Cherry looking to Leeds to become bad losers again

IT would make a great quiz question: If Bradford City have only beaten Leeds United away once in their history, how can Trevor Cherry have steered the Bantams to no less than three wins at Elland Road?

The answer, as any City fan of an Eighties vintage will surely know, lies in the time Bradford spent in exile from Valley Parade following the fire disaster that claimed 56 lives.

Odsal, the city’s rugby league ground, may be most commonly remembered as the club’s ‘home’ during the 18 months that it took to rebuild their own ground following the devastating events of May 11, 1985.

But Cherry’s City side also played several games at the homes of neighbours Huddersfield Town and Leeds – hence why the 63-year-old’s managerial CV boasts three victories at Elland Road.

“I didn’t realise I was the only (City) manager to win there,” admits former Leeds defender Cherry, who was in the dugout when Bradford claimed their only away win at Elland Road in 13 visits, a 1-0 triumph in the Full Members’ Cup.

“I guess it does make me a bit unusual in that we also won in the league at Elland Road. I remember the (Full Members) Cup game well.

“Greg Abbott, who is now manager of Carlisle United, scored the only goal and it was a good win for Bradford. Mind, I don’t think Leeds were too upset as there were only a few thousand in the ground and it wasn’t as if it was a big game.”

For the record, just 3,960 were present on October 1, 1986, to see Abbott knock Leeds out at the first-round stage of a competition that ran for seven seasons.

It was the third of Cherry’s wins at a ground he considered home for most of his playing career, the other two having come the previous season as Bradford beat Stoke 3-1 in September and Oldham 1-0 in March (the latter coming after Odsal had been deemed unplayable due to the cold weather).

The Bantams actually played four ‘home’ games at Elland Road that campaign – Sheffield United and Grimsby Town triumphing in the others – and Cherry admits that, if he had had his way, City would have never left for Odsal.

He said: “The fire was a truly horrible, horrible time. Nowadays, I am sure a club who went through what Bradford did would get a lot more help. But we were just left to get on with it, or that is at least how it felt.

“In football terms, I wanted us to keep playing at Elland Road and Leeds Road as they were proper football grounds. But the board were desperate to get us back to Bradford.

“So, one day they took me up to Odsal to look round and I was asked by one director what I thought. I replied honestly and said, ‘I wouldn’t walk my dog on this’.

“The pitch was rough and uneven, and I just couldn’t imagine us playing football on it. Sadly, I was proved right and it was only having such a strong dressing room that got us through.

“In fact, I always remember one game against Nottingham Forest when Brian Clough, my former manager at Leeds, took one look at Odsal and looked at me as if to say, ‘You poor sod having to play at this place’. They beat us 5-0 that night.”

City’s stint in exile ended on December 14, 1986 when a rebuilt Valley Parade opened with an England XI taking on Cherry’s men. Less than a month later, however, the former England international had been sacked and he decided, there and then, that management was not for him.

Despite that being almost a quarter of a century ago, he remains as keenly interested as ever in the fortunes of West Yorkshire football and will be at Elland Road tonight.

He said: “I am looking forward to the game. Both teams had disappointing starts on Saturday and will be smarting. Then, there is also the local rivalry to add an extra element.

“On paper, Leeds should win – though if I had one criticism of Leeds last season it was that they accepted conceding goals too easily. I don’t want to sound like an old pro here but when I played for Leeds, just giving a corner away would be treated almost like a crime.

“I would love to see a few more winners – or, if you like, bad losers – in the Leeds team, lads who would give their last breath to get three points.

“As for Bradford, Peter Jackson, who was such a fine captain for me when I was manager, has a big job on his hands.

“The club has really been in the doldrums lately and badly need some form of investment.

“In a way, the same could be said for Leeds in terms of money being needed for the team. Ken Bates has done well over his six years in sorting the club out.

“And when you look at the state Blackburn and Birmingham are in right now, it shows sometimes you should be careful what you wish for in terms of wanting an overseas takeover.

“But I still would love to see someone come in and help with investment to push the club on. The fan base is second to none and Leeds belong in the Premier League.”