Bradford City A.F.C. was founded in Bradford, England, in 1903, bringing an association football club to the West Riding of Yorkshire as an alternative to rugby league. They were immediately elected to the Football League to replace Doncaster Rovers in Division Two, and made their permanent home in the Valley Parade stadium. Under the management of Peter O'Rourke the club won promotion to Division One in 1908, and the FA Cup in 1911 (team pictured). After subsequent relegations, they remained in the third and fourth tiers of the English football league system until 1985–86. During that time, they endured several periods of financial hardship, and in 1985, their home ground suffered a disastrous fire in which 56 people died. After coming close to returning to the top division of the League in 1987–88, the club enjoyed mixed fortunes before finally achieving promotion to the Premier League in 1998–99. After two seasons in the top tier, the club's playing and financial misfortunes multiplied; successive relegations saw them fall into the bottom tier of The Football League, before promotion in 2012–13 brought them back up a division. (Full article...)
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