Lawn angered as Bradford are snubbed by TV

The Bantams will face the winners of next week’s replay between Fulham and Sunderland.

Such has been the worldwide interest shown in Bradford following their truly stunning 4-2 win at Chelsea, Valley Parade officials were hopeful of being one of the five games selected for live broadcast – something that would have earned the club a £247,500 windfall.

Yesterday, however, City missed out as the BBC opted to show Aston Villa v Leicester City and Arsenal versus Middlesbrough on Sunday, February 15, along with the following day’s clash between Sheffield United/Preston North End and Cambridge United/Manchester United.

BT Sport, meanwhile, will show West Bromwich Albion versus West Ham United and Crystal Palace’s home tie against either Liverpool or Bolton on Saturday.

Lawn said: “To not select us is a joke. If it wasn’t so serious – and costly in terms of missing out on the live TV fee – it would be funny.

“How many times do people want to watch Aston Villa versus Leicester City? Or West Brom v West Ham. Can you really tell me those games are the ‘magic of the Cup’?

“They just don’t get it. We are thinking of sending the players out before Saturday’s game wearing t-shirts with ‘#nomoremagic’ printed on them.

“I understand BT Sport are obsessed with the Premier League. But the BBC? Aren’t they supposed to be the national broadcaster? Well, they don’t understand a thing about football.

“Our win at Chelsea brought a 10-year spike to viewing figures on Match of the Day. It is all everyone was talking about last weekend.

“I went on all sorts of stations, including Radio Ulster. And we have also had requests from all over the world to speak to me about what even the BBC voted the best upset of all time on Saturday night.”

City are facing a further headache in terms of when the fifth round tie will go ahead. Leeds United are due to host Millwall on Saturday, February 14 and West Yorkshire Police are reluctant to have another high-profile fixture go ahead on the same day.