Dad’s Army on Parade as Jewell’s Bradford City heroes beat the drop

There was the sense of anticipation ahead of a ball being kicked that initially gave way to joy as the Bantams took four points from their first two games and then concern as the true size of the task facing the club began to emerge.

Further highs and lows followed before City survived on the final day with a 1-0 victory over Liverpool and Jewell is the first to admit that the 1999-2000 campaign tested him to the full.

Thankfully, there were also lighter moments, with one of the self-deprecating Liverpudlian’s favourite memories being the day when former Celtic striker Jorge Cadete first arrived in West Yorkshire to finalise a loan move.

“I wasn’t keen on signing Cadete anyway,” explained Jewell to the Yorkshire Post while taking time out from Ipswich Town’s preparations for the forthcoming Championship season.

“But Geoffrey Richmond (then Bradford chairman) was keen and asked me to pick Cadete up from the airport. As a manager, I wasn’t strong enough in those days to say ‘no’ to the deal so agreed to meet him.

“It was the Friday before we were due to play Arsenal and Cadete waltzed out with these two agents in tow. I introduced myself but he didn’t say anything, so I presumed his English wasn’t very good.

“I drove him to the Marriott where he was staying, still in total silence, and he got out without saying a word.

“The following day, we beat Arsenal and, as I always did, I went up to the boardroom after speaking to the media. Cadete saw me, did a double take and then turned back to his agent. It turned out he was asking who I was. He’d thought I was the taxi driver, which is why he hadn’t said a word.

“I burst out laughing when I heard that, though the serious side was that we’d brought in a player who couldn’t even be bothered to find out who the manager was. It showed just why someone like that was never going to fit in with the rest of the group, whose spirit in the year we won promotion to the Premier League and then stayed up was second to none.”

Cadete, a Portuguese international, was destined to make only two starts and even less of an impression in English football before being shipped back to parent club Benfica.

Without him, City did just fine and managed to prove their doubters wrong by staying up via ‘that’ goal by David Wetherall against Liverpool.

For a team written off in pre-season with the tag ‘Dad’s Army’ after Jewell had chosen to supplement his promotion-winning squad with experienced older heads such as Dean Saunders, Gunnar Halle and Neil Redfearn, the Bantams’ achievement in avoiding the drop was underlined when the club embarked on an open-top bus tour round Bradford – possibly a first for a team finishing fourth bottom in any league.

Jewell recalled: “No one gave us a chance but what that group had was a lot of genuine leaders. Stuart McCall, Peter Beagrie, John Dreyer, Dean Saunders and David Wetherall were just a few of the strong characters.

“They had all been successful in their careers and knew what it was about to play at the top level. I knew with lads like the ones we had that we would not be frightened going to even the biggest clubs.

“The thing about a team that wins promotion to the Premier League is that you know, once in a while, you are likely to be on the end of a big defeat. But the key is how you respond and that was never a concern for me with the players we had.

“We went to Arsenal early in the season and lost 2-0 but it could have been 20. They pulled us apart but a week or so later we drew 1-1 at home to Tottenham Hotspur. That showed the character we had.”

City’s return to the top flight after 77 years away caused a big stir, not just in Bradford but also around the country as the Premier League welcomed another new member.

Not all of the media attention was positive. Rodney Marsh, for instance, took every opportunity to try to belittle the Bantams on Sky Sports, while the ‘Dad’s Army’ tag was one that initially upset several players before Saunders made light of it by celebrating his winner at Middlesbrough on the opening day by hobbling along the goalline with an imaginary walking stick.

Jewell said: “Being written off became a motivation for us, while I also think Valley Parade itself helped.

“I am not the sort of manager to go in for cheap tricks like making the away dressing room showers run only with cold water or anything like that. But Valley Parade and its cramped facilities for players did help.

“David Ginola, for instance, was not impressed to find out we didn’t have a hair dryer available, while there was only one toilet for everyone to share. The away dressing room was also the size of a postage stamp, which again visiting teams didn’t like.”

City’s relief in avoiding the drop was evident in the celebrations that followed the final day win over Liverpool. For Jewell, however, the clock was ticking on his reign.

Already weary after several bust-ups with his chairman during the preceding weeks, he reached breaking point when having lunch with Richmond at a restaurant in Bradford.

Relegation may have been avoided just a few days earlier but if the manager was expecting a pat on the back, he was in for a shock as Richmond admonished the Liverpudlian for having a “bad season” and showing “tactical naivety”.

