Wembley has more appeal to City than promotion

City are attempting to become the first team from the basement division of the Football League to reach a major Wembley final.

Holding a 3-1 lead from the first leg a fortnight ago, League Two City head to Aston Villa tonight looking to book a place in the Capital One Cup final.

If Phil Parkinson’s men can once again overcome the odds to prevail at Villa Park, Bradford will be able to celebrate their appearance in a first major final since lifting the FA Cup in 1911.

For Rhodes, that would represent an amazing achievement and one that he fervently hopes can be followed by City winning promotion to League One in May.

However, when pushed by the Yorkshire Post as to which success of the two he would prefer, the City chief responded with an answer that will delight football romantics everywhere in an age where finishing 17th in the Premier League is the target instead of a Cup success.

Rhodes said: “I know people talk about the league being the priority, but I would not have swapped our Cup run for anything.

“The Barnet chairman asked me before our game down there (on January 5) if I’d take a defeat against them if it meant we beat Villa in the first leg a few days later and I agreed that I would.

“Obviously, I’d like us to do both. The plan right now is to get to a Wembley final and win promotion. But if I had to choose then, having got this far, I’d take reaching the League Cup final.

“Chances like this don’t come along every day. For us, we haven’t been in this position since 1911.

“If we can get to Wembley then we will have created history. No team from the bottom division has played at Wembley in a League Cup final.

“Rochdale got to the final in 1962, but that was before the final was played at Wembley and at a time when not every team entered the competition.

“It was also in a different age for football. The advent of the Premier League has created a huge gulf, even between the second tier and the top division.

“For us to bridge a four-division gap by reaching the League Cup final would be one of the biggest achievements football has seen.”

Tonight’s game is City’s 41st of the season, an unprecedented number for the club at this stage with it taking until March last term to reach the same tally.

Such a demanding schedule is undeniably testing the limited resources at Parkinson’s disposal, though the Bantams manager has this month been able to bolster his squad by signing Andy Gray, Ryan Dickson and Michael Nelson.

Joint chairman Rhodes added: “Let’s be honest, part of the reason our promotion push has faltered lately is the Cup runs. We have had injuries and fatigue does come into play at a time like this

“But thanks to the Cup run, we have been able to freshen up the squad with a few new signings.

“Without the income from the Cups, we’d have probably been looking at having to sell a couple of players instead. So, again, that shows just how important the Capital One Cup has been to us this season.

“If we could now get to the final, the financial benefits would mean us being able to have another really good crack at promotion next year.

“Getting to Wembley wouldn’t change the club like, say, reaching the Premier League.

“But there is no doubt that the income would make a big difference to Bradford City, as we would be in the position for some time of not having to worry every month about money.”

As previously revealed in this newspaper, City expect to bank around £1m from their run to the semi-finals. About £300,000 of that came from the penalty shoot-out win over Arsenal, while the two ties against Villa – each bringing in £320,000 in live television fees alone from Sky – will make up the surplus.

Putting a figure on what reaching Wembley would mean is difficult at the moment but with an 80,000-90,000 crowd expected, any windfall for a finalist is likely to run into seven figures.

For City to bank such a welcome sum, Villa will have to be kept at bay tonight and Rhodes admits it will be tough.

He said: “None of us expected to get this far. Reaching the semi-finals is a huge achievement, never mind going into the second leg 3-1 ahead.

“Before the game at home, we were all thinking, ‘Let’s try and keep this respectable and have something to play for at Villa Park’. Well, we did that.

“Of course, Villa have to be favourites. They are Premier League and we are what used to be called a Fourth Division club. But with a two-goal lead, we have to believe we can get to Wembley.

“Whatever happens, I hope everyone shows their appreciation to the players for what has been achieved.

“Our run to this stage has had several ‘I was there’ moments. People forget that against Burton (in the third round), we were 2-0 down with seven minutes to go but hit back. And then we knocked out Wigan and Arsenal.

“It would be fantastic to create another historic moment by getting through at Villa Park.”

Villa officials are confident the game will go ahead despite the heavy snow that fell over the West Midlands yesterday with the pitch in perfect condition and all surrounding roads having been cleared.