Review: 2013 When History was Made for Bantams

“It’s a big stage and you’ve got to be able to handle playing in front of 18,000 people. There is expectation playing for a big city club.”

Phil Parkinson’s words will resonate with every supporter at Valley Parade.

They were the template for the club’s greatest season in modern times, which has now been captured in a feature-length documentary.

“2013: When History Was Made” premiered last night to a sold-out audience in the Pictureville cinema at Bradford’s Science and Media Museum.

Parkinson was unable to be there as Wrexham continue their USA tour but he provided much of the narrative for a film that charts the remarkable rise from a club on its knees trying to stay in the Football League to one earning national and world acclaim for their giant-killing cup exploits.

“We wanted to identify players who could come on a journey with us - and wow, did that squad do that,” said the manager who Mark Lawn had described as “mad” for considering the job when they first met.

Lawn, not surprisingly, is heavily featured alongside the players that Parkinson would bring in to completely reshape the side that the former joint-owner had called “the worst he had seen” when the appointment was made.

Lawn revealed that Parkinson had not initially applied - and credited “a guy that works at the BBC who is a big Bradford fan” for putting his name forward. Thanks for that, Ian Dennis.

“Phil’s job was to save us and make sure we didn’t finish in the National League because we wouldn’t have survived.”

Steve Parkin and Phil Parkinson were interviewed for two hours (Image: Andrew Taylor)

Parkinson and Steve Parkin spoke about the size of the task they were given. A stark appraisal from the new number two decided that only four of the 25 in the squad were good enough.

Parkinson recalled that first season at Valley Parade, working to survive with loan signings, as one of his most pressured in management. Recruitment dominated every conversation between the pair - much to the annoyance of Parkin’s missus on holiday.

That set the scene for the incredible story to follow - all captured on camera.

Director Andrew Taylor lets the players map the route from Notts County - and the home side's amazing three-yard open-goal miss - in round one of the League Cup to promotion glory on their Wembley return against Northampton.

But Parkinson’s words hold everything together.

The management duo were on a tight schedule the day of their interview and allowed half an hour - they stayed for over two and the film is so much better for it.

“We put a side together that was full of character,” said Parkin. “They were people who first and foremost wore their heart on their sleeve but were also good players.”

Lawn’s message to the new signings was far more blunt: “It doesn’t matter whether you’re rubbish on the pitch, if you try, stick in tackles and run back, this lot will love you.”

Lawn assured his match-going pals that skipper Gary Jones would be the “final piece of the jigsaw”. But it was Stephen Darby that he called “Mr Bradford City”.

It is emotional to see Stephen Darby on screen (Image: Andrew Taylor)

“He was the gel between the players. Not loud or shouty but he led by example, what a great man.”

I defy any City fan not to well up when Darby appears on screen in a previously-unseen interview from four years ago.

Jones, James Hanson, Nahki Wells, Rory McArdle, Garry Thompson, Kyel Reid and Matt Duke all feature.

It’s also good to see some of the unsung performers recalling those special days - Zavon Hines and Alan Connell, who went from keeping a bus-load of new team-mates waiting half an hour at Dublin airport on signing to thumping the most decisive of the penalties to beat his beloved Arsenal.

The excitement is still clear in their voices as the players recall the road to Wembley.

🎥 | All set for the premiere of ‘2013: When History was Made’!#BCAFC | @pictureville_BD | @MediaMuseum pic.twitter.com/FDkHtJkv8C

— Bradford City AFC (@officialbantams) July 24, 2023

From Duke not remembering the score when he made the clinching save in spot-kicks at Wigan to Jones laughing at Arsenal’s Premier League superstars having to queue for the communal toilet outside the Valley Parade changing rooms.

Parkinson warned his players not to over-celebrate when they beat Aston Villa in the first semi-final - only to hear the announcer urging fans to book their hotels for Wembley!

Then recalling Hanson’s header at Villa Park, he admitted: “It gives me goose pimples just talking about it.”

Martin Tyler’s commentary on Sky that night still gets you every time: “Sensational, staggering, historic, flying in the face of all football logic.”

Or as Hines put it: “There are so many things that are amazing and brilliant. But nothing compares to that.”

The League Cup final itself is not glossed over despite the crushingly one-sided outcome.

Mark Lawn was overcome by the flag-waving at Wembley (Image: Andrew Taylor)

Amid the huge disappointment, Lawn talks about the “stunning Bradfordian spirit” when the fans rose to wave their flags at 4-0 down - and how he told a steward in the royal box where to go when they asked him to sit down.

Duke also provides a funny aside about receiving the signed red card from referee Kevin Friend after he was sent off.

The players discuss the strong desire to get back to Wembley in the play-offs. That late charge - after the well-chronicled Sunday morning team meeting following a drubbing at Exeter - is captured in all its glory.

Even now, the pride from what they achieved is still evident in the eyes.

“It was the uplift in a city at what the football team can do,” said Parkinson. “We put Bradford back on the map.

“I could see people with their shoulders back a little bit more. I sensed real pride in the city and the football played a big part in that.”

If the present team need any further incentive for the coming season, this is the blueprint.