An update about the bantamspast History Revisited series, 31-Dec-25
Following publication of Room at the Top and Life at the Top in 2016 I embarked on extensive research about the two Bradford clubs in the twentieth century. I have literally examined just about every theme possible and in truth have struggled to resist the curiosity of investigating different leads. By my own admission I have procrastinated publication of new volumes in order to be exhaustive with my research. I have also been delayed by other distractions, not least work and deferral of retirement plans in the wake of the Covid shutdown.
I remain committed to writing a history of the Bradford football rivalry in the twentieth century and complete the History Revisited project but have come to the realisation that my original plans need to change. Specifically, my challenge is to reconcile how to tell the history of the clubs with reference to club finances and behind the scenes events (ie the wordy stuff) as well as to produce publications incorporating the wealth of memorabilia that I have accumulated (ie the illustrative stuff). The answer is that instead of writing two volumes covering the pre and post Second World War era, it needs three …
Volume 8 of the History Revisited series will retain the title Fall from the Top and cover the rivalry of City and Avenue between 1908-39 but this will be produced in the style of the original title A History of BCAFC in Objects with a focus on memorabilia, photographs and artefacts.
Volume 9, Life at the Bottom will be consistent with Fall from the Top and incorporate memorabilia, photographs and artefacts of the two clubs between 1939-74.
Which then brings us to Volume 10 that will essentially be a business history of Bradford football and the respective stadia – albeit to include the affairs of Bradford Northern and Odsal.
The research is completed, it is now about producing the publications. In the case of volumes 8 and 9 there is a lot of scanning to be done but the structure has been determined.
Which then brings us to timings and in the meantime, I have been approached by a national publisher to write a new history of Bradford City AFC from its origins as Manningham FC to the present day. Its working title is The Bantams of Valley Parade and publication of that will not be until the beginning of 2027 – hence the rest will not be completed until after that.
I appreciate your support and the various enquiries about my plans. I apologise for the delay but I believe that between them, the three History Revisited titles as well as the new BCAFC history will complete the historical record of Bradford football. I would expect the publisher to circulate details of The Bantams of Valley Parade in the new year and I will forward those to people on the bantamspast mailing list.
In the meantime, Happy New Year!
John Dewhirst
Wool City Rivals 