www.boyfrombrazil.co.uk players of the season

1. Paul Heckingbottom

   Why has the left back picked up on a free from Norwich been so recognised in a back four that ships goals when all other signings of the Summer have provided less effective? It could be Heck’s honest work rate which impresses or maybe it is his versatility but if BfB had to be brutally honest about why Paul Heckingbottom has got the player of the season award it would be for his bloody minded regularity.

   No matter how bad this season got Paul Heckingbottom was somewhere running his heart out and putting in as good a game as he could and in doing so he shows what so many of the other players have lacked this season and the team has been crying out for: Character and backbone.

2. Danny Cadamarteri

   Danny Cadamarerti has had a season of worrying if he will ever be fit or indeed now if he have a job next season but in the brief glimpses he has shown he has been by some way the most talented player we have had going forward.

3. Lewis Emanuel

   Aside from the fact that he remains the only player of last season’s squad to have signed a new contract this term Lewis has grown as a player this year taking his versatility to a useful level in which Bryan Robson could use him on the left flank or on the left side of midfield. If this club has a future then it is in Lewis Emanuel.

4. Paul Evans

   Sold for a song to Nottingham Forest after winning his place back in the starting line up once again Evo never gave anything less than his all for City and in the eighteen months since he arrived to play for free when other players were on strike it is a crime that we did not make more of his admirable talents and willingness to do what few of the other players want to: ask for the ball.

5. Peter Atherton

   Really really simply if Peter Atherton is in the City team in midfield then we do better than if he is not.

Where did it all go wrong? How City ended up in administration again

1. Gordon Gibb and Julian Rhodes fall out and Gibb pounces onto the field while Rhodes goes quiet and neither will speak with the other.
2. We had to sell the likes of Andy Gray, Simon Francis and Paul Evans but did we have to sell them so cheap. I can think of no other club so incapable of raising a fee for decent players as Bradford City. Had we been able to get a decent fee for a player we might not have ended up in administration either time.
3. Falling crowds owing to rotten football. Even though City played some good stuff under Bryan Robson the constant stream of 1-0 defeats meant that the club were never going to get near the projected attendance figures which were based on a push for the Premiership.
4. “Who cares about City?” asked Gordon Gibb when called on local business men to back the Bantams. Only the council turned up.
5. The attitude to the dangers of administration was all wring. What should have been a massive warning siren was treated like a blinking L.E.D. and phrases like “formality” were used.

Best wins

1. Bryan Robson’s first game sees City come back from two down to beat Millwall 3-2.
2. Premiership bound Norwich were supposed to batter City into submission at Carrow Road. It didn’t happen and Alun Armstrong gave the Bantams a 1-0 win.
3. Ronnie Wallwork hardly got into the opposition penalty area before joining City but he scored two to give City a 2-1 win at Rotherham.
4. A long cool summer afternoon and City go to Cardiff and take all three points with a pair of Howitzers for Lewis Emanuel and Andy Gray.
5. Paul Evans and Dean Windass play to a packed house against Watford in the 2-0 win at VP.

Best goals

1. The Paul Evans free kick against Watford.
2. The power finish of Danny Cadamarteri from a Simon Francis cross at home to Millwall.
3. The Lewis Emanuel belter at Cardiff.
4. The dribble and canon in his boots of Danny Cadamarteri at home to Wimbledon.
5. The Andy Gray long ranger at Cardiff.
6. The back heel genius of Kevin Sanasy at home to Wimbledon.
7. The slick finish to a passing move of Alun Armstrong at Norwich.
8. The mazy dribble of Ben Muirhead at home to Norwich.
9. The cool and calm finish of Michael Branch at Crystal Palace.
10. The accuracy of a bobbler by Dean Windass at home to Sheffield United.

Coming through for next season

1. The glory of Kevin Sanasy will be there for all – except perhaps opposition goalkeepers – to enjoy. Sanasy is Bobby Campbell brought up in Brazil as Edinho.
2. The calm control of Tom Penford. Penford is the boy who saw Chris Waddle and knew how he was going to play the game.
3. The massiveness of Peter Folkes. Folkes Is cut out of the Sol Campbell cloth of football.
4. The power of Daniel Ekoku. A more pointed footballer you will not see.
5. and of course… The return of Danny Forrest.

This was the season that…

1. City went into administration again and very nearly out of business.
2. Bryan Robson was the City boss.
3. We wasted our good young kids to give Robert Wolleaston and Luke Cornwall a chance to play football.
4. The First Division provided three totally average teams for the Premiership. Crystal Palace, Norwich City and West Brom could not provide a decent Premiership team if you combined each squad.
5. City were relegated back to the lower leagues.