A list of prospective summer targets Jewell had compiled was then dismissed in a similar manner and the manager left the restaurant knowing his time at Valley Parade was over. Within a few days, he had quit and was appointed Sheffield Wednesday manager – on less money than at Bradford – several weeks later.

Without the manager who had brought unprecedented success to the club, City spent big in the transfer market as Benito Carbone, Ashley Ward, Stan Collymore, David Hopkin and Dan Petrescu arrived but failed spectacularly on the pitch as 2000-01 ended with the club bottom of the table. Six years later, the Bantams were back in the basement division – where they remain to this day.

Jewell said: “It is really sad what has happened. I had a lot of happy years as a player with Bradford before becoming manager so still always look for their result.

“But I am not someone to look back, just forward. And I hope Bradford can start to bounce back very soon as the supporters deserve a lot better.”

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The Fan, David Pendelton: Surreal time to City fan as we enjoyed life at the top

The question everyone asks about our two years in the Premier League is, considering where we are now, was it worth it?

Four years ago, my answer would have been definitely not as we’d fallen so far and so fast that we almost felt dizzy.

But I’ve since changed my mind and now believe it was worth it – even though next season will be our sixth consecutive one in the bottom division.

Moments like when Dean Saunders nutmegged goalkeeper David Seaman to seal a 2-1 win over Arsenal and when he scored the winner at Middlesbrough in our first top-flight game in 77 years are ones that make supporting your team worthwhile.

We went bonkers when both of those goals went in, as we did when David Wetherall kept us up by scoring ‘that’ goal at home to Liverpool.

All great memories that no matter how much we may have struggled in recent seasons cannot be taken away from us supporters who were lucky enough to have been there.

Of course, I appreciate the younger generation may not agree with this.

Let’s face it, all they’ve had to watch in the 11 years since we were relegated is the club struggling. But I loved seeing my team up there.

I was editor of the fanzine, City Gent, during our two years in the Premier League and it led to some pretty surreal moments.

I will never forget the first home game of the season against Sheffield Wednesday because Match of the Day wanted to interview me.

We ended up drawing the game and I went out afterwards for a few drinks.

I’d set the video to record Match of the Day, meaning I didn’t need to rush home so, on the way back, I decided I would call into my local Chinese takeaway.

They had the television on and, sure enough, while I was waiting for my food, our game came up on Match of the Day.

There I was, watching myself on television being interviewed and thinking, ‘This is so weird’.

The bloke next to me in the queue did a double take as his eyes flicked between me and the screen.

Relegation was a blow but I did believe we’d probably turn into a yo-yo club.

Sadly, I could not have been more wrong but I still look back fondly on what was a special time to be a City fan.

Peter Beagrie: Camaraderie kept us up before influx of the big-money buys

Bradford City’s rise to the Premier League was a truly great story to be part of. People have made a fuss of Burnley and Blackpool being in the Premier League but little old Bradford was a much better tale, mainly because those two had big traditions compared to us.

I’ll admit when I signed for Chris Kamara in 1997, he sold it to me by saying I should use it as a stepping stone. But it turned out to be one of the most enjoyable periods of my career. The club had a real family feel and the squad was a real eclectic mix.

The key in, first, winning promotion and then staying there in that first season was the spirit among the lads.

We loved spending time with each other, even going so far as to have karaoke nights with all the wives and girlfriends invited – which, in the case of Jamie Lawrence, who had a lot of success with the ladies, meant he brought about 15 women along.

Jamie was a great lad with a colourful past who I always joked had the appearance of someone who’d only read half the manual on body-building. His pecs and arms were huge but his legs so thin that even I didn’t mind tackling him in training.

We had a host of ‘managers’ within the team, all with bags of experience and that meant we never got too down after a defeat or bad run. It was why we stayed up that first season.

Sadly, the second season in the Premier League turned out to be very different as the club adopted a different approach and brought in a load of big-money signings.

The dynamism of the club changed as, instead of new arrivals like David Wetherall and Gunnar Halle, great professionals who added to the team ethic of a newly-promoted club, we brought in individuals who, to be blunt, only came for the money.

By that I don’t mean Beni Carbone, he was a fantastic professional who we just couldn’t afford. In a top Premier League side, he could have done a lot of damage but not at Bradford where even the wingers had a lot of responsibilities.

But some of the others who joined proved to be poor signings and we suffered badly in that second season.

Despite that, I still look back with a lot of pride and fondness for what was a very special time to be at Bradford City.