As the bantams take on the reborn Dons this afternoon Keith Wildman laments the cruel optimism the early stages of the Cup can’t help but bring out in every fan.
Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in again.
It could be the bantams’ motto. A decade of false dawns. Raised hopes. The return of the messiah. Stuart McCall. ‘Biggest budget in the division’. Crowds three times our rivals. Seasons over by Christmas. Or worse turning into relegation battles.
Then next season. Summer. Fresh new faces. Eager. The next big thing. A proven manager. With a plan. Only for it to go tits up again.
This season comes. There’s a long term plan. Through all levels of the club. Scouting. Training facilities. A youth ‘development squad’. A manager that’s ‘Bradford through and through’. Young hungry players. So many ‘young hungry players’ that if Bob Geldoff got word he’d probably want to host a concert for them.
And it went tits up. After just 7 games. Or something. A new manager. New players. Start again. More hope. Just when I was out.
Which is where we meet Wimbledon. In the FA Cup. Wimbledon and the FA Cup go together. That bloody BBC montage – white horse, Ronnie Radford. We all know that Sanchez header. Sanchez went on to forge a very impressive career as a manager. Wimbledon’s FA Cup hero. By contrast City’s FA Cup final winning goal hero was killed, 6 years later at the Battle of Passchendaele aged just 31.
That seems to sum up the mood of the two clubs at the moment. Two cup winning sides. One in the ascendency and one hitting rock bottom.
Whilst we lie 3rd from bottom of the league we’ve looked very effective in all the cup competitions this season.
City have already faced Wimbledon at Valley Parade this season. The Dons brought plenty of support. Boisterous. Confident that this was just the start of their adventure. 10 years before they’d sat in the same seats watching their team throw away their Premier League status. Now they were here at the team everyone seems to want to beat in our division. And often does. The Dons were no different. City, having gone 1-0 up crumbled, whimpering to a 2-1 defeat in one of the season’s poorest performances. It was City’s turn to capitulate. A moment not lost on the Dons fans.
Much has changed since then. Less than twelve weeks. The City line up will bear little resemblance. A quick glance at the line-up from September and I’d expect at least five changes. Wimbledon, flying high, and with a squad half the size will no doubt have to field a similar team. They do after all have a proud cup tradition. But as I’ve mentioned, so do City. And whilst we lie 3rd from bottom of the league we’ve looked very effective in all the cup competitions this season. Unlucky to lose to Leeds in the League Cup. Through to the northern semis of the JPT beating three teams in the division above on the way, and an excellent win at home with a 35-yard screamer in the FA Cup first round.
So, despite City’s poor league position, form, and our opponents’ having already got the better of us, I’m convinced Bradford City will be in the draw for the third round. Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in again.
