Lot of potential for Bradford City

Bradford City finally managed to secure promotion back to League One last season, but they sure left it late, as third place was only confirmed after Antoni Sarvecic’s 96th minute winner against Fleetwood Town in their last league game.

This achievement ended the Bantams’ six-year stay in League Two, which felt far too long for a club of Bradford City’s magnitude. Many outside observers had struggled to understand their relatively low status, given the natural advantages enjoyed by City.

For example, Bradford has a very big catchment area, with the city ranked as the 10th largest in England, above the likes of Nottingham, Newcastle, Brighton & Hove and Wolverhampton – all of which have clubs in the Premier League.

During their time in England’s fourth tier, the closest City had previously come to going up was in 2022/23, when they were beaten by Carlisle United in the play-off semi-finals. In fact, they had finished as low as 15th two years before that - or 83rd in the English pyramid.

This was a bit of a comedown for a club that narrowly missed out on promotion to the Championship in 2016/17, only losing to Millwall in the play-off final at Wembley, while they got as far as the play-off semi-finals the previous season.

As recently as 2000/01 City had actually been in the Premier League, while their potential was again highlighted by reaching the League Cup final in 2012/13, when they beat three clubs from England’s top flight on the way to the final (Wigan Athletic, Arsenal and Aston Villa).

German businessman Stefan Rupp bought Bradford City, along with his partner Edin Rahic, from previous owners Julian Rhodes and Mark Lawn for a reported £5.5m in May 2016.  The idea was that they would have the financial resources to take City to the next level, which in fairness they very nearly did, when they finished fifth in League One in each of the next two seasons.

However, there then followed a steady decline, including relegation in 2018/19, when City finished rock bottom of League One. As a result of the poor results, Rahic received much criticism for the way he ran the club, so he exited stage left, returning his stake to Rupp.  Rupp has also copped his fair share of flak, not least for his hands-off attitude, though the German argued, “My commitment to Bradford City is unwavering. While I do oversee matters remotely, I wouldn’t describe myself as an absentee owner.”

Although Rupp might not be as generous as other owners, both in terms of his presence and level of financial support, there are many others much worse than the German, as seen by the terrible problems at some other clubs, e.g. Sheffield Wednesday and Morecambe.

City’s prospects have not been helped by an incredible managerial merry-go-round that has resulted in no fewer than 14 managers (including caretakers) in the hot seat since 2015/16.

Some City supporters are firmly of the opinion that the owner should have invested more money in the squad, as opposed to the sustainable model that the club has adopted in the last few years.

The justification for City’s conservative approach was provided by club director, Alan Biggin, “As a chartered accountant I am fully committed to the financial stability of the club. We cannot spend money we do not have, nor must we run the risk of excessive borrowing to ‘chase the dream’.”

However, it looks like there has been a loosening of the purse strings, which was promised by Rupp in an open letter to City supporters in March 2024, “I pledge my support to ensure we are now able to compete in the transfer market, giving us a greater chance of having a closer fight with teams at the top end of the table next season. In the past, this has not always been the case.”

The chairman added, “I gave clear direction to run our club as close to breakeven as possible, however I recognise this can have its limitations, and we must, to some degree, move away from an approach where our primary objective is sustainability, in order to achieve our goals, without placing financial strain on the business.”

Bradford City twice entered into administration at the beginning of the century, the first time in 2002, then once again two years later.  Although promotion to the Premier League was an incredible achievement, former chairman Geoffrey Richmond then gambled on the club’s future – and lost.

City were hit by the double whammy of relegation from the top flight and the collapse of ITV Digital, leaving the club with huge, unmanageable debts, including a mortgage taken out on the construction of the Main Stand.  Given this background, it’s entirely understandable that the club has not spent like gangbusters in an attempt to reclaim former glories.

Financial Position

Bradford City’s pre-tax loss in 2023/24 more than doubled from £0.4m to £1.0m, mainly because of an increase in operating expenses, which rose £0.7m (8%) from £9.1m to £9.8m, while revenue was flat at £7.7m. This was partly offset by more profit from player sales, which increased by £0.2m (20%) from £0.8m to £1.0m.

Despite the increase, City’s £1.0m pre-tax loss was actually one of the better results in League Two. Only two clubs managed to generate a profit, namely Newport County and Mansfield Town – and neither of those made more than £25k. Only two clubs lost less money than City in 2023/24: Crewe Alexandra £0.8m and Accrington Stanley £0.9m.

