JULY

IT FELT like he had never been away as Stuart McCall stood touchline in his customary shorts enjoying a laugh with opposite number Mark Bower.

But as the City fans turned out in force for the opening pre-season friendly at Guiseley, there were still a large number of misgivings about the return of the hero.

McCall’s first managerial spell had ended in crushing disappointment and news of his return drew a mixed response. Many were worried that his reputation may suffer again.

His arrival sparked a frenzied summer of recruitment to boost numbers heavily depleted on and off the field.

He went for a familiar face first as Nicky Law teamed up with McCall – and City – once again. The likes of Nathaniel Knight-Percival, Colin Doyle for £1, Timothee Dieng, Jordy Hiwula soon followed along with the impressive capture of Coventry king-pin Romain Vincelot – seen as a signing of real intent.

Greg Abbott had returned to the club as chief scout and that strong Bantams link quickly rubbed off on the fans.

But the pre-season tour to Scotland did not feature defensive stalwarts Stephen Darby and Rory McArdle who would both miss the start of the campaign recovering from injury and surgery.

AUGUST

VALLEY Parade was rocking for Stuart McCall’s return but Port Vale played party-poopers on the opening day. City’s football was a joy to watch but Vale went away with a point – a warning, perhaps, of things to come.

City fell at the first hurdle of the EFL Cup – eventually – after a marathon penalty shoot-out at Accrington, having battered away at the home goal without scoring.

Back-to-back trips to Peterborough and MK Dons looked daunting but Jordy Hiwula scored the season’s first goal to beat the Posh and Billy Clarke enjoyed his customary visit to Buckinghamshire as McCall’s men banked a hugely-impressive six points.

Josh Cullen was back in the ranks, a feather in the cap for chairman Edin Rahic, and Coventry were swept aside thanks to two penalties from Tony McMahon.

In Darby’s absence, McMahon had reverted to the right-back role where he had played most of his career. And he was playing out of his skin through City’s fast start – only to suffer a torn thigh that would stop him short until Christmas.

A busy deadline day saw the Bantams swoop for Marc McNulty from Sheffield United and Newcastle’s Haris Vuckic, a long-time target and thorn in the side with various opponents.

SEPTEMBER

DRAWS were to become a recurring theme and September saw a run of them.

City could point to a strong case in each game for deserving more – a post-match line that would become familiar.

On the face of it, away points at Millwall and Gillingham were not to be sniffed at. But another stalemate at home to newly-promoted Bristol Rovers was not the ideal warm-up for the fixture that had been ringed in every calendar.

The first meeting with Phil Parkinson’s Bolton was always going to be a tasty affair. A quick glance at the home dug-out saw a host of faces who had played such a big part in reviving City’s fortunes in recent years.

Parkinson had been respectful in his comments beforehand but surprisingly there was no mention of his old club in the manager’s programme notes, nor an acknowledgement for the heaving away end.

A travelling support of 4,388 taunted him with the chant “you’re not special anymore” but the contest itself failed to live up to the billing.

And Parkinson ended a goalless bore with a dig at Mark Marshall for “diving” after he failed to win a penalty.

At least City ended the month back to winning ways, coming from behind to beat Fleetwood and Uwe Rosler, the man some had tipped to replace Parkinson ahead of Stuart McCall.

OCTOBER

CITY picked up the momentum again in a month which also saw their first defeat.

First the good news. A noisy away following enjoyed the customary win at Chesterfield before Nicky Law answered his manager’s demands to score some goals by getting off the mark against Shrewsbury.

Sandwiched between those league victories was a low-key Checkatrade Trophy tie with Bury which made headlines when Colin Doyle was subbed after three minutes.

It was City’s way of getting round the rules and gave some more game time to back-up keeper Rouven Sattelmaier. But the EFL were not amused and dealt out a fine for “not observing the integrity” of the competition.

Forget the fact that the Bantams had fielded a back four with well over 1,600 senior games under their belts!

City were one of only three teams still unbeaten – along with Spurs and Carlisle – but that run was ended by a stoppage-time free-kick from Oxford’s Chris Maguire. Again the visitors were left ruing chances, including a Billy Clarke missed penalty.

But the goals were soon flowing as Valley Parade’s first 20,000 gate of the season saw a rip-roaring 3-3 draw with Sheffield United.

That was followed by a dramatic come-from-behind 3-2 win at Wimbledon, James Hanson announcing his return to fitness with the decisive two late goals.

NOVEMBER

THE death of Bobby Campbell shocked everyone to the core.

Aged 60, the club’s legendary goal-scorer took his own life. “He was a Godfather to us lads in the team,” said Stuart McCall.

Campbell’s phenomenal strike rate of 143 goals from 320 appearances is unlikely to ever be matched.

It made for a hugely-emotional night against Northampton as City paid their respects with a moving tribute.

And fittingly it was James Hanson, the only current player anywhere near Campbell’s tally and a centre forward he always admired, who scored the winner. His header came in the 56th minute – the year of Campbell’s birth.

Before that, Stuart McCall had shuffled the pack for a second clash with Accrington. But again it was the League Two side celebrating – this time with some justification – after an FA Cup first-round upset at Valley Parade.

Steve Davies, whose goals from the bench had played their part in last season’s charge to the play-offs, returned with Rochdale. But it was a miserable comeback for the combative striker.

City were simply irresistible as they crushed Dale 4-0, a great way to official unveil the new £150,000 scoreboard that had been paid for through the Tifosy crowd-funding campaign.

But missed chances were back on the agenda as City suffered a second league loss – to another free-kick – at Swindon.

DECEMBER

CITY’S Checkatrade Trophy progress continued without ceremony as Cambridge were seen off in front of just 1,360 people rattling around Valley Parade.

It was the lowest home crowd since 1,287 saw Carlisle’s visit in an earlier format of the same competition in 1995. Those who did bother to turn up at least witnessed Tony McMahon make a welcome return from his lengthy lay-off.

But draws were once again the order of the day as City reached League One’s halfway point with 11 of them – more than anyone else in the country.

Karl Robinson had been a regular whipping boy for the Bantams during his stint at MK Dons. But his new Charlton side were good value for their point at Valley Parade in a game that somehow finished goalless despite plenty of possibilities at both ends.

Jordy Hiwula returned to Walsall, where he had spent two previous spells on loan, to earn a 1-1 draw. But his equaliser followed previous missed chances as again City left scratching their hands at taking only one point when it should have been three.

And less than three weeks on from that rock-bottom attendance, a season’s best of 21,874 crammed in for the Boxing Day battle with leaders Scunthorpe.

City gave as good as they got against an Iron side happy to take a point but it was yet another stalemate to take into this afternoon’s final game of 2016 against Bury.