Michael McHugh has a European incentive to make a winning return to City this weekend.

McHugh's Coleraine side face the Bantams in the opening game of the centenary tournament on Saturday.

It will be an extra special occasion for the Irishman, who was at the club between 1989 and 1994. And he also intends to push his claims to feature in Coleraine's plans for the UEFA Cup a fortnight later.

The Northern Ireland cup winners tackle UD Leiria of Portugal over two legs starting on August 14 and places will be up for grabs in the build-up.

Striker McHugh, now 32, was named City's young player of the year in 1990 before breaking into the first team and scoring five times.

He said: "It took me a while to get into the team at Bradford but I really enjoyed my time over there. I got into the side for the last couple of years under Frank Stapleton just before Geoffrey Richmond came in - he was just arriving as I was going off to Scarborough.

"But I made some good friends at Bradford and still look out closely for their results. I'll never forget watching the Wolves game on the telly when they won it to get promoted to the Premier League.

"I was so pleased for everyone at the club but especially Paul Jewell who I played alongside in my time there. I remember thinking back to my days when Bradford were always mid-table in the Division Two and suddenly here they were going up."

McHugh still retains strong family links with the city and regularly flies over from Belfast.

"My partner Jen is from Bradford and one of our children, Ciara, was born there. Jen's family still live in the city so we tend to come over two or three times a year.

"But I'm looking forward to seeing the ground again. The last time I was there was on Boxing Day 2000 when they lost to Sunderland and Kevin Phillips got a hat-trick."

McHugh left Scarborough after a year to return to Northern Ireland where he played for Omagh Town and Derry City. He joined Coleraine four seasons ago but was on the bench when they won the Irish Cup final against Glentoran in May.

Coleraine may be the rank outsiders in the four-team international competition, which also features Aberdeen and Swansea, but McHugh promises City a tough encounter.

He added: "We're looking towards the UEFA Cup games so it won't be a case of taking it easy and treating it as just a friendly. It's nice to be involved in part of Bradford's history but it's also an ideal preparation for us.

"It will also be great for me personally to be back at the club."

City kick off against Coleraine at 1.30pm on Saturday with Swansea facing Aberdeen at 3.45pm. The final and third-placed play-off take place the following day.

Daily admission for the tournament costs £10 for adults, £7 senior citizens and £3 juniors. Fans can buy a ticket for both days at £15/ £10/ £4 but they must be obtained in advance from the ground by 5pm tomorrow.