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2008–09 Bradford City A.F.C. season

Field	Value
club	Bradford City
season	2008–09
manager	Stuart McCall
chairman	Mark Lawn
Julian Rhodes
league	Football League Two
cup1	FA Cup
cup1 result	Second round
cup2	League Cup
cup2 result	First round
cup3	Football League Trophy
cup3 result	First round
league topscorer
Peter Thorne (17)
season topscorer
Peter Thorne (17)
highest attendance	14,038 vs Notts County (9 August 2008)
lowest attendance	5,065 vs Leyton Orient (29 November 2008)
pattern_la1	_blackflair	pattern_b1=_goldstripes_thin	pattern_ra1=_blackflair	pattern_sh1=_maroonsides	pattern_so1=_darkyellow_outerbands
leftarm1	800000	body1=800000	rightarm1=800000	shorts1=000000	socks1=000000
pattern_la2	_blackflair	pattern_b2=_bow burgundy white	pattern_ra2=_blackflair	pattern_sh2=_yellowsides
prevseason	2007–08
nextseason	2009–10

Julian Rhodes Peter Thorne (17) Peter Thorne (17) The 2008–09 season was the 106th season in Bradford City A.F.C.'s history, their 94th in The Football League and 96th in the league system of English football. Their 10th-place finish in 2007–08 meant it would be their second successive season in League Two.

This article covers a period from 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009.

Background

Main article: 2007–08 Bradford City A.F.C. season

Stuart McCall had been appointed Bradford City's new manager ahead of the club's 2007–08 League Two campaign.{{cite news |access-date=1 July 2008 |access-date=3 December 2007 |access-date=1 July 2008 |access-date=1 July 2008 |access-date=1 July 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130505055306/http://www.telegraphandargus.co.uk/display.var.2318877.0..php |archive-date=5 May 2013 |access-date = 1 July 2008 |access-date=1 July 2008 |access-date=1 July 2008 |access-date=1 July 2008

Review

Pre-season

City returned to pre-season training on 1 July 2008 with a fifth new player, after Tranmere midfielder Paul McLaren signed a two-year deal.{{cite news |access-date=1 July 2008 |access-date=17 July 2008 |access-date=20 July 2008 |access-date=22 July 2008 |access-date=23 July 2008 |access-date=26 July 2008 |access-date=24 July 2008 |access-date=1 August 2008 |access-date=1 August 2008 |access-date=3 March 2008 |access-date=9 August 2008

August

City started the season with a 2–1 victory at home to Notts County. Striker Peter Thorne, who had been Bradford's top goalscorer in the 2007–08 season and scored a hat-trick in the corresponding fixture, scored both Bradford's goals.{{cite news |access-date=9 August 2008 |access-date=13 August 2008 |access-date=16 August 2008 |access-date=23 August 2008 |access-date=24 August 2008 |access-date=23 August 2008 |access-date=27 August 2008 |access-date=30 August 2008

September

City suffered a second successive defeat when they were knocked out of another cup by a rival West Yorkshire side from League One. This time it was Leeds United, who won 2–1, in the Football League Trophy in front of 20,128 fans—one of the highest crowds for the tournament. Barry Conlon scored City's goal.{{cite news |access-date=2 September 2008 |access-date=6 September 2008 |access-date=6 September 2008 |access-date=14 September 2008 |access-date=20 September 2008 |access-date=30 September 2008

October

City went a third game without victory with a 1–1 draw with Luton Town. City had been reduced to ten men when Paul Heckingbottom was sent off, but just four minutes later Barry Conlon, who had come on as a substitute only a minute earlier, gave City the lead, only for Luton to equalise seven minutes later.{{cite news |access-date=4 October 2008 |access-date=11 October 2008 | work=BBC News| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081014041850/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_3/7646966.stm| archive-date= 14 October 2008 | url-status= live}} The roles were reversed a week later when City led Gillingham 2–0 at half-time with goals from Thorne and Colbeck; but, despite Gillingham being reduced to ten men when Mark Bentley was sent off, the game finished 2–2.{{cite news |access-date=21 October 2008 |access-date=21 October 2008 |access-date=24 October 2008 |access-date=24 October 2008 |access-date=27 October 2008 |access-date=28 October 2008

November

At the start of November, City extended their unbeaten run to three games, but were unable to defeat Barnet despite being ahead three times. Barry Conlon scored two of the goals in just his fourth league start of the season, with Peter Thorne scoring City's other goal in a 3–3 draw.{{cite news |access-date=1 November 2008 |access-date=8 November 2008 |access-date=15 November 2008 |access-date=15 November 2008 |access-date=23 November 2008 |access-date=26 November 2008 |access-date=27 November 2008 |access-date=29 November 2008

