BANTAMS NOSTALGIA: Parkinson at Valley Parade 10 years on

IT IS a decade since Phil Parkinson walked into the door at Valley Parade to transform City.

Today is the 10th anniversary of his appointment after Peter Jackson resigned just four games into the 2011-2012 campaign.

The Bantams had picked up just one point and there were real concerns among the board about the season ahead panning out into one long scrap against relegation.

Up stepped Parkinson seven months after leaving Charlton to reinvigorate a club that had grown used to underachieving.

It was no overnight success towards the history-making year of two Wembley appearances, the scalps of three Premier League clubs on the way to the Capital One Cup final, promotion, and then that unforgettable afternoon at Stamford Bridge as City reached the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Parkinson’s first year at the City helm was a tough one. Given the brief of just keeping the club in the Football League, he steered them to an unflattering 18th-placed finish.

The change in fortunes and culture would begin the following summer with the recruitment of a much-loved squad that would run through brick walls for him.

Only a few would remain from the players he inherited or signed in that difficult first season.

One of the cornerstones of Parkinson’s Bantams was centre half Andrew Davies, who he had quickly snapped up on loan from Stoke within a month of taking the job.

Davies, like Parkinson, would not find it plain sailing at first.

Clearly a class above his League Two surroundings, the defender saw red twice in his first four appearances.

The first of those came at Valley Parade against Torquay – at a time when Parkinson was still searching for his debut win as Bantams boss.

It was Parkinson’s seventh league game in charge and he had picked up only four points from draws.

And the omens hardly looked promising when Davies was dismissed midway through the first half.

But the Bantams would go on to claim a gutsy success – the first of 83 league wins during Parkinson’s five-year reign.

Craig Fagan, another Parkinson capture, would scored the only goal – breaking a personal drought spanning 19 months.

Plucked from Hull, Parkinson had seen the experienced frontman as a “figurehead” for the team.

Fagan, making his fourth City appearance, should have hit the target with the game’s first chance on 14 minutes but blazed over when unmarked from just inside the box.

Phil Parkinson was unveiled as City manager 10 years ago today

And referee Carl Boyeson then infuriated the home audience when he sent off Davies for an enthusiastic challenge on Danny Stevens.

The defender furiously protested that he got to the ball first but the East Yorkshire official was having none of it – and Davies trooped off to face a maximum ban.

“You can elbow somebody in the face, break their jaw and be done for three games,” complained Parkinson afterwards.

“Then you can go in for an honest challenge like that one, make contact with the ball and still get the same ban.”

Fuelled by the sense of injustice, the crowd kicked up the volume and City responded with the type of spirited response that would become a hallmark of Parkinson’s time.

Winger Jack Compton was withdrawn to bring in Guy Branston to beef up the backline.

But seven minutes before the break, it was the home side who broke through as Luke Oliver’s knockdown was turned home by a jubilant Fagan.

He was now playing in a lone front role with Mark Stewart dropping back into midfield.

And yet despite their numerical disadvantage, City were good value for their lead.

Matt Duke twice saved from Kevin Nicholson but otherwise it was the Bantams asking the questions – and Fagan came agonisingly close to a memorable second goal 10 minutes after the break.

Latching on to Liam Moore’s long clearance 30 yards from goal, Fagan lobbed keeper Bobby Olejnik as he rushed out and watched as the ball bounced back off the bar.

City felt the referee should have evened up the numbers when Eunan O’Kane brought down Kyel Reid as the winger threatened to go clear.

But the Torquay midfielder only saw yellow – and Robbie Threlfall’s free-kick was tipped away by Olejnik.

The keeper came up for two corners in stoppage time as the Gulls piled on the pressure for an equaliser.

But City, with Branston proving a solid deputy for Davies, hung on for a first league clean sheet in 19 attempts - and three points for their new manager.

The Parkinson era was underway.

CITY: Duke, Moore, Davies, Oliver, Threlfall, Compton (Branston 27), Flynn, Jones, Reid, Fagan (Rodney 79), Stewart (O’Brien 74).

TORQUAY: Olejnik, Oastler (Leadbitter 46), Robertson, Saah, Nicholson, Mansell, O’Kane, Lathrope (Macklin 46), Stevens, Atieno (McPhee 70), Howe.