The Trust Annual Review 24/25

October 14, 2025

This is the Chairs’ Report, written in October 25, ahead of our November AGM 2025, commenting on the promotion season and great start to this season on the pitch, as well as the national picture as a backdrop. It also covers our engagement with the Club, and all the work we have done amongst supporters linked to that.

 

On the Pitch

At the time of writing, the Bradford City team, are riding a crest of a wave. 2nd in the table after drawing level from being 2-0 down to get a point from the recent game against Rotherham United in a top verses bottom match, proved one of the most exciting games this season. City are 2nd in the table with a game in hand as their home game against Lincoln City has been postponed due to Imps players receiving international call ups. Already we have beaten our West Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield Town at home 3-1, Cardiff City 3-1 and Championship sides Blackburn Rovers and Stoke City, 2-1, and 3-0 respectively in the League Cup. We valiantly lost to Premier League Newcastle in the 3rd round, but Andy Cook scored our consolation goal against the team he supported as a kid.

 

It is an amazing season so far, and many fans have returned to watch, with lots of new, younger supporters witnessing a new look, determined and confident Bantams side. The attendance against Huddersfield broke a new record with 24,075 at Valley Parade (in the modern stadium).

 

In May the Bantams finally got promoted on the last match of the season in front of 24,033 – a record at the time, in the dying throes of injury time against Fleetwood Town. Valley Parade became alive with celebration after seeing Antoni Sarcevic redirect a George Lapslie shot into the bottom corner of the net, which led to scenes of unbridled joy, a pitch invasion, and much celebration on North Parade amongst fans and players.

 

During last season, we started spritely, but we were inconsistent. We really started to pick up in December of last year. And we were unbeaten in 10 home league games. It was a huge improvement on the previous season but few could’ve predicted automatic promotion. It was Graham Alexander’s first full season in charge.

 

This season, with a lot more investment in the squad than in previous years, our team is certainly capable of much more success at our new League One level. At last supporters feel a sense of pride that players are putting the effort in, playing as a team and getting the wins as a result. It is coming up to Alexander’s 2nd year at Bradford City. Lets up that we can maintain the momentum well into his second year and keep it going until the end of the season, and hopefully the efforts on the pitch will reap the reward of another promotion.

 

The Football Governance Bill update

The Football Governance Bill finally became an act of Parliament over the summer, on the 21st of July this year, and with it, the royal assent brought the introduction of the Independent Regulator.

 

The first version of the Football Governance Bill was tabled in 2024, following the Fan-led Review of Football Governance which was launched in the immediate aftermath of elite clubs across the continent trying to form a European Super League.

 

The Football Supporters Association (FSA) has long argued that football can no longer regulate itself as so many clubs were going to the wall, and that a review of football’s finances was long overdue.

 

As far back as 2012/13 the national fans’ organisation had submitted evidence to a Culture, Media and Sport Committee investigation endorsing far stronger rules on club licensing, ownership and protection of assets outlining why “the regulated should not control the regulator”.

 

Our Supporters Trust was one of those Trusts involved in submitting evidence around that time to the government’s Expert Working Group (EWG) on football governance. We made a presentation about the Supporters Board. This amongst all the evidence gathered, was published in 2016, and it encouraged the EWG to recommend something called ‘structured dialogue’ between clubs and their fans.

These recommendations were subsequently adopted by the Premier League and the EFL as a requirement for all clubs.

 

Following Bury FC’s collapse in 2019 the FSA put forward a wide range of proposals to the FA to protect our professional clubs – and this included the concept of a regulator for football.

 

Fast forward a couple of years and more clubs at lower levels of the game teetered on the brink while billionaire owners tried to stitch up the game for their own benefit – and the Government was eventually left with no choice but to pick up the reins. 

 

The FSA’s list of proposed solutions called for a licensing system which removes the conflict of interest arising from club owners regulating themselves. 

 

The licensing system will now be put in place by the regulator along with a whole raft of recommendations that are very heavily based on the FSA’s proposals to the FA, representing a remarkable victory for supporters in shaping the direction of the game.

 

In those proposals the FSA argued for better tests of “fitness” for club owners and directors, protection for “heritage” items, rules to prevent clubs being relocated without supporter approval and bans on “leveraged” buyouts which burden clubs with debt.

