History of Bradford City A.F.C. - Richmond Era and Administration (1990 Onwards)

Richmond Era and Administration (1990 Onwards)

"Helping the club into the top flight is a dream I have had for a long time. Dreams don't always come true, but I have been fortunate that so many of mine in football have been fulfilled, but this is the biggest one of all."

Stuart McCall, following promotion to the Premier League

For three seasons, City finished in mid-table in Division Three and the new Division Two, when the leagues were renamed following the formation of the Premier League. In January 1994, Geoffrey Richmond took over as chairman. He cleared the debts, loaned the club £2.3 million, and promised the fans he would take the club to the Premier League within five years. In his first season as chairman, the club finished in seventh-place with Frank Stapleton as manager. Stapleton was sacked and was replaced by Lennie Lawrence. Lawrence could only finish 14th in his first season, before he left for Luton Town in November 1995 to be replaced by his assistant Chris Kamara.

Kamara secured a play-off spot with a final day victory over Hull City, before City defeated Blackpool in the play-off semi-finals. The final against Notts County was City's first game at Wembley. Goals from Des Hamilton and Mark Stallard gave them a 2–0 win, which secured promotion to Division One. Kamara used 42 players in 1996–97 when City avoided relegation with a 3–0 victory in the final game against Queens Park Rangers. Kamara was sacked in January 1998 after an FA Cup defeat to Manchester City, when Richmond claimed the manager had taken the club as far as he could. Richmond again elevated from within and Paul Jewell, who had been at the club since 1988, was installed as manager, originally on a caretaker basis. He was appointed full-time in May 1998 and Richmond backed his new appointment with a multi-million transfer budget. Jewell signed strikers Lee Mills, from Port Vale and Isaiah Rankin, from Arsenal, for £1 million and £1.3 million respectively, and signed former captain Stuart McCall from Rangers on a free transfer to lead the side. Despite a poor start, the club secured promotion to the top division for the first time in 77 years with a 3–2 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the final game of the 1998–99 season.

City's success meant that Dean Windass, who had signed from Oxford United in March, became the club's third £1 million signing of the season. Windass had originally been signed for £950,000, but an additional fee of £50,000 was paid to Oxford because of City's promotion. Jewell broke the club's transfer record to add a fourth seven-figure signing when he paid £1.4 million to Leeds United for David Wetherall. Jewell added other senior players including Neil Redfearn and Dean Saunders, prompting the media to call his team "Dad's Army". When City defeated Middlesbrough 1–0 with a late goal from Saunders, his goal celebration mocked the critics' comments. City failed to win another game until their eighth game of the season, and Sky Sports pundit Rodney Marsh said they would be relegated and promised to shave off his hair at a home game if they avoided such a fate. A run of nine home games without defeat and consecutive victories in April gave City hope of avoiding relegation on the final day of the season. A final day 1–0 victory over Liverpool, with a goal from Wetherall, who had played every minute of the season, and Wimbledon's defeat, meant City survived with a record low of 36 points.

Less than two months after City stayed up, Jewell left to join Sheffield Wednesday, to be replaced by his assistant, Chris Hutchings. The club entered the Intertoto Cup, the first time they had competed in a European competition, in which they were defeated by FC Zenit Saint Petersburg in the semi-finals. Richmond gave Hutchings more money than Jewell to spend in the transfer market, and Bradford paid a club record £2.5 million for David Hopkin and £1.5 million for Ashley Ward, and signed Italian striker Benito Carbone on wages of £40,000 per week. Richmond also continued to re-develop the ground, which increased the capacity to 25,136, but later referred to his spending as his "six weeks of madness". In their second season in the Premier League, City struggled for form and Hutchings was sacked after a start to the season in which he recorded just one victory from 12 league games. Under new manager Jim Jefferies, the club were unable to avoid relegation, which was confirmed with a 2–1 defeat at Everton, when they missed two penalties, before finishing the season with just 26 points.

Jefferies was sacked in December 2001 following a training ground rift with captain McCall. Nicky Law was appointed his successor, and the club finished the season in 15th–spot. During the summer, with debts of nearly £13 million—as a result of the collapse of ITV Digital and the fall-out from Richmond's self-proclaimed "six weeks of madness"—the club were forced into administration. The players were all released, but Carbone waived much of the money owed to him, to help the club survive under new owners Julian Rhodes and Gordon Gibb. City fulfilled their fixtures during the 2002–03 season but finished 19th.

Former England captain Bryan Robson took over as new manager during the following season, but, under his management, City won only seven games from 28 and were relegated in 23rd-place. Robson left and was replaced by his assistant Colin Todd. The club went into administration for a second time, but Todd led them to 11th in each of the following two seasons. Following fan pressure and a poor run of results, Rhodes sacked Todd on 12 February 2007, with City just three points above the relegation zone. Wetherall was appointed player-manager on a temporary basis and then for the rest of the season, but City were relegated following a 3–0 defeat to Chesterfield. During the summer of 2007, former midfielder Stuart McCall returned as manager with City in the bottom tier for the first time in 25 years. He set himself a target of earning promotion back to League One in his first season, but twice missed out on promotion before he left the club in February 2010 with City lying 16th in League Two.