EFL fixture release: Bradford City and Huddersfield Town set to rekindle rivalry
IT has been a long time between drinks since Bradford City and Huddersfield Town bumped into each other at league level. Some 19 seasons, to be precise.
On Thursday lunchtime they find out when they resume hostilities when the League One fixtures are released.
The West Yorkshire neighbours last locked horns in 2006-07 when Town did the double over the Bantams without so much as conceding a goal.
The pair have met in cup competitions on three occasions since in Huddersfield, with the common denominator being that City haven’t won.
Back in August 2008, they suffered a particularly painful 4-0 League Cup defeat, in one of the few Terriers highlights of the inauspicious and short-lived Stan Ternent era at the John Smith’s Stadium. Ternent having been a former assistant manager at Bradford in the late 80s.
It was a game which saw future Bantams midfielder and Town caretaker manager Jon Worthington score for the hosts.
That night saw former Bantams striker Danny Cadamarteri - who had two spells at Valley Parade - baited by the 3,000 plus City contingent. But he had the last laugh as Town made mincemeat of their rivals with a four-goal second-half blast in just over half an hour.
All told, City have not won in their last seven meetings in all competitions with Town, who triumphed 2-1 in their last competitive fixture, again in the League Cup, in August 2013 - thanks to a James Vaughan double. Recent City signing Joe Wright - then on the books at Huddersfield - remembers the game well.
"One of the boys in the youth team was a big Bradford fan, so he was right up for it,” he recalls.
"I think I remember it a bit more for that in how passionate he was for the game.
"I certainly remember the away following from Bradford was terrific and it should be something to look forward to again.”
For Low Moor lad Bobby Pointon, playing for his hometown club against the side just down the A641 will be a marquee moment in a season which sees City renew acquaintances with several Yorkshire rivals and underline why returning to the third tier was so imperative for the club following their penance in League Two. Ditto for Doncaster Rovers.
Pointon added: "Huddersfield away; I can’t wait, I’d love a goal there. I’ve never been; I was old enough (in the last cup game), but I’ve never been.
"Some of the (League One) stadiums are massive and we have enough fans to fill it out (away ends).
"Hopefully, we can go up and up and up now to where we deserve to be. I've been to Rotherham and that was a decent away-day to be fair. I like the stadium and we played there in the cup last season. It will be even better in the league."
Speaking of Rotherham, the new season sees them renew their rivalry with another old foe in Rovers following the latter’s return to the third tier in a division which will contain five White Rose clubs. Certainly when it comes to games in Rotherham, it has been a completely one-sided rivalry for the last four decades.
On their last 14 visits to Rotherham – whether it be the New York Stadium or the Millers’ former Millmoor home across the dual carriageway – Rovers have lost on 13 occasions and drawn just once, with not so much as a win to their name.
Doncaster have suffered several wretched episodes along the way, more especially in their visit in February 2018 when the hosts scored a dramatic winner from the penalty spot with the last kick of the game – in the 13th minute of stoppage-time - after equalising on 90 minutes.
For those Rovers followers with long memories, there was a bit more to savour on their last victorious appointment there on March 23, 1985. It was shortly after the conclusion of the Miners’ Strike that Rovers called into Millmoor for a Division Three fixture and it proved to be an epic afternoon which was as exhilarating as Doncaster’s subsequent visits have been excruciating.
Three Scots all came to the party for Rovers with John Buckley, Ray Deans and Colin Douglas all netting in a pulsating 3-2 victory, with Mick Gooding replying with a brace. Buckley and Douglas would later play in the colours of Rotherham.
Victory was particularly sweet that afternoon for two of Rotherham’s most famous sporting sons with Thrybergh-born brothers Ian and Glynn Snodin being part of the Rovers line-up that day. The pair had special reason to celebrate at the final whistle, with a number of their Millers-supporting friends being resident in the old Tivoli end.
Rovers’ league record in Rotherham is every bit as historically bad as the Millers' numbers against Barnsley at Oakwell. Rotherham are without a win in 14 league attempts there since March 1969.
Contrastingly, the Millers’ last two trips to Doncaster have also been bountiful; 5-0 and 6-0 wins in league and FA Trophy.