The 2014–15 season was Bradford City's 112th season in their history, their 100th in the Football League and 102nd in the league system of English football. It was their second season back in League One after finishing 11th in the previous year.
Pre-season news
After finishing 11th in the 2013–14 Football League One campaign the Bantams kept the majority of the squad for this season. However captain Gary Jones, winger Garry Thompson, midfielder Nathan Doyle, defenders Matthew Bates and Nathan Curtis were all released along with youth players Jack Stockdill, Louie Swain and Jack Bentley.
Bradford signed midfielder Matthew Dolan on a one-year permanent deal after spending the 2013–14 season on loan from Middlesbrough. Also defender Rory McArdle signed a new 3-year deal with the club. Midfielder Billy Knott signed for Bradford on a 2-year deal after being released from Sunderland, who is described as a 'high-intensity' and 'high-energy' styled player. Bradford made their 3rd summer signing ahead of the new campaign by signing midfielder Gary Liddle, after he was released by Notts County. Defender Stephen Darby signed a new 3-year deal with the club, who was also appointed as the club's new captain for the 2014–15 season.
It was announced that Blackburn Rovers would visit the Bantams in a pre-season friendly. A day after this news was announced the annual match against Guiseley was revealed to be played on 15 July. Bradford will also travel to Northern Ireland for a pre-season tour as they did in the previous year. There they will face University College Dublin and Shelbourne.
Another pre-season friendly match was confirmed on 29 May, it was announced the club would travel to Morecambe's Globe Arena on 2 August. That will be the first of two matches played within just over a week between the two clubs after they were both drawn together for the first round of the Football League Cup, which will be played in the week commencing 11 August again at the Globe Arena.
Pre-season and friendlies
DateOpponentsH / AResultF–AScorersAttendance12 July 2014GuiseleyA 3–0 Clarkson (2) 13', 44', Dolan 27' —15 July 2014U.C.DA 2–3 Clarkson (2) 41', 54' —19 July 2014ShelbourneA 4–0 Sheehan 22' (pen.), Clarke (2) 29', 53', De Vita 76' —26 July 2014Blackburn RoversH 0–0 — —2 August 2014Hartlepool UnitedA 1–1 Clarke 72' —
League One Matches The fixtures for the 2014–15 season were announced on 18 June 2014 at 9am.
The first game of the season saw City host Coventry City, the Bantams took the lead through a James Hanson goal however Coventry battled back to equalize through Reda Johnson. Bradford were awarded a penalty which Alan Sheehan converted, Johnson then netted for Coventry in the 89th minute only for Hanson to score a header from a Jason Kennedy cross in the 90th minute to ensure Bradford won their opening game for the first time in 6 years. The next game against Walsall ended with a 0–0 draw however the following game saw the Bantams win 3–1 against Crawley Town, Bradford took a lead early in the second half through a Hanson goal. Crawley equalized shortly after through Joe Walsh. Billy Knott fired the Bantams ahead before Mason Bennett wrapped the game up with a 3rd goal for Bradford. However the unbeaten run was short lived as Peterborough United came away with a 1–0 victory with City unable to score. Bradford's final game in August was a 2–0 win over Rochdale. Rochdale went close early on but former player Jason Kennedy slotted home a scrappy goal to give the Bantams the lead, 6 minutes later Hanson scored his 4th league goal of the season to ensure that City came away with the points.