December

At the start of December, Chilean striker Willy Topp was released from his contract six months early to let him find a new club. He played only two games during the 2008–09 season, both as substitute.{{cite news |access-date=2 December 2008 |access-date=4 December 2008 |access-date=6 December 2008 |access-date=14 December 2008 |access-date=20 December 2008 |access-date=26 December 2008 |access-date=28 December 2008

January

At the start of the New Year, TJ Moncur's loan spell was cancelled and he returned to Fulham.{{cite news |access-date=1 January 2009 |access-date=2 January 2009 |access-date=3 January 2009 |access-date=6 January 2009 |access-date=6 January 2009 |access-date=10 January 2009 |access-date=10 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090111231145/http://www.skysports.com/story/0%2C19528%2C12875_4769997%2C00.html |archive-date=11 January 2009 |url-status=live

City's next scheduled game was postponed because of a frozen pitch,{{cite news |access-date=17 January 2009 |access-date=17 January 2009 |access-date=24 January 2009

Two days after the game, City again moved into the loan market by taking Pakistani international defender Zesh Rehman for the rest of the season from Championship side QPR.{{cite news |access-date=26 January 2009 |access-date=26 January 2009 |access-date=28 January 2009 |access-date=30 January 2009 |access-date=31 January 2009

February

The January transfer window closed two days later than traditionally, with City extending Jones' loan until the end of the season but deciding to allow O'Grady to return to Oldham.{{cite news |access-date=2 February 2009 |access-date=2 February 2009 |access-date=2 February 2009 |access-date=7 February 2009 |access-date=14 February 2009 |access-date=18 February 2009 |access-date=21 February 2009 |access-date=28 February 2009

March

City ended their three-run game without a defeat and returned to the play-off spots three days later by defeating Macclesfield Town 1–0 with a goal from Dean Furman.{{cite news |access-date=4 March 2009 |access-date=7 March 2009 |access-date=11 March 2009 |access-date=11 March 2009 |access-date=14 March 2009 |access-date=20 March 2009 |access-date=18 March 2009 |access-date=18 March 2009

Although Conlon played in the defeat by Bournemouth, he was sent on loan to Grimsby at the end of the week, with fellow striker Paul Mullin arriving as his replacement from Accrington Stanley on a similar deal to the end of the season.{{cite news |access-date=20 March 2009 |access-date=21 March 2009 |access-date=26 March 2009 |access-date=26 March 2009 |access-date=28 March 2009

April

City started April by extending their number of games without a win to six with a 1–1 draw at home with league leaders Brentford. City's goal came in the final minute from Peter Thorne to rescue one point.{{cite news |access-date=5 April 2009 |access-date=11 April 2009

