CHRIS Short has finally got to Valley Parade – 18 years late.

The fitness coach revealed that he rejected the chance to join City as a player in 1998 and missed out on the chance of promotion to the Premier League in the process.

Short had begun his career as a young full back with Scarborough, where he first came across Geoffrey Richmond.

But the former Bantams chairman was not impressed when the defender later opted for Stoke over a move to Valley Parade.

Short said: “I did know Geoffrey at Scarborough as a kid before he obviously moved on and came to Bradford.

“I was at Sheffield United as a player and when my contract finished, I came to speak to Geoffrey and Paul Jewell the manager.

“In the end, I decided to sign for Stoke. It was probably the wrong decision looking back, although right for Bradford because they got promoted that year.

“Maybe it was the best thing that happened to Bradford that I didn’t come here and left for Stoke instead!”

But Richmond, who had left the east coast for City four years earlier, was not happy to see Short slip through his fingers.

Short laughed: “We had a bit of a disagreement, shall we say.

“But Geoffrey was a big personality. I didn’t know him that well but obviously heard about him through my connections at Scarborough before.

“I spoke with Bradford and Paul was very good with what he had to say. We’ve kept in touch since then.

“But it wasn’t to be and Geoffrey was not too pleased about it, as you can imagine. We’d best leave it there!”