Report of Trust meeting with BCAFC - August 2025

August 19, 2025

In attendance from the Club were, Ryan Sparks (RS) – Club CEO

Representing the Trust was, Manny Dominguez (MD) – Chair

 

Apologies were given from Paula Watson (PW), Director of Operations, Justin Bret (JB) – Trust Vice Chair, and Matthew Pickles (MP) also from the Trust.

 

Bantams Supporters Trust met with the Club on Monday 4th Aug. 

Whilst we last met in March to be consulted on Season Tickets, The last Structured Dialogue meeting with a Trust agenda we had was on the 10th Feb 25, 6 months ago.

 

This meeting was a much-needed catch up on developments particularly on Fan Engagement. So, without further ado lets dive into it.

 

Fans’ surveys

We had previously asked about fans’ surveys, in particularly on how supporters feel after the game and feeling valued. It was said that Club would follow up on this.

 

Season ticket sales breakdown

We had asked for a breakdown on sales figures of season tickets which have been published on the Club website, here. The headline figure is that the Club have surpassed 16K in sales, 16,026 in fact ahead of the start of the season, which is very good. At a glance at the figures, they show healthy increases; 8,133 adults, 2,146 65+ senior citizens and 1,047 young people (17 -23) are all up. What is pleasing is the amount of youngsters / children and families attending – it was certainly noticeable at the first game of the season against Wycombe. And 13,089 renewed from last season, which is almost all.

 

That said, it says that 7,192 took advantage of the Direct Debit scheme during the sale prices (Early Bird offer), an increase of 11% on last year, but it is not clear on what the total take up on the Early Bird offer was overall, that includes those that paid in the traditional way of paying all at once. Seeing it from another angle, how many of the 13k+ renewals from last season took advantage of the early bird offer?

 

In hindsight, it would’ve been better if we could see the figures compared with figures from last season based on percentages. Perhaps these can be available at the next meeting.

 

Also, and in addition, it would be good to see figures that show increases or decreases in numbers based on diversity with percentage comparisons from last year at a future meeting too.

 

Away matchday ticket sales and away capacity limitations

We noted that there will be a greater demand for way tickets this season. This was agreed but it was said that there will be many grounds that have significant increases in their away capacities compared with last season (in League Two).

 

It was asked about capacity reduction, with the prime example of Doncaster Rovers last season in mind, as there was a lot of disquiet about the fact that on previous occasions they had given much us a much bigger availability of tickets.

 

We had one unhappy member taking it upon himself to complain to City and the EFL about it. He referred to a regulation (35.7), which states that, “Each Club must make provision for at least 2,000 visiting supporters at every home match or such number as represents 10% of the Club’s certified capacity, if less than 2,000”

 

It’s clear that this rule is used especially in high-stakes matches to give unequal competitive parity to visiting teams. FSA advice was that the rule has been used in this way on many occasions although the host club can give any other reason to justify it, such as safety.

 

Any amendments to EFL regulations would need to be put forward by, and/or voted on by the League’s member clubs themselves. Clubs are permitted to recommend a rule change at any time, and as such would ultimately be required to vote on any implementation. But it is unlikely any Club would do this.

 

RS’s advice was that our member may have got a better response from the EFL if the tone of his letters would’ve been more diplomatic or been left to the club to discussions that already been ongoing.

 

On the plus side, the Club did it’s best in inviting supporters to watch it on the big screen in the suites.

 

Ticket re-sales

It was picked up that the ticketing website has a section on re-sales, and it was said that this is something for the future as we are not yet selling out games. A lot of other Clubs further up the pyramid have this facility whereby tickets can be bought from supporters who are not able to go and then resold to fans that want to attend.

 

Supporter Liaison Officer(s) /Resources for Fan Engagement team

RS said that a new person will be starting from September as the club’s full-time fan engagement lead, and that from there it is hoped that the Club can grow a volunteer staff team.

 

Improving our structured dialogue / Fan Engagement

MD raised the importance of the Fan Engagement Plan (FEP) and that there were some amendments to it from the Trust that were agreed at the previous meetings that were not yet on there. See here. There was a concern from MD that area of fan engagement could be much better. RS reassured that he’d make sure he would look into it and ensure the amendments would be in place before we meet again and suggested that we propose all 4 dates for the year. It was down to the fact that the Club needed staff to cover this area but hopefully things will improve from September onwards.

