NOBODY seemed quite sure where Bradford City were heading earlier this summer, least of all themselves.

A change of ownership saw long-standing custodians and lifelong supporters Julian Rhodes and Mark Lawn relinquish power to Edin Rahic and Stefan Rupp.

Phil Parkinson, one of the greatest managers in the club’s history, then jumped ship for Bolton.

To make matters worse, he took his entire backroom team with him.

Uncertainty was everywhere and the squad which finished fifth in League One last term began to look alarmingly thin.

Season-ticket sales, again priced at £149, were slow.

Chief operating officer James Mason faced a mountainous task to steady the ship following a summer of seismic change at Valley Parade.

“It has probably been the hardest six to eight weeks of my professional career,” admitted Mason, a boyhood Bantams fan who succeeded Dave Baldwin in November 2014.

“I went on my first family holiday for some time to Portugal and then found out only hours later that Phil Parkinson was leaving for Bolton.

“We had gone from a very solid platform with long-term owners and long-term management team to being left with eight professional footballers on the books, no manager, and new owners.

“I'll be honest, I was up against it. I had regular correspondence with fans asking me what was going on.

“Should they buy a season ticket? What sort of squad would we have?

“It was very uncertain, but I'm delighted to say we have made massive progress since then.”

Stuart McCall returned to the club for a fourth spell and his second as manager.

The squad has been bolstered by the acquisition of Colin Doyle, Nathaniel Knight-Percival, Matthew Kilgallon, Rouven Sattelmaier, Nicky Law, Romain Vincelot, Timothee Dieng and Jordy Hiwula.

There will be more new faces before the transfer window closes.

“The news owners are brilliant guys who are going to be great for the club,” declared Mason.

“But I'm sure they never expected that their first few weeks and months in the role would mean the manager leaving and most of the backroom staff leaving, with lots of uncertainty from fans about where the club was actually going.

“We quickly appointed Stuart McCall as manager, which some fans thought was a PR trick, but I can assure them it wasn't.

“Stuart was the right man then and is the right man now to take us forward because he understands better than anybody what Bradford City is all about.

“When we lost Phil and his backroom staff, many people asked if we had lost the heart and soul of the club.

“We maybe lost some guts and vital organs, but the heart is Valley Parade, the fans, the Bradfordians and the city itself.

“It was my job to convince people we were still an upwardly mobile club.

“We finished fifth last season and we're going to give it another go this year.”

Season-ticket sales have gradually picked up and passed the 17,500 mark before the deadline.

Optimism has returned and, as the season starts tomorrow at home to Port Vale, City fans are walking a little taller again.

Mason said: “At one point we were 3,500 behind where we were last year on season-ticket sales.

“So we had to be clever with our marketing and a couple of decent signings have helped that.

“But the key message along the way was 'let's not panic or lose sight of where we are as a club and what our true values are'.

“It wasn't so much a siege mentality but about pulling together and backing the manager and the new owners.

“I was just asking fans to be brave and be bold and nail their claret and amber colours to the mast.

“On the back of that, we started to get some momentum and sign players – we haven't stopped yet either.

“We are looking to make signings before the transfer window closes and we will make them when the right player becomes available.

“Whether it's the next 24 hours or 24 days, I couldn't tell you.

“The likes of Kilgallon and Vincelot were done very quickly, but we had been chasing them for weeks.”

Valley Parade has been renamed the Northern Commercials Stadium following a three-year deal with the commercial vehicle retailer and Frontline Bathrooms are sponsoring the back of the first-team’s shorts.

Mason said: “We have been really creative with how we have marketed ourselves.

“All the corporate boxes are full again, so we have gone from a period of real uncertainty and doubt to one of strength and positivity.

“For me, that is probably the proudest achievement during my time at Bradford City.

“We were up against it, but with the season now upon us, we are ready to go.”