 

The FSA also argued in favour of the concept of “stewardship”, with owners being custodians on behalf of fans who will be there long after a current ownership regime has gone – an idea which is now widely understood and accepted.

 

For more info on what the Football Governance Act is about please see here.

 

The year’s work

Like previous years, there is always something to keep on top of. It is very demanding. Our three key things that we do best are:


Keeping members informed and in the loop about we are doing and keeping you up to date as much as we can to what is going on nationally with our email articles, which we post on social media.

Physically engage with members and supporters through our stalls on match days in the stadium.

Engage with the Club through our ‘Structured Dialogue’, and of course keep members and supporters informed with what we have discussed and what comes out of the meetings.

 

Commercial relationships

Teemill

We continue to work with Teemill, a UK based, ethically sourced company. We have samples of our designed clothing on our stall and we regularly promote it with an advert on social media and on a join leaflet which we produce every season. We now include a QR code on our advert that takes members and supporters directly to the online store: https://bantams-supporters-trust.teemill.com/ where supporters can buy our products. There is no investment costs with this, but if it does prove popular the income we get with each sale of merch sold could finance any upgrade to have more choice in terms of stylization, so for example merch such as T-shirts and hoodies could have back printing.

 

Scarves

Last year, in September 24 began to work with Arena Scarves Ltd. who produced 50 ‘away’ white retro scarves and 50 ‘home’ claret and amber retro style scarves both in the jacquard knit design. Arena Scarves are Leicester based. The claret and amber ones have been so popular that we are having to re-order more, and before long we will be soon out of the white ones to, so we are in the process of ordering some more of them too.

 

Our publicity and website

We continue to try and bring members and supporters a good mix of mix of news about what we are doing and national news that can have a direct Impact or indirect impact on supporters as the season takes it’s course. Over the last year we have brought you regular updates about the Football Governance and improvements in terms of how Clubs are meant to engage with supporters, and we’ve brought you informed detail about the Sky TV deal rights and fixture rearrangements. Some of this detail can be necessary info added from discussions with the Club through our engagement with the Club, such as our structured Dialogue meetings with Ryan Sparks.

 

And at the end of August the Trust met with Paula Watson, the Director of Operations, Jonathan Heaton, the Club’s Safety Officer and Aaron Dennis the Dedicated Football Officer from West Yorkshire Police to discuss changes to the Sanctions and Bannings Policy and poor behavior at two key matches. This was due to new ways the EFL have been working in these areas, and these are linked to the proposed ways of working advised by the FSA at a senior structured dialogue level between EFL and our national fans’ organization.

 

Some of our news may promote community work such as the Foodbank event organized by Accrington Stanley Trust colleagues last April, or community events and exhibitions such as the Community event at VP that had an immersive igloo, explore with a digital copy of the University of Bradford Stadium, or the Football fanzine exhibition at Leeds Central Library which had our very own City Gent fanzine displayed and the editor, Mike Harrison was among other editors and writers speaking at that exhibition event last June.

 

And of course we informed you that the Council approved our application for the Stadium to be an Asset of Community Value in June 24 and in July BBC’s Look North did a story on this piece of news and featured prominent City supporters.

 

And we cannot forget to mention we always publicise our annual organising to get a turn-out for volunteers for the Burns Unit collection, and this year we were guests of the Council at the annual memorial in Centenary Square on Sunday 11th May this year.

 

Our members get our emails, and there is always a trace of our work so that members can look up or go back to articles. The emails get sent to over 500 members and it is a free service.

 

All our articles and meetings with the club are on our website. It is very easy to get around. You can find out what we are about, how we were formed and our policies. Trust Board meeting minutes and our AGM’s are also on there.

 

On Social media City supporters can just see a strapline and link to our articles, and we regularly share on multiple groups with the help of the Meta Business Suite and we continue to use twitter of ‘X’ as it is now called. And we continue to reach Instagram too.

 

Our profile on these social media channels has grown and we are much larger than life because of the frequency of posting. If it is not for posting links to articles, often with an image / design in our Trust box, it is our regular well wishing prior to matches regularly asking poignant questions relating to form and record of results and immediate challenges. These get the most ‘likes’. These have the retro scoreboard C’mon City clap graphics.

