 9, 1999. But the first few weeks of the campaign had been tough.

So tough, in fact, that Jewell was feeling the pressure after taking just four points from the opening six games. A 3-0 midweek defeat at Ipswich Town saw the team bus arrive back in the early hours. “See you all on Thursday for training – if I am still here,” said the downcast City chief when bidding farewell to his players.

Geoffrey Richmond did stick with Jewell and was rewarded with one of the most memorable seasons in the club’s history.

By Christmas, City were sitting third in the table. Reinforcements arrived in March, as, first, Dean Windass joined for £950,000 from Oxford United and then Jewell brought in Leeds United’s Lee Sharpe on loan.

The signings proved a timely boost but it was the strike partnership of Blake and Mills that really made the difference for Bradford.

“I was always confident the front three would score,” says former captain McCall. “We played 4-4-2 but Jamie (Lawrence) would tuck in with myself and Gaz (Gareth Whalley), allowing ‘Beags’ to get forward with ‘Millsy’ and ‘Blakey’.

“If you put a video together of Blakey’s best clips that season, we could have sold him to Real Madrid. He was unplayable at times.”

Blake netted 16 goals and Mills 24. Beagrie chipped in with 12. At the back, Darren Moore was a rock and former Manchester United goalkeeper Walsh, the only ever-present in 1998-99, a model of consistency.

“We had a good team,” added Jewell. “Geoffrey deserves credit. We have our history but he gave me the job and the tools to be successful.

“They weren’t always easy to manage. A group with so many strong characters never is. There were some loose-ish cannons in and among them, too.

“But when we worked, we worked. That said, I am not sure I could do it now. The way I dealt with those Bradford players would probably cause all manner of problems.

“It was never bullying. Can anyone imagine me bullying Darren Moore or Jamie Lawrence? Definitely not.

“But I could be harsh on them. Nowadays, players would not be able to handle it and I would be hauled over the coals.

“Things were different back then. I had total respect for them and they had the same for me. Tough love, is how I would best describe it.

“I loved those lads, I really did. But I needed them to perform.”

The penultimate weekend saw City host Oxford United, a day before Ipswich travelled to Birmingham. The two rivals for second place were level on 83 points.

A goalless draw at Valley Parade with McCall missing a gilt-edged chance late on seemed to have handed the initiative to the Tractor Boys only for George Burley’s side to then lose at St Andrews.

The stage was set for a final day battle that saw Ipswich romp to a 4-1 victory in vain thanks to Bradford’s own nail-biting triumph at Molineux.

“After our win at Wolves all the young ones were arranging where to meet their mates and so on,” added McCall. “But the older lads – me, Walshy, Tumble (John Dreyer) and Deano – just sat in those old individual baths they used to have at Molineux.

“Each one of us was trying to claim the credit. Deano reckoned we had won promotion thanks to his two goals at Bury, Walshy for a save he had made and Tumble for God knows what. Me? For taking it to the final day of the season with that missed header against Oxford.

“Seriously, I did feel awful after that miss. I felt I had cost us promotion. We had the Player of the Year ‘do’ afterwards and a few were saying, ‘We would be up now if you had scored’. But, in the end, it all worked out well.

“Without my miss, we would not have the memories from Wolves. Or have been treated to my twin brother falling off that car drunk and giving everyone such a big laugh.”