Bradford City WFC vs Stoke City LFC Programme

McCall’s men: The past is the past
The build-up to yesterday’s fixture between
Bolton Wanderers and Bradford City has
been unavoidable to those in the area all
week.
Phil Parkinson faced his former side yesterday at
the Macron Stadium. (Photo: Telegraph & Argus)
A remarkable 4,300 away tickets had been
sold five days prior to the game, with the
Bantams’ fans keen to get one up on former
coach Phil Parkinson.
However, a big talking point for the travelling
fans in the build-up was whether to applaud
the man they once adored or to boo
the man they felt betrayed them in the summer.
Parkinson’s departure remains a mystery.
Local media in both the Bradford and Bolton
regions, plus the man himself, have stressed
that the move was simply about a new challenge,
which has not appeased the claret
and amber army.
To leave Valley Parade after five years of
incredible progress, and with so much more ready to be made with new owners coming in, it
was baffling when it emerged that the manager was leaving to join a recently-relegated club
up to their eyeballs in debt.
To some, this is how he will be remembered – as the man that walked out with so much unfinished
business to attend to. Defeat in the play-offs was disappointing, but it was felt that Parkinson
could guide City to automatic promotion this season.
However, to forget everything ‘Parky’ did for the club would be unacceptable. Promotion to
League Two and a run to the League Cup final gave fans the season of a lifetime in 2012-13,
while the victory at Stamford Bridge last January will go down as the greatest cupset of all
time.
Fans could put their trust in the manager and his ways for the first time since the turn of the
century, with the club’s almighty slide down the Football League drawn to an end, and then
turned on its head.
Some fans will have applauded Parky yesterday, some will have booed, but, moreover, some
won’t have reacted. Some are happy to leave the past in the past and support the current
team – Stuart McCall’s team.
It’s an exciting season that lies ahead for City, but it’s not a season about getting one-up on
Phil Parkinson’s Bolton. It’s about cheering McCall’s men to success, and moving on from
what is now history.
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