Match results

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Football League Two

Main article: 2008–09 Football League Two

Game	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers	Notes
1	9 August 2008	Notts County	Home	2–1	14,038	Thorne (2)
2	16 August 2008	Macclesfield Town	Away	2–0	2,556	Thorne (2)
3	23 August 2008	Rochdale	Home	2–0	13,154	M. Boulding, Thorne
4	30 August 2008	Aldershot Town	Away	2–3	3,805	Bullock, McLaren
5	6 September 2008	Port Vale	Away	2–0	7,273	Bullock, Thorne
6	13 September 2008	Exeter City	Home	4–1	12,683	M. Boulding (2), Thorne (2)
7	20 September 2008	Bournemouth	Home	1–3	12,824	Colbeck
8	27 September 2008	Shrewsbury Town	Away	0–2	6,517
9	4 October 2008	Luton Town	Home	1–1	13,083	Conlon
10	11 October 2008	Accrington Stanley	Away	3–2	3,012	M. Boulding, Conlon, Thorne
11	18 October 2008	Gillingham	Home	2–2	12,432	Colbeck, Thorne
12	21 October 2008	Darlington	Away	1–2	3,034	Daley
13	24 October 2008	Grimsby Town	Away	3–1	4,470	M. Boulding, Daley, Lee
14	28 October 2008	Bury	Home	1–0	12,830	Conlon
15	1 November 2008	Barnet	Home	3–3	12,510	Conlon (2), Thorne
16	15 November 2008	Wycombe Wanderers	Away	0–1	5,002
17	22 November 2008	Rotherham United	Away	2–0	4,586	Law, O'Brien
18	25 November 2008	Chesterfield	Home	3–2	12,145	M. Boulding, Conlon (pen), Lee
19	6 December 2008	Dagenham & Redbridge	Home	1–1	12,145	M. Boulding
20	13 December 2008	Brentford	Away	1–2	4,339	M. Boulding
21	20 December 2008	Chester City	Home	0–0	12,092
22	26 December 2008	Lincoln City	Away	0–0	6,156
23	28 December 2008	Morecambe	Home	4–0	13,105	M. Boulding, Conlon (pen), Law, McLaren
24	3 January 2009	Shrewsbury Town	Home	0–0	12,877
25	17 January 2009	Accrington Stanley	Home	1–1	12,172	Conlon
26	24 January 2009	Luton Town	Away	3–3	6,053	Conlon (pen), Furman, McLaren
27	27 January 2009	Bury	Away	0–1	4,112
28	31 January 2009	Grimsby Town	Home	2–0	12,816	Jones, Law
29	7 February 2009	Gillingham	Away	2–0	4,866	M. Boulding, Daley
30	14 February 2009	Wycombe Wanderers	Home	1–0	12,689	Jones
31	17 February 2009	Darlington	Home	0–0	12,782
32	21 February 2009	Barnet	Away	1–4	2,445	M. Boulding
33	28 February 2009	Notts County	Away	1–3	5,138	Thorne
34	3 March 2009	Macclesfield Town	Home	1–0	11,908	Furman
35	7 March 2009	Aldershot Town	Home	5–0	12,465	Conlon, Furman, Thorne (2), own goal
36	10 March 2009	Rochdale	Away	0–3	5,157		url=http://www.rochdaleafc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10441~1589108,00.html	title=Club Statement re Bradford Attendance	date=13 March 2009	access-date=14 March 2009	publisher=Rochdale A.F.C.	archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723060315/http://www.rochdaleafc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10441~1589108,00.html	archive-date=23 July 2011	url-status=dead}}
37	14 March 2009	Exeter City	Away	0–1	5,253
38	17 March 2009	Bournemouth	Away	1–4	4,847	M. Clarke
39	21 March 2009	Port Vale	Home	0–1	12,436
40	28 March 2009	Chester City	Away	0–0	2,735
41	4 April 2009	Brentford	Home	1–1	12,832	Thorne
42	10 April 2009	Morecambe	Away	1–2	4,546	M. Clarke
43	13 April 2009	Lincoln City	Home	1–1	12,932	Bullock
44
45
46

FA Cup

Main article: 2008–09 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers	Notes
1	8 November 2008	Milton Keynes Dons	Away	2–1	5,542	Daley, Lee
2	29 November 2008	Leyton Orient	Home	1–2	5,065	M. Boulding

League Cup

Main article: 2008–09 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers	Notes
1	12 August 2008	Huddersfield Town	Away	0–4	8,932

Football League Trophy

Main article: 2008–09 Football League Trophy

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers	Notes
1	2 September 2008	Leeds United	Away	1–2	20,128	Conlon

Player details

:Updated to 11 April 2009.{{Cite web |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130202123842/http://www.soccerbase.com/squad_season.sd?seasonid=138&teamid=234 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 February 2013 |access-date=11 April 2009

