Bradford v Bury: Bantams aiming to cash in on Cup

The Bantams host Bury in a third-round replay after the two League One clubs could not be separated in a goalless first meeting at Gigg Lane 10 days ago.

Steve Bruce’s Tigers await the winners in the next round and Rhodes admits the prospect of taking on the Championship promotion hopefuls in an all-Yorkshire encounter is a big incentive.

So, too, is the desire to give the Bantams’ own league campaign a boost after a recent stutter, according to the club’s joint-chairman.

Speaking to The Yorkshire Post, Rhodes said last night: “Bury will be a tough game. They are a very good side and will, I am sure, fancy their own chances of getting through.

“But, speaking from our own perspective, this is a big game. Victory would give the entire club a boost at an important stage in the season.

“In financial terms, getting through against Bury would probably be worth around £200,000 in additional income.

“I think I said to The Yorkshire Post ahead of the Millwall replay a year ago that getting to Chelsea would be worth just over double that so this is an amount that is not to be sneezed at.

“Of course, we went on to earn much more than that £450,000 we got from gate receipts at Stamford Bridge and that shows what the FA Cup can do to a club like us.

“Thanks to the money we earned last season, we were able to plough additional funds into this year’s budget. That is how we work as a club.

“Before the season, we budgeted to bring in around £200,000 from the cups and, even if we go out against Bury, we will have just about reached that amount.

“But we want to bring in as much money as we can. Progressing to the fourth round would do that, not just in terms of prize money (tonight’s winners receive £67,000) but also our share of the gate. I’d expect a crowd of around 20,000 if we did play Hull.

“They are flying at the moment and I remember when they last came (in April, 2005) they brought about 6,000 fans.

“Admittedly, Hull were going for promotion to the Championship at the time, but I’d expect a big following again.

“And our fans also have shown how much the Cup means to them in recent years. I’d expect them to turn out in big numbers if we can get through.

“We do, though, have a very tough tie against Bury first. If we don’t turn up for that, we can forget Hull or the fourth round.”

City, of course, were one of the big stories of last season’s Cup.

The stunning fourth-round win at Chelsea was followed by them claiming another Premier League scalp in Sunderland and meant the West Yorkshire club became the talk of football.

On the financial front, the run to the last eight plus a televised Capital One Cup victory over Leeds United swelled the Valley Parade coffers last term by an additional £1.9m.

The stirring deeds that took City to the last eight for the first time in almost 40 years also helped the club’s league form, Parkinson’s men eventually finishing seventh in League One.

With Bradford sitting four points adrift of the play-off spots after claiming a first league win for a month in beating Oldham Athletic last Saturday, Rhodes believes another extended run of knockout football can boost hopes of reaching the play-offs.

“It sounds mad considering we won at the weekend,” said the joint-chairman, “but I do think we need a bit of a lift as a club.

“I felt the atmosphere against Oldham was a bit flat, certainly considering there was a crowd of 18,500 at the game.

“With the postponements, we hadn’t had a league game at home for almost two months and there had been a couple of disappointing results away at Sheffield United and Gillingham in between.

“I think that affected the atmosphere. It almost feels as if we need a lift again as a club. We saw from last season that the Cup can do that.

“If we can get through to book a big Yorkshire derby, it also gives the league games in between something of an extra edge.

“Above all, though, we have to beat a good team in Bury. It won’t be easy.”

City will wait until after tonight’s tie before deciding what to do about Carlisle United’s bid for Gary Liddle.

Keith Curle is desperate to take Liddle, who is out of contract at Valley Parade in the summer, to Cumbria on a long-term deal.

Manager Parkinson said: “We are not pushing Gary out the door at all. He is a really good player for us and may well stay and fight for his place.

“Carlisle made an offer, which we felt wasn’t enough. But we had to tell Gary about that.”

Phil Parkinson interview: Page 18.