May 9, 1999: WOLVES 2 (Flo 12, Simpson 81) CITY 3 (Beagrie 25, Mills 40, Blake 64)

IT WAS the game that confirmed City’s entry into football’s land of milk and honey.

The Bantams may now still be coming to terms with the reality of their return to the basement division.

But 20 years ago, it was very different.

Anniversary special: 20 Premiership promotion memories 20 years on 

Thursday marks the anniversary of the win that propelled the club into the Premier League for the first time in their history.

A heart-stopping 3-2 success over Wolves at Molineux had everything – including the perfect ending as City were promoted to the elite.

Here, in his own words, manager Paul Jewell recalls a day that will forever be etched in the memories of those fortunate enough to say they were there.

“It’s a life-changing event when you go into the Premier League.

“Without being rude, it’s not the same when you go up from say League Two to League One.

“Going into the Premier League changes everything for so many people - the players, management, families, supporters. It was huge.

“We had taken the players away in the week leading up to the Wolves game because I didn’t want them having all that pressure.

“We went off to a place in Telford on the Tuesday and Wednesday to have a game of golf and get away from it all.

“The decision I had to make was to leave out Lee Sharpe and bring Jamie Lawrence back in.

“That was a big call because Sharpey had done okay. But I just thought that Jamie had been so good for us all season.

“He played one of the games of his life that day.

“But the way we played as a team at Molineux really captured our season.

“They scored a goal that was a foul, we played absolutely brilliant football to get 3-1 up. Unbelievably Beags (Peter Beagrie) then missed a penalty, although it was a fantastic save, and they pull one back.

“The last 10 minutes seemed to go on forever.

“There’s a photograph of Beags and Blakey (Robbie Blake) on the bench when Wolves hit the post. They are like two kids hiding behind the sofa at a scary movie.

“That game just summed up our season. Whatever people put in front of us, we just took it on.

“People have asked me if that was the best moment of my career. It’s difficult to say because you have so many highs and lows in football but that was certainly the game that put us on the map.

“When the whistle went, there was so much relief and joy.

“It was one of those journeys home when you wanted the bus to go via Edinburgh. It was such a special moment and you never wanted it to end.

“It was a special, special time in my career. We were winning games most weeks and playing great football.

“There was no roof on the Kop, people were getting soaking wet and they were handing out all these waterproofs. But we all felt that togetherness.

“Bradford have lost that over the years. We were together as a group, the team and the fans.

“Bradford is a special club because of what happened in 1985 and I think the people who came to watch us that year will have a special affinity with that team.”

WOLVES: Stowell, Muscat, Richards, Curle, Sedgeley, Gilkes, Osborn (Robinson 72), Emblen, Simpson, Keane (Corica 72), Flo (Bull 61).

CITY: Walsh, Wright, Dreyer, Moore, Jacobs, Lawrence, McCall, Whalley, Beagrie (Windass 83), Blake (Sharpe 83), Mills.

REFEREE: Chris Foy

ATTENDANCE: 27,589