Saturday 27 December 2008

Industrial Relations

The Manningham Mills strike that led to the formation of the Labour Party is a well-known tale. However, barely known is Manningham Rugby Club's role in the dispute. Of course, many of the supporters were employed at the Mill, so there was bound to be an economic impact on the Valley Parade club, but the club, and many of its high ranking officials, actively supported the strike.
The story of the strike and Manningham's role is told in the programme notes for the Morecambe game. Read it here first.

Friday 26 December 2008

Chester Programme Notes Added

A Happy Christmas from all at bantamspast. After a short delay, the programme notes for the home game against Chester on December 20th have now been added.

Tuesday 9 December 2008

In The Depths of Winter

The recent cold weather had us searching through our archive for pictures of winters past. This one comes from a collection given to us by the family of defender George Mulholland. It shows a City squad from the late 1950s having a laugh in the snow. Older supporters will recognise the location - behind the main stand looking towards Burlington Terrace.

Sunday 7 December 2008

Two New Images

Before the game yesterday, City director Bill Roper kindly donated two photographs to the museum. They are both from the 1970s and show some of the celebrations following promotion to Division Three (League 1 equivalent) of the Football League. The first one (left) is of a Civic Reception at City Hall. Pictured are: Ces Podd, Hughie Martinez, Tibor Szabo (front), Bill Roper, Roy Stead, Peter Hardcastle, Bernie Wright, Bob Martin, Frank Hillam (Lord Mayor), Bobby Kennedy, Rod Johnson, Trevor Davidson, Jack Tordoff (middle), John Dunne, John Napier, Ron Barrett, Steve Thompson, Dave Fretwell, Gary Watson, Joe Cooke, Don Hutchins, Alex Spark, Peter Downsborough and Terry Dolan (back).
The second was taken at an FA dinner in London at The Royal Lancaster Hotel. Pictured are Bill Roper, Bob Martin, John Garside, Rod Johnson, John Napier, Bernard Ellison, Bryan Edwards, Terry Newman and others.
thanks to David Markham for the names. If you know any of the missing ones, please drop us an email or comment.

Dagenham & Redbridge: Pre-Match Events

A particularly lively bantamspast museum before yesterday's match. More lively than on the pitch, some might have said, but let's not go there.
There was an award ceremony and nosh for the sports charity One in a Million, of which Wayne Jacobs is a trustee. He was there, along with a number of other former players including Mick Wood and Ian Ormondroyd. City Chief Executive David Baldwin also made an appearance.
Paul and Tom (pictured left) were there to film the event and interview those involved in the Bantams Community Project (including bantamspast) about their activities. The club is up for a Football in the Community Award and the DVD which Paul and Tom are producing will form part of the presentation to the judges.
Mark Neale and David Markham were also in the City Gent corner, signing copies of their respective books.