Bradford City may be impressing their supporters on the pitch, but the toilets at Valley Parade are too cramped for comfort, according to the results of a new survey.

The Bantams are languishing near the bottom of a new 'loo league' having been ranked 63rd out of 92 clubs in the study, which looked at English football ground toilets used by visiting fans last season.

That puts City in the 'Graffiti, puddles and wildlife' category along with 15 other clubs, including big-spending Chelsea and humble Barnet.

Bradford are 48 places below rivals Huddersfield Town and 21 below near neighbours Leeds United. But the lowest ranking of the four local clubs goes to Nationwide league newcomers Halifax Town who, at 81st, get a 'Nose peg required' rating.

The band of resilient researchers recruited for the Football Fans Guide described the male toilets in Valley Parade's Symphony Stand as: "Probably the narrowest in the league. Fans felt getting out safely without getting wet was quite an achievement. And the queues were horrendous."

And the trusty testers labelled the female toilets: "Very narrow and difficult to enter without getting squashed. Some of the cubicles were dark. The sinks were trough-like with nowhere to wipe your hands and the cold water came out like a shower."

City's managing director Shaun Harvey said although the survey made interesting reading the majority of fans would accept that football grounds were not the most salubrious of places to start with.

He said: "The top and bottom of it is that the toilets are there to be functional. As new stadia get built, the standards will increase. The researchers visited the Symphony Stand but the toilets in the recently-built Ciba Stand - which has been used by away supporters this year - are much better."

David Pendleton, editor of the City Gent fanzine, agrees and says the survey is nothing more than a bit of harmless fun which should not be taken too seriously.

"What do they think supporters want - full-length mirrors and piped music? The improvements we've seen over the last decade are staggering."

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