DateOpponentsH/AResultF–AScorersAttendanceLeagueposition9 August 2014Coventry CityH 3–2 Hanson (2) 27', 90', Sheehan 49' (pen.) 14,621 4th16 August 2014WalsallA0–0 4,520 8th19 August 2014Crawley TownA3–1Hanson 49', Knott 62', Bennett 77' 2,225 2nd23 August 2014Peterborough UnitedH 0–1 13,546 8th30 August 2014RochdaleA2–0 Kennedy 60', Hanson 66' 4,758 4th6 September 2014Yeovil TownH 1–3 McArdle 26' 12,601 5th13 September 2014Swindon TownH 1–2 Thompson 10' (o.g.) 12,486 8th16 September 2014Milton Keynes DonsA 2–1 McLean 24', Clarke 26' 7,139 5th20 September 2014Colchester UnitedA 0–0 3,524 6th27 September 2014Port ValeH 1–1 Yeates 45' 12,703 9th4 October 2014Crewe AlexandraH 2–0 McLean 72', Liddle 74' 12,386 7th12 October 2014BarnsleyA 1–3 Kennedy 1' 10,499 7th18 October 2014Sheffield UnitedH 0–2 14,784 11th21 October 2014Bristol CityA 2–2 Clarke 20', Routis 85' 12,548 12th25 October 2014Oldham AthleticA 1–2 Halliday 45' 5,832 12th1 November 2014Doncaster RoversH 1–2 Stead 45' 13,348 14th15 November 2014Preston North EndA 2–1 McArdle 26', Yeates 86' 10,302 13th22 November 2014GillinghamH 1–1 Legge 56' (o.g.) 12,434 12th29 November 2014Leyton OrientH 3–1 Knott 42', Clarke 79', Stead 81' 12,489 10th13 December 2014ChesterfieldA 1–0 Clarke 57' 6,809 10th20 December 2014Scunthorpe UnitedH 1–1 McArdle 32' 12,831 8th26 December 2014Fleetwood TownA2–0 Hanson 42', Morais 81' 4,278 5th28 December 2014Notts CountyH1–0 Knott 41' 14,518 5th10 January 2015RochdaleH 1–2 Stead 32' 13,571 5th17 January 2015Yeovil TownA 0–1 4,009 6th31 January 2015Colchester UnitedH 1–1 Morais 77' 13,917 8th7 February 2015Port ValeA 2–2 Hanson 41', Morais 65' 5,205 9th9 February 2015Milton Keynes DonsH 2–1 Clarke 57', Hanson 70' 11,948 6th18 February 2015Leyton OrientA 2–0 Hanson (2) 21', 32' 4,760 7th21 February 2015WalsallH 1–1 Clarke 51' 13,534 6th24 February 2015Swindon TownA 1–2 Clarke 54' 6,812 6th28 February 2015Peterborough UnitedA 0–2 6,494 8th3 March 2015Crawley TownH 1–0 Zoko 9' 11,683 8th10 March 2015Coventry CityA 1–1 Yeates 69' 8,566 9th14 March 2015Notts CountyA 1–1 Stead 45' 5,166 9th21 March 2015Fleetwood TownH 2–2 Stead 10', Routis 50' 12,963 12th28 March 2015Oldham AthleticH 2–0 Clarke (2) 71', 90' 14,010 10th31 March 2015ChesterfieldH 0–1 12,551 10th3 April 2015Doncaster RoversA 3–0 MacKenzie 55', Clarke 64', McMahon 90' 8,592 7th6 April 2015Preston North EndH 0–3 16,032 9th11 April 2015GillinghamA 0–1 5,221 9th14 April 2015Bristol CityH 0–6 12,609 11th18 April 2015Sheffield UnitedA 1–1 Clarke 83' 21,879 12th21 April 2015Scunthorpe UnitedA 1–1 Clarke 63' 3,176 10th25 April 2015BarnsleyH 1–0 Stead 17' 15,560 8th3 May 2015Crewe AlexandraA 1–0 Clarke 23' 7,608 7th
League table
FA Cup
DateRoundOpponentsH / AResultF–AScorersAttendance9 November 2014Round 1Halifax TownA 2–1 Stead 50', Morais 53' 8,042 7 December 2014 Round 2 Dartford H 4–1 Clarke 10', Stead 31', Morais 58', Yeates 59' 5,373 3 January 2015 Round 3 Millwall A 3–3Knott (2) 6', 76', Nelson 70' (o.g.) 5,470 14 January 2015 Replay MillwallH 4–0 Hanson 8', Stead 17', Halliday 39', Knott 57' 11,859 24 January 2015 Round 4 ChelseaA 4–2 Stead 41', Morais 75', Halliday 82', Yeates 90+4' 41,01415 February 2015 Round 5 SunderlandH 2–0 O'Shea 3' (o.g.), Stead 61' 24,021 7 March 2015 Round 6 ReadingH 0–0 24,321 16 March 2015 Replay ReadingA 0–3 22,908
League Cup
The draw for the first round was made on 17 June 2014 at 10am. Bradford City were drawn at away to Morecambe.
Round 1 saw the Bantams take on Morecambe at the Globe Arena, a hard-fought game was decided in the last 10 minutes as Aaron McLean came off the bench to score the winner for Bradford. The second round draw saw Bradford pulled out alongside arch rivals Leeds United at Valley Parade. The Bantams went 1–0 down late in the game to 10 men Leeds however a 20-yard strike from Billy Knott a minute later leveled the score before James Hanson score the winner another 2 minutes later.
DateRoundOpponentsH / AResultF–AScorersAttendance12 August 2014Round 1MorecambeA1–0McLean 83'2,395 27 August 2014Round 2 Leeds UnitedH2–1 Knott 84', Hanson 86' 18,750 23 September 2014Round 3Milton Keynes DonsA0–25,707
Football League Trophy
Bradford were drawn against Oldham Athletic in the Football League Trophy. Bradford fielded a changed side from recent weeks and were unable to overcome the League One side eventually going out of the cup thanks to a late winner from substitute Jordan Bove.
