Garry Thompson has hailed City as a club of “monumental” size as they gear up for life in League One.

Phil Parkinson’s men ended six years of misery in English football’s basement division by thumping North-ampton 3-0 in the League Two play-off final.

The promotion capped an amazing season which saw the Bantams reach the Capital One Cup final against Swansea in February.

Thompson, a key player during the historic campaign, said he never realised the size of the club until his arrival from Scunthorpe last summer.

“It’s monumental,” said the winger. “Before I signed you heard about how big the club was but until you’re in the bubble and part of it, you don’t really understand.

“To get 10-12,000 fans every home game and to sell out Wembley for the Capital One Cup final was something special.

“That was the reason I signed here. Look at the manager, and the calibre of players he brought in, I knew we had something special going.”

Dumping out Wigan, Arsenal and Aston Villa to reach Wembley once was momentous enough but returning there to win promotion topped arguably the club’s best-ever season.

Thompson added: “We could have got to end of season and looked back and said we got to a League Cup final, if nothing else. But we were determined that we wouldn’t be known just for that.

“It was a dream to go up as well, not just for the fans but for us players as well.”

Parkinson has fostered an impressive unity within his squad and Thompson spoke of the desire within City’s ranks.

He added: “We come in every day champing at the bit and can’t wait for the next game. That’s how it’s got to be.

“We stay behind to do extra training and shooting practice, get our game to the standard it needs to be.”

Thompson cites the 2-2 draw at home to Southend on March 29 as the moment City believed they could win promotion.

He added: “The turning point was the Southend game when we were 2-0 down at half-time. We were effectively out of it.

“We showed tremendous character since then and the gaffer instilled into us how he wanted us to play. It’s worked.”