 

Our Facebook Group has 924 members, up by 43 from this time last year and our ‘Followers’ Page has 1,689 people following us, up by 117 on last year. Our Twitter /X account, https://twitter.com/bantamstrust, has 401 Following, up 7, and 291 Followers, up by 4.

 

We do have an Instagram site with 76 following on that.

 

Our presence on social media has definitely grown and we have shown to be consistent in our approach to what we do.

 

Concourse stalls in the Main Stand

Now in our fifth season, the Trust stall on matchdays is still going! Situated in the main stand, we set up from between 1.30pm and 2pm on a Saturday. It is difficult because we are not there every week due to work commitments, but even so, we definitely have established a firm base of friendly faces that stop and chat and discuss their concerns and put a few quid in the donations tin. Due to the success of the team this season, the crowds on the concourse are much bigger so we are seeing a newer layer of supporters seeing the stall for the first time and at the same time seeing what we have on the stall for sale. It does get very busy and there are times when there are a lot of people around the table waiting to be seen.

 

One thing we have been able to do this season, with a little bit of help, is to venture out in other areas of the ground just to give our leaflets out. We have just started to do this and hopefully it will pay off with people joining online.

 

Fan Engagement / Structured Dialogue

During the last Financial Year we have held three meetings with CEO Ryan Sparks: in November 24, and then February 25, and August 25.

 

It is always work in progress and developments within the Club are always at pace, so we are often playing catch-up in what is always a movable feast.

 

Themes covered through these meetings were:

  • Matchday experience, including Fanzone, atmosphere section, stewarding home and away.
  • Railed seating
  • Season tickets prices and sales, loyalty points and limited capacity at away grounds as well as matchday ticket pricing and special offers for struggling people.
  • Environmental sustainability including improving public transport
  • Restorative Justice – discussing how the Club deal with and support troublesome supporters seeing the error of their ways.
  • Community building and Diversity projects – finding ways to work with the Club supporting community projects.

 

Other core agenda items:

Aspects of the Football Governance Bill/Act.

Improving our Structured Dialogue – improving the Clubs’ fan engagement.

Finances – what we need to spend on the stadium and pitch (maintenance costs) and investment from promotion and the Sky Deal extra income.

Ownership – The importance of seeing Stefan Rup as improving the Clubs’ fan engagement.

 

Important achievements for the Trust

 

Membership

We now have 995 contacts that we have on our InTouch database, an increase of 11 this time last year (2024), and the email membership figure now stands at 508, a reduction of 6.

 

We have a total of 290 ‘suppressed’ contacts (an increase of 18 on last year (2024) that we have to go through and identify – This list covers all contacts whose emails have bounced – this could be because they have changed their email addresses, or indeed passed away. It covers members who have unsubscribed or indeed members who have no other contact details. This increase is lower than it was last year (272).


Whilst our membership is respectable, we still need to increase the membership in order to represent a wider and more diverse support base the Club has.

 

We have made it easier to join than ever before, from when people can enter the website on their phones to the links on social media to our articles, there is always an option to join, and supporters can still pay their membership or renew via paypal and bank transfer by going to ‘Membership Cost’

 

The Trust Board

We continue to meet regularly, there is a familiar pattern in that it continues to be difficult in getting everyone available to meet at the same time. This makes it more pressing that we need more people interested in joining the Trust and getting involved and playing a role on the board. With more board members we can reach out more and be a bigger influence.

 

You don’t have to live in Bradford to attend meetings. You can attend meetings on ‘Teams’ (we have had to change from Skype to Teams as Microsoft has dropped Skype) and play a role but living in the West Yorkshire area would help as we need more hands to maintain and expand our work. If you fancy it get in touch via hello@bantamstrust.co.uk.

 

Whilst the Trust as a larger than life presence, as a board, looking to the future, we do need to develop a new generation of Trust activists replenishing the existing board, who do the best that they can give at the present time.

 

The Trust is a democratic and independent organisation, and the only body of City fans that is part of a wider Supporters Trust movement on a national scale. We can act as a critical friend of the Club and as a collective campaigning force that can be organised into action. To realise this potential, we need more fans to join and get involved. 