 

Supporters Board

As part of Fan Engagement MD raised the fact that the based on the FSA’s preferred model, Supporters Boards should represent the widest number of supporter to be fully representable and that Supporters Trust’s should be key to that, however the SB constitution / Terms of Reference had changed some years ago whereby it has its own identity and that the chair of the SB and ST can meet outside its framework. RS’s advice was to talk to the SB Chair, Tony Bates (TB).

 

Other meetings the Trust would like to attend as part of a consultation process

All these areas were are covered under the Director of Operations, Paula Watson (PW).

 

As environmentally sustainable football was one of those areas, RS reported that the Club had recently won silver in the EFL Green Club Scheme.

 

Since this meeting, the Trust have successfully been able to schedule meeting with PW and others on poor fan behaviour / restorative Justice.

 

Football Governance Bill

The Bill finally became law on the 21st of July. The Bill’s legislation will be overseen by an independent Regulatory body, Chaired by David Kogan (OBE), who has had a 45-year career in media and sports, has extensive experience in negotiating TV rights deals for major football bodies like the Premier League and EFL.

 

The FSA had lobbied for this type of governance reform for many, many years. In 2021 it sat on the Fan-led Review of Football Governance and submitted 300+ pages of evidence and ensured 130+ of its’ member-organisations were involved too.

 

There is a short version of what it covers and a longer one from the FSA.

 

RS felt it was yet to be fully clear what power/s the bill realistically has around the finances of the game and wealth distribution would be centered around bridging the gap between the Championship and the Premier League. He is hoping to meet David Kogan at some point within the next 6 months and was very impressed with his initial introduction at a recent EFL meeting in London.

 

 

EFL Sky Deal

Asked how much the Club will benefit from now being in League One this season, it was said to be over, an additional £400,000.

 

In May 2023 the 72 Clubs in the EFL agreed to a 5-year deal worth £935m that began last season. Both League One and Two Clubs have a minimum of 248 televised matches per season. See more detail here.

 

We discussed the timetable of the schedule of the notice: Initially notice is given as soon as the fixtures come out until the 10th January 2026, and then notice is given from the beginning of the year with notice more televised matches increasing as we move towards the end of the season. RS believes they are much better than in previous TV deals. They are the games’ biggest sponsor, he said.

 

The FSA’s recommendation for giving notice for rescheduling is 12 weeks, and Sky’s is a minimum of 4 weeks. In some instances, Sky is breaking their own commitment of notice. The reason the FSA’s recommendation is a much longer period is to take into consideration travel and hotel bookings when fans plan for away trips.

 

Maintenance Costs

The Club said that maintenance costs are an on-going challenge. Although the stadium is modern, it is still over 20 years old, in its newest areas, and as a result needs on-going maintenance to the building.

 

Ownership

The Club said that the rental cost is more than £500K, though there is sponsorship income from Flamingo Land. We discussed a hypothetical idea of fans raising part of the funds needed for the Club to own the stadium it outright. It was thought not to be viable.

 

Finances

The biggest cost incurred is repairs and maintenance costs of the ground. Close to £200,000 has been spent on reseating the Kop over the summer. It will be the Midland Road next year, if financially possible. Those seats are in a better condition as they are shielded from the sunlight, which is why they are last to do. Also work on upgrading the McCall and Hendrie suites is also planned.

 

The ground rental, still of approx. £500,000 is less impactful the higher up the league divisions we go, as it doesn’t increase against divisional status.

 

Ownership

MD asked, since Stefan Rupp attended the recent fans forum in June, would he be able to attend the occasional Trust or Supporters Board meeting. It was said that he comes mainly for the weekend to attend the match and then flies back home but  will ask when he’s here next.

 

Stadium

Trust colleagues MD and MP attended a meeting with Naz Shah to discuss whether the local authority had a covenant on the stadium – an agreement within property deeds – in this case the stadium that dictate permitted uses and restrictions – to ensure its use is solely for football / watching sport. It was explained that we had discussed with Andy Walsh (AW), a full-time officer working on a temporary basis for the FSA at the time, specialising in stadiums being an asset of Community value and fan ownership, and advised us to investigate this route for the purpose of further protection of the land in addition to the ACV, and with the aim of receiving support. AW also sits on the board of AFC Wimbledon Supporters Trust The experience we had with the local authority was like getting blood out of a stone but Naz Shah had responded very positively. MD said that we wanted to hang fire with publishing our story until we spoke to the Club about it.

 

RS said the Trust may do as it sees fit, but the club will not directly engage.

