In recent years, managers have come and go from the gorgeous ground that is Valley Parade.
Since 2017, Bradford City have had Stuart McCall, Simon Grayson, Michael Collins, David Hopkin, Gary Bowyer and McCall once again, showing the mass turnover of managers and the lack of stability currently in West Yorkshire.
However, with may confident that McCall could be the man to bring the club off its knees and back into its glory years, now seems like a good time to consider what is required to be a good manager; leadership, heart, passion, an electric dressing room and along with that an excellent win ratio; but which 7 previous Bradford City managers have done this best?
7. Roy McFarland- 1981-1982
Derby County legend Roy McFarland took over Bradford City from former boss George Mulhall in May 1981, but he acted as a player manager for the Bantams and made 40 appearances across the season. McFarland is known to be a bit of a football hard man, having injured Wlodzimierz Lubanski, Poland’s best striker at the time, for up to two years as well as receiving the earliest ever booking for kicking the ball away humorously. McFarland may have only spent one season in charge of City but what a season- gaining promotion from the fourth division as runners-up behind Sheffield United. In his time at the club he was in charge of 64 games, winning 35, drawing 16 and losing just 13, so maintaining a win percentage of 54.7%, which is the highest in the clubs history. It was a shame McFarland left for Derby County in such a controversial fashion, as he could’ve gone on to become a Bradford City legend.
6. Stuart McCall- 2007-2010, 2016-2018, 2020-Present
Talking of club legends, Mr McCall himself. Just starting his third stint at Valley Parade, the Scot is prepared to head into the 2020/21 season with promotion on his mind, after coming within minutes of it in 2017. His free-flowing, exciting football is building him a good reputation compared to the bore football Bradford fans endured from Gary Bowyer, which explains the love and confidence fans have in him. He began his managerial Bradford adventure in 2007 at League Two level, and remained at the club until 2010 until he left by mutual consent after 133 games and a win ratio of 34.6%, and had failed to guide City out of League Two. He did return to the club though in 2016 as a much more experienced and confident manager, having managed Rangers and Motherwell, where he would go on to manage another 96 games for City with a much improved win ratio of 45.8% but was controversially sacked by the villainous Edin Rahic to the disapproval of Bradford fans following a defeat to Oldham Athletic. After an array of poor managerial choices, Stefan Rupp opted to return to Bradford’s roots and re-employee McCall as the club’s new first team manager to help stabilise the ship and get the team back on track. Due to the coronavirus, fans are yet to see the best of McCall, but can be confident that next season will be absolutely huge under the stalwart.
5. Peter Jackson- 1955-1961
Not to be confused by his two sons, Peter Junior and David who both also played for the club during this time, and no not the club’s youngest ever captain, Jackson managed to steer City to their best league finish post-World War Two. He replaced Ivor Powell as manager and had to apply for re-election in Jackson’s first season following a poor run of form from Powell’s team. In his first three seasons at Valley Parade, Jackson’s team finished 8th, 9th and then 3rd in the English Third Division (North) before the leagues were altered and the club’s league positions became more shaky once again. It got so bad that the club were relegated and Jackson, along with his sons, left after 305 games, 118 wins, 80 draws and 107 losses, resulting in a win percentage of 38.7%.
4. Phil Parkinson- 2011-2016
Within just four months of managing at Valley Parade, Phil 'Parky' Parkinson won the manager of the month award, so City fans knew they were in for a treat under his reign. Parkinson was the gaffer who orchestrated so many cup upsets with the Bantams, beating the likes of Arsenal and Watford to reach the semi-finals of the 2011 League Cup, beating both Sheffield sides and Huddersfield Town to reach the Northern Division semi-finals of the Johnstone Paint's Trophy, beating Aston Villa as Bradford reached the League Cup final and of course the biggest upset in FA Cup history, as Parkinson engineered a comeback from 2-0 down away to Chelsea, who at the time were the Premier League leaders, to come away with a 4-2 victory. The former Charlton boss of course took City to the League Cup final before the valiant Bantams were defeated by a rampant Swansea City side, but if Bradford had won they would have been in the Europa League, and in the same season gained promotion through the play-offs when beating Northampton Town 3-0. Once Parky stabilised Bradford in League One, he took them to the play-offs but they were bested by Milwall in the semi-finals, and when he left following that heartbreak he moved onto Bolton Wanderers, but left City as the fifth longest serving manager in English football and with a win ratio of just under 37%. He's a man all Bantam fans declare as the 'special one' and holds a place in the heart of the faithful, despite his exit.