The Trust Always Remembers

May 11, 2026
Remembering the 54 Bradford City supporters and two Lincoln City supporters who went to watch a game of football but never returned home. We stand with everyone at the Memorial Service in Centenary Square and those that join us from all parts of the UK and the world to mark the 41st anniversary of the Valley Parade Fire Disaster.

The winner of the Young Player of the Year 25-26

May 8, 2026
We would like to thank all of you who voted for the Supporters Trusts’ Young Player of the Year 2025/26. The annual awards and dinner on the 28 th April was a celebration of a team that have been at the top of the table all season. We had just fought to get a well deserved point at the last home match of the season in front of a great home crowd against Bolton Wanderers, and then at the weekend, we finally secured our place in the Play-Off’s beating Exeter City 2-1 in Devon in front of a sell-out crowd at St. James’ Park. This season, the team have had to really compete against much stronger teams in League One than those in League Two over the course of the season. Congratulations goes to the gaffer, Graham Alexander who has been the orchestrator of the team, encouraging a positive attitude to the game, belief and confidence throughout what is always a rollercoaster of a season. And of course well done to Antoni Sarcevic and Bobby Pointon who picked up the joint Players’ of the Year Award. Young Player of the Year The winner of the Trust’s Young Player of the Year is Jenson Metcalfe! He narrowly beat Bobby Pointon on winning the prize, voted by you, the supporters! We would also like to give a special thanks to Tony Deacon, who gave Jenson the award. Once again, a big thank you to all of you for taking part. You know who you are and we very much appreciate your involvement in this event and making it a success. You can see the list of all who won an award on the night here .

Bucket Collection Thank you

April 28, 2026
We would like to thank all of you who participated in the Bucket Collection on Saturday April 25 th at Valley Parade, our last fixture of the season against Bolton Wonderers. The Trust had 8 volunteers with buckets all around the ground. There will have been a few more helping out also. We raised an amazing £5071.27, which includes £545 of online donations on the day. We’d like to thank all the supporters of that very impressive attendance at Valley Parade of 23,732 that made a contribution. And, once again we would like to thank all the collectors for doing your bit. This has been a great collective exercise and great achievement.

Final call for bucket collectors

April 21, 2026
Its not long till’ Saturday, and it would be great to have more volunteers. We do already have a handful of committed souls but we can never have enough. Last year, we had approximately 15 volunteers, with mostly our members and supporters from the Disability Club and Shipley Bantams. For the 40 th anniversary we raised an amazing £7,387.70 during the bucket collection before the match, almost double on what was raised the year before. If you would like to be involved in the bucket collection please contact us at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk . Arrangements Volunteers should arrive from 1pm outside the WD Gate entrance - the large gates opposite the club shop. Our names will be ticked off before we all receive buckets and then stand outside the various entrance points around the ground.

Burns Research Unit bucket collection volunteers appeal Reminder

April 14, 2026
It is rapidly coming to that time of year when we will all be coming together give our respects to those who tragically lost their lived in the Valley Parade fire, and this year will mark the 41 st anniversary. Last year, we had approximately 15 volunteers, with mostly our members and supporters from the Disability Club and Shipley Bantams. For the 40 th anniversary we raised an amazing £7,387.70 during the bucket collection before the match, almost double on what was raised the year before. This year, our last home match of the season, versus Bolton Wanderers is on the 25 th of April, and as always there will be a bucket collection. If you would like to be involved in the bucket collection please contact us at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk . We normally expect volunteers to arrive from 1pm outside the WD Gate entrance - the large gates opposite the club shop. Our names will be ticked off before we all receive buckets and then stand outside the various entrance points around the ground. We don’t think it will be any different. We’ll be putting out another reminder next week so we hope to have confirmation by then.

Burns Research Unit bucket collection volunteers appeal

April 9, 2026
It is coming round to that time of year when we will all be coming together give our respects to those who tragically lost their lived in the Valley Parade fire, 41 years ago now. This year, our last home match of the season, versus Bolton Wanderers is on the 25 th of April, and as always there will be a bucket collection. The bucket collection is a way of allowing all supporters to help participate in raising vital funds for Bradford’s Plastic Surgery and Burns Research Unit (PSBRU). This collective practice helps adds to the impact of the remembrance as well as the one-minute silence we have just before Kick off. If you would like to be involved in the bucket collection please contact us at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk Last year, we had approximately 15 volunteers, with mostly our members and supporters from the Disability Club and Shipley Bantams. For the 40 th anniversary we raised an amazing £7,387.70 during the bucket collection before the match, almost double on what was raised the year before. We’ll be putting out another reminder in the run up to this last match of the season with details of the time and where to meet to sign out the buckets from the Club for the collection.