Promotion! And Prospects on the pitch

July 28, 2025
If anyone wasn’t able to be at the last game of the season at home against Fleetwood on May 3 rd 2025, they will know they missed probably one of the best endings of a match at Valley Parade in it’s history. Looking back ahead of that game, City had looked wobbly in terms of achieving results. Their last win was 2- nil against Crewe at home a month earlier (Sat 5 th April), and lost their following match away at Swindon, and then drawing the next 2 – one at home to Notts County (1-1) in front of the Sky TV crew on a Thursday evening and then away against the Spirites (3-3) before losing to Donny Rovers 2-1 at theirs. So, City had it all to do on their penultimate match and overcome Walsall at least on goal difference who had thrown away their lead in the table since we had beat them convincingly by 3 goals to nil back in January. The pressure was on then because we had to win. For the most part of this game, it was poor, and City played cautiously. It looked like for most City fans we were going to get in the play offs, especially when news came through that Walsall were winning away at Crewe on the hour. At the same time there was a massive urgency from the crowd to encourage a goal. It was only in injury time when the real drama took place. Antoni Sarcevic's shot on the turn went over! And then minutes later George Lapslie with the shot that got deflected in by Sarcevic, the winning goal which brought unbridled joy to Valley Parade in front of a record 24,033, with 420 from Fleetwood for the 25,000 capacity stadium built 25 years ago. The goal brought on a pitch invasion, but once the pitch was eventually cleared to play the remainder of the injury time, it was invaded again! It was almost unbelievable. Incredible scenes of jubilation at Valley Parade. All the frustration from years of lack of success, transformed itself into its’ opposite in an instant. We achieved automatic promotion, and to achieve it in that way, the Bradford City way, and then the celebrations on North Parade, the open top bus on the Tuesday evening was just something else. The result on the day was also the greatest gift to those we remember, our friends and family who never returned home 40 years on after the fire. Playing in League One So now we are in League One, both Club and supporters alike are looking forward to some mouthwatering fixtures. We certainly have more Yorkshire derbies to play. Donny Rovers, who came through with us as League Two Champions, Rotherham and Barnsley are our 3 south Yorkshire rivals, but we know have our West Yorkshire rivals, the ‘dog botherers’, Huddersfield Town to look forward to playing again. It will be interesting to see how former Premier League achievers Luton Town will fair this season, and going to Kennilworth Road will be a popular aim for many. And we have some fairly long distance travel to also, Plymouth, Exeter and Cardiff (another former Premier League team), and we have some Lancashire derbies too, Bolton, Wigan and Blackpool. We do face the return of playing Lincoln City too. The last time we were in the same league was League Two in 2010/11. Whilst the prospect of reacquainting ourselves with some of our rivals is exciting, there will certainly be some disappointments with getting to away games, because as we are now in a higher division, there will be greater demand from our fan-base to get tickets for getting to the away fixtures, and whilst we will see greater availability at some of the bigger grounds especially, it is inevitable some of these matches will be moved at police request or indeed for TV with a month’s notice or in some cases perhaps less. We will certainly keep a look out for that, and also not having enough loyalty points or ‘City Points’ will be a key frustration for many, and for some it will be rising costs of getting a ticket, especially from the bigger clubs in our league. These factors will bring supporters back to the reality of how costs and constant moving of fixtures dominate the modern game and with it, alienate supporters. How well will we fare in League One? The prospect of rising demand for away tickets, largely depends on how well we do on the pitch – picking up points from scoring goals in this results based industry. In terms of players who have departed then, it is a shame that, Richie Smallwood, Romoney Crichlow, Jamie Walker and Vadaine Oliver had to go. There was a lot of experience and team effort from these key players last season. In terms of who we have coming in this summer on free transfers, we have Stephen Humphrys (27-year-old center-forward from Barnsley), Josh Neufville (24-year-old right midfielder from AFC Wimbledon), Joe Wright (30-year-old center-back from Kilmarnock FC), and Matthew Pennington (30-year-old centre-back from Blackpool). They join Max Power, 31 from Danish Superliga side AGF, signing on a 2 year deal in May and, he joined Will Swan, 24 year old forward signed for an undisclosed fee from Crawley Town in June for two years. And just last week, we signed Everton’s Jenson Metcalfe, 20, on a 3-year permanent contract for an undisclosed fee. It’s always difficult to predict how Bradford City will do. No one predicted automatic promotion to League One before the start of last season, especially in the way it actually played out. The reality on the ground, we can say it will be tough in a new, higher division. We can hopefully, safely say that Graham Alexander will build a side based on the senior regulars and some of the new blood that has come in from May up to present. Jensen Metcalfe sounds promising playing alongside Andy Cooke and Bobby Pointon and Callum Kavanagh. There will be a lot of competition for places. If there is confidence in our squad against our opponents and we can regularly find the net as well as being able to prevent opposition forwards score goals consistently we’ll be doing something right. If we can consolidate our position in League One finishing the season strongly that would be amazing. But predicting how well we will do is a bit like prediction the British weather. Most supporters will be pleased with finishing strongly. There are probably over 16,000 season ticket holders at this point in time, and so if Graham Alexander and his coaching staff can create a real buzz in the team, we could see more attendance records being broken and away tickets snapped up quickly, but we shall see how this coming season will develop. Newer fans and certainly younger fans will have greater expectations than simply consolidation. Older fans know what to expect. We are sure there will be many twists and turns as the drama plays out. There will be injuries, and periods of peaks and troughs. It is always a roller-coaster ride, with fans divided on particular players and complete popularity on others as we dissect the game over a season. Another chapter that is unwritten as yet for 2025/26.