DateRoundOpponentsH / AResultF–AScorersAttendance2 September 2014Round 1Oldham AthleticA 0–12,535
Squad statistics No.Pos.NameLeagueFA CupLeague CupLeague TrophyTotal Discipline AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals1GK Jak Alnwick1000000010002DF Stephen Darby450802010560713DF James Meredith38(2)080301050(2)0504MF Matthew Dolan3(10)00(2)01(1)0105(13)0205DF Andrew Davies280600000340606DF Alan Sheehan13(10)130201019(10)1417FW Aaron McLean7(6)2001(2)1109(8)3108MF Gary Liddle39(2)170200048(2)11109FW James Hanson31(7)96(1)1210(1)039(9)112010FW Billy Clarke32(4)133(3)1300(1)038(8)147011MF Billy Knott 31(9)3832(1)10041(10)74012GK Ben Williams12(2)080300023(2)00013FW Francois Zoko3(13)10(5)000003(18)14014MF Mark Yeates26(14)32(5)2101030(19)54015DF Gary MacKenzie9(2)10000009(2)11016FW Jon Stead27(5)685000035(5)112017MF Jason Kennedy17(3)21(1)0301022(4)23018DF Christopher Routis16(2)20(3)0101018(5)23119FW Oli McBurnie0(7)00(1)01(1)0102(9)00020MF Filipe Morais22(8)383200032(8)65122GK Matthew Urwin00000(1)0000(1)00023DF Rory McArdle4337(1)0301054(1)38224MF Oliver Burke20000000200025MF Andy Halliday20(5)15(2)2000025(7)33028FW Mason Bennett5(6)100100(1)06(7)10029DF Tony McMahon4(4)10000004(4)12034FW Reece Webb-Foster0(1)0000(1)0000(2)00036MF Dylan Mottley-Henry0(1)00000000(1)000-FW Mo Shariff0(1)0000(1)0000(2)000-GK Jordan Pickford33000001034012-–Own goals–2–2–0–0–4–– Statistics accurate as of 3 May 2015
Transfers
In Date Pos. Name From Fee Ref 16 May 2014 MF Matthew Dolan Middlesbrough Free 30 May 2014 MF Billy Knott Sunderland Free 9 June 2014 MF Gary Liddle Notts County Free 19 June 2014 DF Alan Sheehan Notts County Free 27 June 2014 FW Billy Clarke Crawley Town Free 5 August 2014 GK Ben Williams Hibernian Free 5 August 2014 FW Mo Shariff Queens Park Rangers Free 5 August 2014 GK Matthew Urwin Blackburn Rovers Free 8 August 2014 MF Filipe Morais Stevenage Free 8 August 2014 DF Christopher Routis Servette Free 26 January 2015 MF Andy Halliday Middlesbrough Undisclosed
Loan In Date Pos. Name From Until21 July 2014GK Jordan Pickford Sunderland30 June 201512 August 2014FW Mason Bennett Derby County14 October 201417 October 2014FW Jon Stead Huddersfield Town30 June 201517 October 2014MF Andy Halliday Middlesbrough26 January 201522 November 2014FW Francois Zoko Blackpool30 June 20152 February 2015DF Gary MacKenzie Blackpool30 June 201524 February 2015MF Oliver Burke Nottingham Forest24 March 201513 March 2015GK Jak Alnwick Newcastle United30 June 2015
Loan Out Date Pos. Name To Until18 November 2014FW Aaron McLean Peterborough United30 June 201527 November 2014MF Matthew Dolan Hartlepool United31 December 201422 January 2015FW Oli McBurnie Chester19 February 201512 March 2015MF Jason Kennedy Carlisle United11 April 201526 March 2015DF Alan Sheehan Peterborough United30 June 2015
Out Date Pos. Name To Fee Ref 7 May 2014 MF Garry Thompson Notts County Free 7 May 2014 DF Matthew Bates Hartlepool United Free 7 May 2014 FW Louie Swain Released Free 7 May 2014 GK Jack Stockdill Guiseley Free 7 May 2014 GK Jack Bentley Released Free 7 May 2014 DF Nathan Curtis Ossett Town Free 9 May 2014 MF Gary Jones Notts County Free 9 June 2014 MF Nathan Doyle Luton Town Free 16 June 2014 DF Carl McHugh Plymouth Argyle Free 24 June 2014 MF Kyel Reid Preston North End Free 22 July 2014 GK Jon McLaughlin Burton Albion Free 25 July 2014 DF Matt Taylor Cheltenham Town Free
See also List of Bradford City A.F.C. seasons
References