Tony Delahunty Speaks at the Exchange Craft Beer House

April 8, 2026
Here is a personal account of Bantams Supporters Trust Board member, Tony Deacon, describe the very successful event of Tony Delahunty talk about his experiences as a commentator for Pennine Radio in the 80’s in aid of the Burns Unit. On Good Friday Helen Jeffery and I welcomed Tony Delahunty to the exchange on behalf of Bantams Supporters Trust. There were a lot of fans assembled in the Pub wanting to hear his talk. Over the next 45mins Tony delivered a very emotional and moving talk about his experiences on 11th May 1985, and the subsequent aftermath. He told of how he was asked to leave Pennine radio shortly after the fire. This was due to people writing to the radio station and saying his voice was too distressing. From Pennine radio he went to radio Trent. After a disastrous interview he thought, ‘seen as I’m here I will blag an interview with Brian Clough’, which he did. When this interview aired, radio Trent got in touch and said you’ve got the job. He then went on to be one of the few journalists Clough would talk to. He ended the talk by telling us about the documentary, ‘The Unforgotten’, that Manny Dominguez and I were privileged to attend the premiere of at the media museum ahead of the BBC screening last year. It has been nominated for a BAFTA. After the talk I took the time to walk him to his taxi. During this time he said he really enjoyed doing the talk and was made to feel so welcome in the Pub. He also said he would love to do another talk with more humorous stories about City & Clough. On behalf of the Supporters Trust we would like to thank Tony Delahunty for a very informative talk. Also Ben Hoole for allowing us to use the Pub. A collection for the Burns unit was held during the talk and extended during the day. So hopefully we will have raised quite a bit. Tony Deacon

Tony Delahunty at the Exchange Craft Beer House

April 2, 2026
For those City fans of a certain age, tuning into Pennine Radio for the football in West Yorkshire in the early 80’s, you may remember the familiar voice of Tony Delahunty commentating on the fortunes of Bradford City up and down the country. Well, he will be appearing at what many of us remember as the old Ale Exchange this Friday, raising money for the Burns Unit. On the 3 rd of April, before the Northampton game, Tony will be speaking at the Exchange Craft Beer House about his stories during his time commentating on the City action. Tony was commentating on the tragic day of the fire. Now 82, Tony is retiring from radio. In recent years he ran an independent radio station, Mansfield 103.2. The Trust has helped organise this event and he is now an Honorary Patron of the Trust for being a great servant to Bradford in the past and as sports commentator around the world. Tony will be at the bar from 12 so come down and see him and raise a glass and make a donation for the Burns Unit. We hear he tells some good stories! He will be at the Ale Exchange for only an hour, as he will be treated at the Club before the match as well.

