Bradford City 3 Northampton Town 0: Bradford finally on the way back up after years of pain and hurt

IT was a day the city of Bradford had waited more than a decade to enjoy.
City celebrate James Hanson's opening goal.City celebrate James Hanson's opening goal.
City celebrate James Hanson's opening goal.

After a spectacular fall from grace that just 12 months earlier had taken the club to not only the brink of relegation to the Conference but also possible oblivion, the Bantams finally began the long climb back up the football ladder in the most emphatic of fashions.

If February’s appearance in the League Cup final was – even allowing for the 5-0 hammering meted out by Swansea City of the Premier League – all about restoring a sense of pride to the former Wool City, beating Northampton Town to clinch a return to League One represented so much more.

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No longer will Bradford, one of the biggest cities in the country, be reduced to scrapping it out with teams who, as recently as the turn of the Millennium, were sitting four or even five divisions below them.

Instead, next season will bring the tantalising prospect of a resumption in rivalries with old foes such as Wolverhampton Wanderers and Sheffield United.

Three goals inside 13 glorious first-half minutes saw to that, as the Cobblers were given the boot in merciless fashion to spark a joyous party among the near 24,000 fans who had followed their side to Wembley in the hope that the club’s day had finally arrived.

That many of those celebrating in the stands at the final whistle had accompanied the Yorkshire club throughout the spectacular fall from the Premier League to the basement division in the space of just half-a-dozen years only added to the sense of elation.

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The misery of those three relegations – confirmed in defeats to Everton, Wimbledon and, finally in 2007, against Chesterfield at their old Saltergate home – was forgotten in an instant.

So, too, were those abject afternoons at such footballing outposts as Chester, Accrington and Dagenham, when the pathetic and lifeless efforts of those sporting claret and amber led to even the most committed of supporters to question just why they continued to spend their hard earned money on such dross.

The answer, of course, came at Wembley on Saturday as City prevailed in the most one-sided play-off final since Leeds United’s no-show against Watford in the 2006 Championship decider.

Aidy Boothroyd had been the manager of the Hornets that afternoon and the manner in which City set about picking apart his Northampton side must have left the Bradford-born 42-year-old with a distinct feeling of deja-vu.

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Certainly, the manner in which City nailed the Cobblers was spookily reminiscent of how Watford had so contemptuously made light work of Leeds at the Millennium Stadium seven years earlier.

The 3-0 scoreline was the same, too, though Boothroyd could surely have had few complaints had his hometown club triumphed by an even wider margin.

James Hanson, Rory McArdle and Nahki Wells may have scored the all-important goals but, in truth, everyone in the Bradford side was a hero.

From the granite-like presence of Andrew Davies at the heart of the back four through to the evergreen Gary Jones in midfield and the attacking prowess of not only Hanson and Wells but also Kyel Reid, City were so utterly dominant in all areas of the field that Northampton failed to muster a shot on target across the entire 90 minutes.

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Instead, the closest they came to causing the Bantams any discomfort was through a series of early long throws from Ben Tozer.

However, even allowing for the defender’s ability to propel the ball as far as the middle of the six-yard box, a combination of Jon McLaughlin’s right fist and the bravery of Davies meant Boothroyd’s men were unable to capitalise.

That much had become apparent as early as the sixth minute when Ben Harding was left with a nasty cut to the head after coming off second best to the formidable physical presence of Davies.

With a key weapon in Northampton’s armoury muzzled, City quickly set about their task of taking the game to a side who had finished the regular season one place and four points higher in the table.

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The opening goal came on 15 minutes, courtesy of a looping header by Hanson that capped a sweeping move begun by McLaughlin’s kick upfield and which featured neat work by Garry Thompson and James Meredith.

Reid had also played a part in the move and the winger was at it again four minutes later when, after exchanging passes with Jones, he whipped a cross towards Nathan Doyle. He, in turn, returned the ball across the six-yard box and a bullet-header brought McArdle a fourth goal of the season.

His previous three had all come in resounding City victories and by the 28th minute it was clear that Northampton would soon be joining AFC Wimbledon, Aston Villa and Torquay on the Northern Ireland international’s hit-list.

Fittingly, Wells, Bradford’s top scorer in this most extraordinary of seasons, applied the killer blow by volleying in from close range after Reid and Thompson had again combined to open up the Cobblers defence.

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It was the 26th goal of the Bermudian’s season and he could have added to that tally before the break only to twice scuff his shot when through on goal.

Reid also brought a decent save from Lee Nicholls as the Bantams finished the half strongly to suggest there would be no let-up after the restart.

Three-goal half-time leads have, of course, been overturned in the past, most notably by Liverpool in the 2005 Champions League final.

City, however, never remotely looked like suffering the fate of AC Milan in Istanbul with it being the Yorkshire club who always looked the more likely to score the afternoon’s fourth goal.

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That honour should, perhaps, have fallen to Reid, who side-footed wide after being picked out by Wells after Nicholls had earlier saved from Hanson.

Thompson also shot narrowly wide before Boothroyd threw caution to the wind by pushing both full-backs forward to effectively leave his defence just two-handed. It did little good, though, with Northampton forays remaining rare and fruitless. They did have one chance with two minutes remaining but Roy O’Donovan failed to even hit the target.

As the ball sailed harmlessly wide, all that was left was for referee Keith Stroud to blow the final whistle and signal the start of a party that, during the dark days of relegation and administration, City fans must surely have feared might never happen.