No.	Pos.	Name	League	FA Cup	League Cup	FL Trophy	Total	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps
1	GK	ENG Rhys Evans	42	0	2	0	1	1	0	46	0
2	DF	ENG Paul Arnison	22 (1)	0	0	0	1	0	0	23 (1)	0
3	DF	ENG Paul Heckingbottom	9	0	0 (1)	0	1	1	0	11 (1)	0
4	MF	ENG Paul McLaren	30 (1)	3	1	0	1	1	0	33 (1)	3
5	DF	ENG Graeme Lee	41	1	2	1	1	1	0	45	3
6	DF	ENG Mark Bower	0 (1)	0	0	0	0	1	0	1 (1)	0
7	MF	JAM Omar Daley	26 (2)	3	1	1	1	1	0	29 (2)	4
8	MF	ENG Lee Bullock	11 (8)	2	0	0	1	0 (1)	0	12 (9)	2
9	FW	IRL Barry Conlon	15 (15)	10	2	0	1	1	1	19 (15)	11
10	FW	ENG Peter Thorne	29 (5)	15	0 (1)	0	0 (1)	0	0	29 (7)	15
11	MF	ENG Chris Brandon	3 (3)	0	0	0	0	0	0	3 (3)	0
12	DF	ENG Matthew Clarke	39	2	2	0	1	0	0	42	2
13	GK	ENG Jonathan McLaughlin	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	FW	ENG Michael Boulding	33 (8)	11	2	1	1	0 (1)	0	36 (9)	12
15	MF	ENG Joe Colbeck	17 (8)	2	0	0	0	1	0	18 (8)	2
16	DF	ENG Simon Ainge	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
17	FW	CHI Willy Topp	0 (2)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0 (2)	0
18	FW	ENG Rory Boulding	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
19	DF	ENG Luke O'Brien	30 (1)	1	2	0	0	0	0	32 (1)	1
20	DF	ENG TJ Moncur	11 (3)	0	2	0	0 (1)	1	0	14 (4)	0
21	DF	ENG Tom Clarke	4 (2)	0	1	0	0	0	0	5 (2)	0
22	MF	ENG Kyle Nix	5 (9)	0	1	0	1	1	0	8 (9)	0
23	MF	RSA Dean Furman	24 (6)	3	0	0	0	1	0	25 (6)	3
24	MF	ENG Nicky Law	28 (1)	3	2	0	0	0	0	30 (1)	3
25	MF	NIR Steve Jones	22 (2)	2	1	0	0	0	0	23 (2)	2
26	MF	ENG Luke Sharry	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
27	FW	ENG Leon Osborne	1	0	1 (1)	0	0	0	0	2 (1)	0
28	FW	ENG Sean Taylforth	0	0	0	0	0 (1)	0	0	0 (1)	0
29	DF	ENG Adrian Bellamy	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
30	GK	ENG Matthew Convey	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
32	FW	ENG Chris O'Grady	0 (2)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0 (2)	0
33	DF	PAK Zesh Rehman	13 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	13 (1)	0
34	MF	NIR Keith Gillespie	2 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	2 (1)	0
35	FW	ENG Paul Mullin	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
		own goals	–	1	–	0	–	–	0	–	1

Transfers

In

Date	Pos	Name	From	Fee
1 July 2008	MF	ENG Paul McLaren	ENG Tranmere Rovers	Free
24 July 2008	FW	ENG Michael Boulding	ENG Mansfield Town	Free
24 July 2008	FW	ENG Rory Boulding	ENG Mansfield Town	Tribunal
1 August 2008	GK	ENG Rhys Evans	ENG Millwall	Free
11 March 2009	MF	NIR Keith Gillespie	ENG Sheffield United	Free

Out

Date	Pos	Name	To	Fee	Notes
2 December 2008	FW	Chile Willy Topp		Released

Loans in

Date	Pos	Name	From	End date
8 August 2008	DF	ENG TJ Moncur	ENG Fulham	1 January 2009
27 August 2008	MF	South Africa Dean Furman	SCO Rangers
23 October 2008	DF	ENG Tom Clarke	ENG Huddersfield Town	3 December 2008
27 October 2008	MF	ENG Nicky Law	ENG Sheffield United
27 November 2008	MF	NIR Steve Jones	ENG Burnley
2 January 2009	FW	ENG Chris O'Grady	ENG Oldham Athletic	2 February 2009
26 January 2009	DF	Pakistan Zesh Rehman	ENG Queens Park Rangers
20 March 2009	FW	ENG Paul Mullin	ENG Accrington Stanley

Loans out

Date	Pos	Name	To	End date	Notes
27 August 2008	DF	ENG Adrian Bellamy	ENG Salford City		{{cite news
7 October 2008	MF	ENG Sean Taylforth	ENG Guiseley		{{cite news
6 January 2009	MF	ENG Luke Sharry	ENG Barrow	24 February 2009	{{cite news
26 January 2009	DF	ENG Mark Bower	ENG Luton Town
	MF	ENG Louis Horne	ENG Barrow	24 February 2009	url=http://www.bradfordcityfc.co.uk/page/News/0,,10266~1557608,00.html	title=City pair on loan at Barrow	date=15 February 2009	access-date=15 February 2009	publisher=Bradford City A.F.C.	archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090217205843/http://www.bradfordcityfc.co.uk/page/News/0%2C%2C10266~1557608%2C00.html	archive-date=17 February 2009	url-status=dead }}
	GK	ENG Matthew Convey	ENG Salford City
20 March 2009	FW	ENG Barry Conlon	ENG Grimsby Town
26 March 2009	DF	ENG Simon Ainge	ENG Cambridge United

References

(21 November 2008). "Rotherham 0-2 Bradford". BBC Sport.
(13 March 2009). "Club Statement re Bradford Attendance". Rochdale A.F.C..
(15 February 2009). "City pair on loan at Barrow". Bradford City A.F.C..
(19 February 2009). "City in keeper crisis". Bradford City A.F.C..

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