Total Amount Raised from Bucket Collection

May 23, 2025
On the 23 rd May the Club announced the total amount raised from the bucket collection before the last game of the season on the 3 rd May. Supporters donated an amazing £7,387.70 during the matchday bucket collection – almost double last year’s total – where volunteers gave up their time to help raise funds around Valley Parade ahead of the game against Fleetwood .  Those volunteers were you, who did an absolutely fantastic job! There were approximately 15 or so volunteers, mostly Trust members, but also from the Disability Club and Shipley Bantams. It is something that has been traditionally been done every year since the fateful tragedy and should be continued as a way of paying our respects to those who we should always remember. A phenomenal £18,580.74 has been raised for the Plastic Surgery and Burns Research Unit (PSBRU) since our game against Fleetwood Town. For more of a breakdown of what was raised when, please see the Club article here. The Trust would like to give a special thank you to all involved in the collection .

Fans Forum

May 22, 2025
There will be a Fans Forum at the Club on Wednesday 11 th June, where fans can ask questions to Chairman, Stefan Rupp, CEO, Ryan Sparks, First Team Manager, Graham Alexander, Head of Recruitment, Stephan Gent and Head of Football Operations, David Sharpe. The event is free but there is limited capacity of 450, and tickets will be available on a first come first served basis to fans that already have next seasons’ season tickets. It will be in the McCall and Hendrie suites, starting at 7pm. For more details and tickets here . Book early to avoid disappointment.

Your Stories from Valley Parade Community Event June 22nd

May 22, 2025
Bantams Supporters Trust have been supporting a community project led by Chris Gaffney, a professor of Archaeological Science at the University of Bradford, with his team at the University of Bradford, by promoting a survey , City supporters have been asked to fill in that asks you about your best memories of being a City fan when you have been at Valley Parade. Your stories will come to life by local artists and shown through the University's immersive technology at an event at City on Sunday 22 nd June, from 10am till 2pm. “Using their technology and your stories, they will be making the unimaginable imaginable. Enter the immersive igloo, explore the digital copy of the University of Bradford Stadium and watch as supporters’ stories are brought to life by artists from across the city.” The survey is still live so if you haven’t taken part yet, now is your chance. Find out more about the day’s event and to register here .

Share Your Stories from Valley Parade for Virtual Reality (VR) Project

May 13, 2025
Were you at Valley Parade on the 3 rd May 2025 to witness incredible scenes of joy as Bradford City clinched automatic promotion in the 96 th minute? Was this your best and most memorable experience ever? We, as Bradford City fans are being asked to participate in telling our stories of being at Valley Parade by answering online survey questions about your experiences of Supporting City at Valley Parade. You can choose which questions you want to answer and your stories / memories can be told anonymously. The questions include sharing memories of their first Bantams match, most memorable game, how they started supporting the club, family members’ memories of following the Bantams, where they sit at the University of Bradford Stadium and what it means to be a Bradford City supporter. The stories will be shared with artists who will turn them into different art forms e.g. paintings, film, poetry. The different artists interpretations of the stories will be embedded into a digital copy of the stadium that Chris Gaffney, (Professor of Archaeological Science at the University of Bradford) and his team are creating, and people will be able to explore using VR. There is an intention to embed the stories in the physical stadium that people will be able to access using a QR code when attending matches. They will be revealed during the Bradford 2025 City of Culture celebrations. The stories may also feature in a book being written to tell people about the different innovations that have been created by the Plastic Surgery and Burns Research Unit as a result of fans donations. Any profits from the book will be go towards the future research of the Plastic Surgery and Burns Research Unit. For further reading please go to the University of Bradford’s press release about the project. 

