Part two of Gary Jones' memories from Bradford City

FAVOURITE MANAGER

“I had met Jacko (Peter Jackson) the year before. I was out of contract at Rochdale and went to see him and Colin Cooper, his assistant at the time.

“We had a chat and drove down to Apperley Bridge but they didn’t have a squad.

“There were about six players and that was it. I spoke to Archie Christie but it just didn’t feel right.

“I went back to Rochdale and signed a new two-year deal there. Jon Colman took over and we got relegated from League One.

“Phil Parkinson got in touch and I obviously knew Steve Parkin who had been a manager of mine.

“I went to meet Phil at the club and he spoke about getting the crowd going again by winning games. That was it really.

“I knew what the fanbase was like and obviously the history with the fire. You do your homework before you go.

“Darbs (Stephen Darby) had signed the week before and Phil spoke about getting this club going. The club sold itself to be fair – as it does to many players.

"Phil was old school. All he wanted us to do was know our roles and what was expected from us. We were well drilled in that sense.

Phil Parkinson presents Gary Jones with the City player of the year award

“We had an honest group of lads and the dressing room runs itself if you get that right.

“If anyone steps out of line, the lads sort it out. That’s the way it was.

“We had myself, Darbs, Ricky Ravenhill, Garry Thompson, there was a lot of experience in the team.

“It’s alright getting good players in but you’ve got to have the right characters to gel in the changing room.

“Phil assembled a really solid group of lads who would give their all week in, week out with a goal machine in the mix as well. It was a brilliant combination to have.

“Phil was really good when it came to the play-off final.

“The roles were reversed. Northampton were like how we were when we got to the Capital One final with the suits and all that.

“We treated it as a normal away game in the league. We travelled the day before and there was no hype or fanfare – it was just, ‘get on the coach and off you go’.

“It took the pressure off brilliantly. We’d played Northampton a lot that season and always seemed to beat them.

“Obviously anything can happen in a cup final but we knew what we had to do. If we played the right game and right formation and worked hard enough, we knew we’d get the result.

“But I don’t think anyone ever thought we’d be three up in half an hour!

“They are the finals you dream of being involved in, going in 3-0 up at half-time. It was a really professional performance second half and I don’t think they even had a shot on target.

“We did the right things, kept the ball and cleared it when we needed to. The fans could enjoy the afternoon because it wasn’t a nail-biter.”

FAVOURITE TEAMMATES

“Darbs, my roommate, was just a pure professional. But you could always have a laugh with him as well.

“Darbs had been at Rochdale with me but we didn’t really talk to each other at that time.

“When he signed, we used to drive in together and we became really good mates.

“We gelled really well and we were the same type of characters, decent pros.

“Of course, I’m a blue and he’s a red so we used to have banter all the time about Everton and Liverpool!

“We had this routine where we’d always stop off at Costa on the way home and get espressos and biscuits. We’d do it every time on the way back from Apperley Bridge.

“We got on so well and I still speak to him regularly.

“What a person and what a player for Bradford Darbs was. Talk about putting your body on the line and training to your maximum every day.

“You won’t find a better pro than Stephen with that.

“It’s unbelievable the way he is dealing with this disease now but that’s the type of person that he is.

“He’s always positive – a great player and an even better person.

Alan Connell was one of the many unsung heroes in the promotion squad

“We had some great characters in that squad, Ricky Ravenhill and Alan Connell, both funny and dead dry, Dukey (Matt Duke), Andrew Davies, an absolute nut job, it was just a brilliant mix.

“You had lads who didn’t play as much as they wanted but still made a massive contribution to that season.

“I remember Alan Connell coming on a few times and scoring the winner, Ricky Ravenhill having a big game when we won at Torquay at Easter, Will Atkinson, Zavon Hines – they were all so important for us.

“They are the type of characters you need to come up trumps in those situations. They weren’t playing every week but by God, didn’t they contribute.

“You’ll get some bad eggs in clubs when they aren’t involved. They start grumbling and complaining to someone else who isn’t in the team and before you know it, there are four or five lads who are fed up and it runs right through the dressing room.

“But we didn’t have that at all. You’re not going to keep everybody happy but we had characters who wanted to be there.”