Report of Trust Meeting with BCAFC - March 2026

March 31, 2026
In attendance from the Club were, Liam Mould (LM) – Club Fan Engagement Officer. Representing the Trust there was, Manny Dominguez (MD) – Chair). Apologies were given from Tony Deacon (JB), Helen Jeffery and Matthew Pickles (MP). The Trust’s purpose to meet the Fan Engagement Officer was firstly to see the scope of LM’s role and how it meets a Trust’s desired role of what it looks like and how we can work together going forward. Supporter Liaison Officer role LM briefly informed us that his main requirement is to lead in maintaining gold in family excellence in the EFL by ensuring the operations activities on a match day go to plan, for example Billy’s Coup, staff on hand for advice and giving out fruit, half time activities, external group organisation and partners’ stalls, and the flags being put out, and a lot more. Also he meets with existing supporters groups such as the Supporters’ Board, LGBT Bantams and Bangla Bantams. We looked at the FSA guidance to the role of SLO . MD had good comments that LM had been visual on matchdays certainly in the main stand and that he was at the recent away match at Burton Albion, so certainly having a visual presence for fans to be on hand to see is a desired requirement. MD commented that the main stand concourse does certainly look more colourful and welcoming for all. The Club also has 2 disability Liaison Officers that can be seen around the stadium on matchdays also. A concern that the Trust had was that there maybe too many other responsibilities to the job so that desired SLO or Fan Engagement roles could not be fully fulfilled, something that may have been an issue previously. Fan Engagement Plan (FEP) We looked at the FSA’s guidance for Supporter Engagement in the EFL , namely about rules adopted by the EFL in 2024. The FSA’s senior paid officials with a selection of Trust reps meet with senior EFL reps and have a structured dialogue quarterly throughout the year so recommendations get through and are adopted at EFL AGM’s and information cascaded to Clubs, so these papers benefit EFL clubs on a day to day basis. The minimum fan engagement requirement is two meetings/fans’ forums a year. Our club goes over and above this. It also talks about a Fan Engagement Plan or FEP and complete an FEP Review. In a nutshell the guidance is for both Clubs and fans groups to work together and to collaborate on things where possible. This is the ideal way. Engagement Models We looked at various models of supporters groups and how Clubs work with them. The Club engages with various models of supporters groups. The most established are the Supporters Board and ourselves, the Supporters Trust. The Supporters Board model has changed from its original set up that had a mixture of elected and selected/appointed members representing the widest number of supporters through representatives of various supporters groups and the Supporters Trust was represented in that body. Over the years Supporters Boards have become Supporter Advisory Boards (SAB’s) perhaps more common in the Premier League and EFL Championship. Bradford City’s Supporters Boards no longer has Trust representation on that body MD explained, as in recent years, its constitution changed, but now the Trust has a structured dialogue directly with the Club. Going back to the various engagement models and the structures, the Club engages with, it has the Fans’ Forum twice a year and then has the Trust, which its aim is to meet quarterly and it has the Supporters Board which it meets monthly. The Club also puts out occasional questionnaires to canvas opinion too. The Club also has a strong focus on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) that is discussed at the Club Governance meetings that have invited the Trust and Supporters Board reps to attend. LM said that he is involved in working towards an EDI plan and through that they want to develop the Disability group and LGBT group into genuine bodies similar to associations. They also have initiated Responsible Bantams, Sustainable Bantams and Together Bantams from the EDI work as well. The long-term aim LM said, is to bring these things into a Fans Advisory Panel which the Trust would be invited on as would the Supporters Board. MD was in favour of this broader advisory panel, citing the FSA recommendation of a having a ‘reserved seat’ for representatives of key independent, democratically structured supporters groups such as the Trust. Trust Proposals within FEP MD explained that we have had a number of proposals that had been agreed at the numerous structured dialogue meetings but have not fully appeared in the FEB document. Firstly there is a statement. There is a separate link to that on the website in the Fan Engagement area which is great but should really be in the FEP document. The Fan Engagement area isn’t very accessible on the Club website. LM said it was on the actual PDF doc. MD said he would check later. Secondly is our quarterly arrangement- adding the four months of the year: August, November, Feb and May. And finally, adding an amendment to the text on ‘Heritage Assets’ that we will be consulted also. MD had shared 2 links to Club fan engagement plans – both Clubs are well established higher up the football pyramid – Championship side, Stoke City and Premier League Sunderland . Both these clubs have excellent Fan Engagement Plans that we should work to developing. FEP Review: Mid season and end of Season Review. We briefly discussed how we can work together to review the Fan Engagement plan. LM felt the mid-season review would repeat the pre-season review, so felt it wasn’t necessary. Consultation This neatly led us to the Trust perception of how the Club consults with us. We feel that we do get to have in depth conversation about the progress of the Club and we are vey grateful and feel this is very useful and good that it gives us such in-depth knowledge and overview, however, quite often, from a fans point of view, supporters are asking about situation after decisions have been made, and when we pre-empt when the Club are going to make a decision on something, for example, season tickets, there is very little to say on the matter, until its almost ready to be publicised when decisions have already been made and there is no going back. Genuine consultation is when 2 parties discuss ideas and decisions are made together where the experience and knowledge of being a fan is taken into account to factor in that input. Quite often as fans we are chasing a moving feast asking why has this or that being done or not being done. Matchday Policing of matches and overcrowding – MD brought up experiences, particularly at Wigan were fans were held back in their seats after the match and more recently at Burton there was overcrowding, For the Wigan game, one supporter wrote to the opposite SLO about the incident and he got a detailed account from the ‘Silver Commander’ police officer. LM suggested we can have a more in depth discussion about these incidents when we meet again in August for the meeting on safety and behaviour with Paula Watson (PW), the Director of Operations, Jonathon Heaton, the Clubs’ Safety Officer and the West Yorkshire Police Dedicated Football Officer for the Club, Aaron Dennis, in August. B Block issues and proposal – We picked up a conversation from a previous meeting , where it was raised that issues are still rumbling. LM was able to get an idea and MD proposed that we could work together to meet with the groups for a form of concession bargaining mediation meeting to find agreement. Ideas for fan engagement events MD firstly explained that some of the events that we have at the Club are too expensive for ordinary supporters to afford. The end of season dinner is a prime example at £80 per person. LM countered that this the End of Season dinner aligns with the club’s pricing strategy when looking at increased costs across the operation while also noting a recent trend in a large selection of the supporter base leaning towards premium options. Comparing to retail, the club shop has items at a ‘higher’ price and items at a low-mid price, in order to appease everybody. A similar model is taking place with events now – with the introduction of the Events Pass – working out at £6 per event for u12s - a cheaper option for supporters to meet players at a cheaper price. MD said we should go back to pie and pees events in the suites for supporters groups, veterans to meet the stars at very down to earth prices. Life is a constant battle to try not to spend due to rising costs. Older people can be more isolated these days. The Club could bring them together to talk about old times and memorable matches from the 60’s 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. The Club could bring in speakers to talk about their experiences for Black history month or international women’s’ Day without a 3 course diner, just tea – coffee, a bar maybe and an assortment of finger food. In years gone by the Trust was part of a Community Day that was held just before the season started, where we would get some of the stalls put out in the suites, and there was a bouncy castle outside and football tournament s on the pitch and events on the concourse in the main stand as well. LM said he would take this on board. Any other Business MD raised about alterations on the concourse of the Midland road had aroused a lot of discussion and concern about losing their seats to a bigger away fan allocation. LM said there had been adequate communication about the extra security gate. LM said that there was an email sent to those with seats in that stand. It can be raised for the next Structured Dialogue meeting to be held in May. Next Meeting It was agreed that the FEP end of season review meeting should be held towards the end of May.