Voice of the Fans Exhibition

May 13, 2025
A new exhibition looking at fanzine culture in English football from the British Library and the Leeds Library service opened just recently on Friday 9 th May and runs until Sunday 10th August. The “Voice of the Fans” exhibition examines the world of long-standing – and some FSA award-winning – fanzines such our own City Gent, the Square Ball ran by supporters east of Pudsey, national indie title When Saturday Comes, and much more. Charting the rise of “fan self-publishing” from the 1960s into today’s digital-era, Voice of the Fans explores more than 60 years of fan-made media, with highlights from the collections of the British Library and Leeds Libraries – a period that has defined the beautiful game. Born out of the DIY ethos of the music and punk scenes, the raw creativity of football zines remains inspiring and relevant in today’s global game. The exhibition showcases fan-driven creativity from the UK and Ireland, and features some of the longest running and most influential football zines, alongside stories of well-known names who started their careers writing for these grassroots publications. 14 th June Show Our very own City Gent Editor, Mike Harrison will be among other writers and editors including Daniel Chapman of Leedsista and formerly The Square Ball, Felicia Pennant from SEASON Zine and Zoë Hitchen from Girlfans who will be discussing fan-driven publishing in the present moment, including its role in the wider media landscape, what it offers audiences, why it’s important and how it has endured despite changes in the globalised game. The discussion will be chaired by Ffion Thomas, Deputy Editor of When Saturday Comes and co-editor of Along Come Norwich zine. See more about this event here . This is part of the ‘Voice of the Fans’ Exhibition. The exhibition is free to all members of the public and there is no need to book in advance. “Voice of the Fans” will run at Leeds Central Library, Municipal Buildings, Calverley Street Leeds, LS1 3AB.

The Trust Always Remembers

May 9, 2025
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 40th anniversary of the Valley Parade Fire Disaster.

Memorial Service on May 11

May 8, 2025
This Sunday, the annual memorial service will take place at the Bradford City Fire Disaster sculpture, in Centenary Square from 11am, marking 40 years of the anniversary. The service, jointly organized by Bradford Metropolitan District Council and Bradford City will be attended by relatives and friends of the 56 people who lost their lives and were affected in 1985, as well as Club and Council officials and members of the public. The Lord Mayor of Bradford, Cllr Beverley Mullaney, will host a Civic Party from Lincoln who will also attend the service together, with City’s men’s first team players and staff in attendance alongside representatives from the Club, and from Lincoln City. The disaster claimed the lives of 54 Bradford City supporters and two travelling Lincoln supporters, injuring hundreds more, in one of the world’s most devastating sporting tragedies. Bantams Supporters Trust representatives will be laying a wreath on behalf of the Trust.

How we remember the events of 40 years ago

May 6, 2025
An article written four years ago, aimed at perhaps a younger audience of football fans, who may not be aware of the terrible tragedy witnessed at Valley Parade 40 years ago now, is a valuable educational resource. Written by Simon Lloyd of the online magazine www.joe.co.uk , he interviews Mohammed Ibrahim, who recalls his experience of the events of May 11 th , 1985. Simon Lloyd also interviews the Chair of Bantams Supporters Trust, Manny Dominguez how he remembers it too. The article features a short documentary called ‘Unheard Voices’, which is a series of interviews with Humayun Islam from Bangla Bantams, and others, predominantly from the Bangladeshi community who live in the locality around Valley Parade and how they remember too. You can see the article here .

The winner of the Young Player of the Year is...

May 1, 2025
We would like to thank all of you who voted for the Supporters Trusts’ Young Player of the Year 2024/25. They say that football is a game of two halves, and it is, but it needs to be said that our whole season has almost been like a season of two different ones. It was really our home record, a succession of 10 back-to-back home wins that began just before Christmas that propelled the Bantams into the position we are in today. And the future of where we are next season is still to be determined at the last match of what feels like a very long exhilarating rollercoaster ride for the long suffering fans. This season there has been a real team effort on the pitch, a team that has grown in confidence over the course of the season. Congratulations goes to the gaffer, Graham Alexander who picked up the EFL Manager of League Two, while the skipper, Ritchie Smallwood was named in the EFL League Two Team of the Season at the recent EFL awards. And well done to Ritchie Smallwood who picked up the Player of the Year Award from the Club’s main sponsor, JCT600, and most the supporters travel clubs, and from the team itself. Young Player of the Year The winner of the Trust’s Young Player of the Year is of course, Bobby Pointon! He was voted as Trust members’ Young Player of the Year for the second time running! We would also like to give a special thanks to Tony Deacon, who gave Bobby 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.