At the other end of the spectrum, seven clubs lost more than £3m, led by Stockport County £7.0m, Salford City £5.3m and Gillingham £4.3m. As Stockport stormed to the title, their hefty loss could be described as “the price of success”.

City have posted losses in six of the last seven years, though they have tended to keep these relatively small – with the exception of the hefty £1.9m deficit in 2018/19. In fact, the £1.2m profit in 2019/20 would also have been a loss without substantial transfer income of £2.6m.  Over the course of the last decade, City have lost a total of £3.6m.

City made £5.4m from player sales in the last five years, though almost half of this came in a single season back in 2019/20, when the sizeable £2.6m gain was related to the sell-on fee for Oliver McBurnie after Swansea City sold the forward to Sheffield United.

In the last five years, total income has grown by £0.8m (11%) from £7.8m to £8.6m, which is actually more impressive than it sounds, as transfer income dropped by £1.6m, while 2019/20 included £0.4m government support received during the COVID lockdown.

One of the most impressive things about Bradford City is their crowds, which are very high for this level, even though average attendance slightly fell in 2023/24 from 17,862 to 17,547. The last time that City were in League One, they did even better, attracting an average of just under 20,000.  In fact, City’s 17,877 average attendance last season would have been fourth highest in League One, only surpassed by Birmingham City 26,283, Bolton Wanderers 21,325 and Huddersfield Town 18,817.

Part of the appeal for Bradford City fans in attending the game is the club’s low ticket prices. For a long time, this arguably reflected the quality of “the product” on the pitch, but is a policy that should be applauded.

Stadium

The stadium has been a financial millstone around the club’s neck, ever since it was sold to the pension fund of former co-owner Gordon Gibb, who bought it in the early 2000s for around £2.5m, as the club struggled with debts and twice entered administration.  As a result, City have had to pay rent since then, while it is also responsible for paying the upkeep and maintenance of the stadium, as well as insurance on the ground. Furthermore, the annual rent has increased every five years, so it currently costs the club around £500k, a huge sum for a team playing in League Two.

The 25,000 capacity ground, now known as the University of Bradford Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is very good by the standards of most English clubs. Although it is showing its age, it has a good location close to the city centre and train station.  The stadium lease runs until 2028, when the club has an option to extend it for a further 25 years, though it seems clear that Rupp would like to buy the stadium back before then.

Other options include moving to Odsal, where rugby league club Bradford Bulls play their home games, or build a stadium elsewhere, but the preference would surely be to stay at Valley Parade, if only for emotional reasons.

Wages

City’s wage bill rose £0.5m (9%) from £5.6m to £6.1m in 2023/24, which means that this has grown by £2.1m (53%) in the last five years from £4.0m to £6.1m. Wages were split between £4.1m for first team players and management, including a pay-off for Mark Hughes, plus £2.0m for other staff.

it’s worth noting that before this period the wage bill had been much higher, as Biggin said, “the club was carrying over heavy wages (long-term contracts) from its grossly overspending summer of 2018.”

Owner

As with every football club, there are questions about whether the owner has the desire to stay with the club for the long term.  At the recent Fans Forum, Rupp tried to clarify his position, “Owning a football club is never a wise decision financially, but I really enjoy it and I love what’s going on here. Long may it continue and I really want to be the one helping write the next chapter for this club.”

That said, the feeling remains that he would probably sell for the right price, as he explained in last year’s open letter, “I, like most owners in the EFL, would and will continue to consider offers from potential buyers who could take Bradford City further than I can, though I would never allow it to fall into the hands of someone who would harm it.”

This explains why Rupp rejected an offer from US cryptocurrency investors WAGMI two years ago, as he did not believe that they were the right people to take the club forward. Given the issues that arose after WAGMI took over Crawley Town, this was probably a bullet dodged for Bradford City.

City’s fans are probably heartily sick of their club being described as a “sleeping giant”, but there is clearly a lot of potential at Bradford City, especially looking at the impressive attendances.

There are legitimate questions about whether Rupp will be able to provide enough financial support for City to realistically compete at the higher level, while still maintaining the club’s firm financial footing, but it does look as if more money has been injected in the last year or so.