Omar Khan was struggling with flu when he and Gerry Sutcliffe unveiled Francis Cummins as the new Bulls head coach on Monday morning.

“I’m sorry if I start coughing, I’ve been a bit run down lately and I’ll probably have to hand you over to Gerry very quickly!” Khan told the assembled media.

Khan battled on through the press conference and his affiliation to the club and the city became apparent.

“Bradford has always been my passion," said the restaurant boss.

“I want to promote Bradford because it’s a city that I love.

“It’s done a hell of a lot for me and I want to put something back into the community.

“This is not a business – the Bulls are something I’m passionate about; not to make money but to make a difference here. Am I enjoying it so far? I’m loving it.

“I’ve been suffering badly with the flu and a cold this week and it’s been horrible! But I’m getting over it.”

As a proud Bradfordian himself, Khan is delighted that the current Bulls side has a local heart with the likes of Elliott Whitehead and John Bateman at its core.

He said: “Bateman and Whitehead are fantastic players – absolutely beautiful players – and it’s great to have home-grown Bradford boys in the team.

“I still keep in touch with the likes of Leon Pryce and Robbie Hunter-Paul from their time at the Bulls. We used to chill out together and I was very close with them.”

Khan is also evidently close to MP Sutcliffe and the bond they share would appear to bode well for their future partnership at Odsal .

Sutcliffe said: “What’s been really good is the amount of good will we have received from the fans – particularly BullBuilder, fans in general and also businesses in Bradford.

“We’ve got an exciting young coach, an exciting team and hopefully he can make a success of this great club.”

Cummins, Sutcliffe and Khan received a round of applause from the smattering of fans at the end of the press conference.

A new era was well and truly underway.