‘WE go again’ - That was the defiant message from Bradford City fans as their dramatic defeat in the play-offs begins to sink in.
The Bantams will be playing League Two football again next season after they crashed to an extra-time defeat at Carlisle United on Saturday, May 20.
Mark Hughes’ side were beaten 3-1 on the day for a 3-2 aggregate scoreline after the two legs of their League Two play-off semi-final against the Cumbrian club.
City came into Saturday’s clash buoyed by a 1-0 lead after the first leg played at Valley Parade on May 14.
The Bantams faithful kept this momentum going in the away end of Carlisle’s Brunton Park, cheering their side on throughout the game.
But a dramatic 30 minutes of extra time saw Carlisle book their place against Stockport County in the League Two play-off final at Wembley Stadium on May 28 and the Bantams forced to remain in the same division for at least another season.
City fans were disappointed by the Carlisle defeat, but already looking towards next season, which kicks off at the start of August, as they boarded coaches, cars and trains for the journey back to the Bradford district.
One such set of supporters were the Shipley Bantams.
They travelled up in force, leaving on two coaches from Valley Parade and Baildon Woodbottom Working Men’s Club.
Steve Benson, of Baildon, said: “I’m very disappointed as when the chips were down we did not show up.
“We have had a much better season than last season. We go again.
“It’s disappointing being in this league for another season, when this club (City) should be in League One or the Championship, but we have to earn the right to be there.
“On that showing today, I don’t think we would have beaten Stockport at Wembley in the final anyway.”
Janice Worsley, of Baildon, said: “It’s disappointing, obviously.
“It was so close, yet so far away really.
“We can’t take anything away from Carlisle, they are a good team.
“We should have come out and gone for a goal straight away today.
“It’s just a shame. We start again in July.”
Gloria Mori, of Shipley, said: “If it was to be, we would have got there.
“It’s disappointing for the city of Bradford as well.”
Ben Ackroyd, of Queensbury, said: “I’m gutted. We were not good enough. We didn’t deserve to win. It’s heartbreaking.
“We need to regroup and get a few fresh faces in. You need fast, strong players in League Two.
“We never do anything the easy way. We’re too big for this league.”
Michael Fox, of Holme Wood, said: “I’m just disappointed. We should have taken the game to them.
“There are going to be some big changes. Next season is up in the air. There is a lot of work to be done next season.
“Onto next season.”
Tim Airey, of Bingley, said: “I can’t put it into words, it’s devastating. It was a close match until they (Carlisle) got the last goal.
“We should have played at them more in the second half of the first leg.”
Tim’s partner, Lisa Norton, said: “It’s disappointing.
“We will bring new players in and get an automatic promotion place next season.”
The Bantams’ faithful cheered their side on throughout the tense contest with a host of chants.
The interaction between the two club’s sets of fans was good-natured throughout the match, until a number of the Carlisle supporters went onto the pitch at the final whistle, some of them directing taunts towards the City fans, who stayed in the stands and were protected by a line of stewards and police officers.
The Bantams fans, all 1,948 of them out of a total crowd of 15,401, were in full voice throughout the match.
The visiting supporters’ chants including ‘Mark Hughes’ claret and amber army’ and ‘City we love you’, ‘C’mon City’ and ‘Everywhere we go’ were ringing around Brunton Park, which helped make for a brilliant atmosphere throughout an eventful 120-minute contest.
Despite their side playing in their black and white striped away shirt, the away end in Cumbria was a sea of claret and amber.
Even club mascot Billy Bantam made the trip up from Valley Parade to Cumbria, getting the crowd going during the build-up to the start of the clash.
With the aggregate score level after normal time, the game went to an additional 30 minutes extra-time, after nine minutes of injury time at the end of the second half, which made for an even more tense atmosphere for supporters of both sides.
But the Bantams support had something to cheer about in the opening minute of the second period of extra time through a goal from substitute Matt Derbyshire.
This buoyed the City, who burst into life with a host of chants as the away end was bouncing.
But Carlisle scored in the 21st minute of a crazy period of extra time through Ben Barclay to make it 3-1 on the day and 3-2 to Carlisle on aggregate.
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