3. Paul Jewell- 1998-2000
A Bradford City legend, Paul Jewell made 269 appearances as a player for the club before taking over managerial duties in 1998. As Chris Kamara was sacked, his assistant Jewell took charge and in his 21 caretaker games guided the Bantams to their highest ever league position, so he was rewarded with a permanent contract. As chairman Geoffrey Richmond was eager to mount a promotion challenge, he allowed Jewell to break the transfer record twice within the first week of the 1998/99 campaign, bringing in Lee Mills and Isaiah Rankin alongside current manager McCall. In his first full season as boss, Jewell succeeded in gaining promotion with Bradford as they finished 2nd and reached the Premiership after being absent for 77 years. It was one of the greatest days in the clubs history. Despite being favourites to be relegated, Bradford did struggle but survived on the final day of the 1999/2000 league season, after beating Liverpool 1-0 at home which cost the Reds their Champions League position to the surprise of the entirety of English football. Unfortunately, as Richmond opted that the 17th position was a disappointment, him and Jewell fell out and the manager handed in his notice to take over recently relegated Sheffield Wednesday, but at his time with City he had gained promotion and survived in the world's toughest league, signed the likes of McCall, Dean Windass and Lee Sharpe and established Bradford City as a club who weren't going to be pushed around by England's big boys, before finishing rock bottom the next season under Jim Jefferies.
2. Trevor Cherry- 1982-1987
Yorkshire legend Trevor Cherry, who sadly passed away recently, made 679 appearances in West Yorkshire for Huddersfield Town, Leeds United and Bradford City. He is held in such high regard especially by Bantams as the ex-England international took over the club as a player manager and would go onto remain at Valley Parade for five years, and was the manager who witnessed the horrific events of the Bradford City fire which took place on the 11th of May 1985, taking the lives of 56 football fans and is one of the biggest disasters in football to date. Cherry appealed to raise money for the bereaved and grieving families and injured supporters, and managed to raise over 4 million pounds as well attending several funerals mourning the loss of the dear football fans who came to watch a game of football and sadly never returned. In his time as a manager, he won the Third Division Manager of the Season after capturing the Division Three title and stuck around to steer Bradford to a 13th place finish despite playing games at three different grounds, Elland Road, Leeds Road and the Odsal Stadium and was even manager of the club when they returned to Valley Parade in 1986, and despite being held in such a gratitude from the fans he was not backed by the board and was sacked the following month, which provoked a backlash as Cherry left Bradford as his only ever management job. His win ratio at the club was 41.3% and he was in charge of over 200 games for City, a true inspiration and a footballing hero.
1. Peter O'Rouke- 1905-1921, 1928-1930
The second ever Bradford City manager was in charge of the club for a combined 18 years, more than any other City boss, and was the mastermind behind the greatest ever City achievement, winning the FA Cup. He took over the club as the player manager from Robert Campbell as captain, and after two years as a player oped to become the full time manager. He led the Bantams to the Second Division Championship in 1908, and after three years of stabilising the club in the First Division he clinched the FA Cup in a final replay against holders Newcastle United thanks to a goal from club captain Jimmy Speirs, which saw an attendance of 66,646 fans in Old Trafford. Unfortunately, in 1919 O'Rouke's son and former City player Francis passed away and it affected O'Rouke poorly, as two years later he decided to retire due to poor health. However, O'Rouke decided to come out of retirement to take charge of Welsh side Pontypridd Town for five months before having brief spells at Dundee Hibernian FC, Bradford Park Avenue and returning to his beloved Bradford City in 1928, where he felt he had unfinished business. He won the Third Division North the following year, and made the tough call to leave the club in 1930 once again for Walsall, before closing off his managerial career with Llanelli as he retired in 1933. Such a club legend, O'Rouke moved back to Bradford after retiring to live next to the ground where he would pass away in 1956 at the age of 82. As a manager, O'Rouke had a win percentage of 41% in his first stint and 46.7% in his second with a combined total of 589 games in charge. O'Rouke won the most achievements with City, including their greatest ever domestic trophy with the FA Cup, and will forever be remember as a Bradford City legend.
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