IT was a double success in the January EFL awards for two former Bantams, as a pair of history-makers won awards for their performances, off and on the pitch.

Phil Parkinson, who was City's manager when they reached the League Cup Final, won promotion from League Two and shocked soon-to-be Premier League champions Chelsea in the FA Cup, has picked up the League One Manager of the Month award for his work at Sunderland.

Parky, who was back at Valley Parade last Sunday for City's 'The Magic of the Cup' event celebrating the fifth anniversary of that win over Chelsea, had a bad start to his reign at Sunderland.

He only won two of his first 14 games in all competitions. But an excellent 2-1 win on December 29 at promotion rivals Doncaster seemed to inspire confidence going into the New Year.

They won four and drew two of their six games in January, with the pick of the results a stunning 4-0 victory over second-placed Wycombe Wanderers.

But the Black Cats slipped two places to seventh when they were beaten 2-0 at fellow in-form side Portsmouth on February 1, so Parkinson will hope his side don't suffer from any post-January blues.

Meanwhile, new Bristol City signing Nahki Wells has scooped the EFL's Championship Player of the Month award, but not for his performances at the Robins of course.

He had been on loan at QPR since the start of the season from Burnley. He had already been nominated for the EFL award for his performances in October, but he managed to even supersede that last month.

Despite only playing three games in the month, he netted five goals for the Hoops, including a hat-trick against Cardiff City and the winner against Leeds United, and at one point was Europe's joint top-scorer in 2020 alongside Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi.

That goal rush would have come as no surprise to Bantams fans, who witnessed Wells score some of City's most memorable goals of the 2010s.

Among many other strikes, he netted the opener in the famous 3-1 League Cup semi-final first leg win over Aston Villa in 2013 and the third in their play-off final win over Northampton Town a few months later.

It was an EFL awards month with plenty of Bradford City links. First of all, Parkinson pipped Doncaster manager Darren Moore to the League One manager award.

Moore was a vital figure at centre-half as City gained promotion from Division One in 1998/99, starting 44 games, in a season which will be fondly remembered by everyone associated with the club.

Meanwhile, Michael Flynn's Newport County side were enduring a nasty slide down the League Two table towards the end of 2019.

But he did not panic, and helped his team turn things right around in January, collecting 10 points from five games to lift them into the security of mid-table.

That excellent run of form saw him nominated for the League Two Manager of the Month prize.

Sadly for the former Bantam, who spent three seasons at Valley Parade and scored in a 3-2 League Cup defeat to Leeds in 2011, his achievements were not enough to pick up the award, as he lost out to Plymouth Argyle's Ryan Lowe.