Vote for your Young Player of the Year 2026

March 13, 2026
It is that time of year again! It’s time for you to vote for this seasons 2025-26 Bradford City Young Player of the Year. All Members of the Trust can take part. This season, Graham Alexander’s team had a flying start to this season and for the first half of it, overall, we remained 2 nd in the table, and whilst up to now, even though we haven’t been quite as consistent, we have hovered over third and fourth in the table. Our form in front of record-breaking home crowds has been formidable. So far, at home we have won 14, lost only 2 and drawn 2 out of a total of 18. The highest attendance so far this season was against Huddersfield back in September, which was 24,075, and we won 3-1 with Bobby Pointon scoring twice. The game was one of the highlights of the season. This season, from the first team we have only 3 young players making an appearance from midfielders to forwards. Bobby Pointon (22), was voted your Young Player of the Year over the last two consecutive seasons. The former academy star has scored 9 goals, and has had 24 starts in the team so far. Jenson Metcalfe (21), signed a three-year deal last summer, the former Everton Player has now become a firm favourite amongst City fans. He’s had 31 League and cup appearances and scored two goals. Ethan Wheatley (20), is establishing himself in the team. The loanee from Manchester United has also represented the England youth team. The promising striker has made 8 appearances in City colours but has not yet found the net. All three candidates eligible for the Bradford City Young Player of the Year 2025-26 have all made valuable contributions, but who has been your stand out performer? As with previous years this award includes current players under the age of 23 with at least 4 first team appearances in all competitions: Bobby Pointon (Central Midfield) Jenson Metcalfe (Central Midfield) Ethan Wheatley (Centre Forward) Voting starts today, Friday, March 13th and will end on Friday 17th April. The Player Of The Year Dinner and results announcements will be on Wednesday, 22nd April 2026. To vote, simply email us your number 1 Young player at hello@bantamstrust.co.uk . You can also let us know via our Facebook Group and Likes page as well as on our Twitter page.