It was one of those warm fuzzy moments when you realise why we all love football.

Supporting – and reporting on – City has become a grim job for far too long to mention.

Is there a club’s fanbase who have been more put upon than the Valley Parade faithful over the past decade?

We all wait patiently for the tide to turn as one day it surely must.

Success, we are told, goes in cycles and City’s time will come again. So the vigil goes on.

In the meantime, let’s cherish the odd shaft of light through the black clouds.

Last Saturday, 3,500 or so loyal souls were lucky enough to witness one such moment.

The goal scored by Nahki Wells was something special; a strike to be treasured and recalled with relish however the season pans out from here.

Even in such low-key surroundings as the FA Cup first round in front of an audience barely a third the size of the league average, we were treated to one of the best efforts at the stadium in years.

You can talk about great defending, midfielders running box to box, keepers saving three penalties in a shoot-out. But nothing can eclipse a “worldy” goal – and the Bermudian’s was in a class of its own.

City have been beaten by several long-distance strikes in recent weeks. None, though, come close to the quality of Wells’ peach of a drive.

Suddenly a routine Saturday afternoon was transformed into a very special one. The topic of Bantams conversation over the next few days, for once, was focused on good things on the pitch rather than worries off it.

I read an interview with Timmy Mallett, of all people, talking about the amazing positive impact that a football team’s success can have on the local area. In his case, it was Oxford’s rise into the promotion places.

For City, that still remains a pipedream for now.

But the reaction to the Wells’ wonder blast illustrates how quickly we can be wrapped up by that feel-good factor.

First thing on Monday morning I conducted an impromptu poll on Twitter asking fans if they could remember a goal as good.

The reaction through the day was incredible. The usual gripes and groans were replaced by a flood of tweets reliving past crackers.

Youtube went into overdrive in a torrent of golden goals down memory lane.

More than 20 different pearlers were nominated – though the vote for Rob Kiernan’s header in his own net against Barnet was on the harsh side.

Names like Chris Waddle and Peter Beagrie featured heavily but the nominations ran from Peter Thorne to Tony Clegg via Leigh Palin, Paul Showler, Ian Ormondroyd, Danny Forrest and Gordon Watson.

Paul Scholes got a couple of mentions for that volley from David Beckham’s corner in Manchester United colours and Thierry Henry with Arsenal’s consolation – how odd does that sound now?

Omar Daley’s thumping volley against Bury in January proved as popular as Waddle’s lob at Goodison Park.

But the contest came down to a two-horse race between strikers who rarely did anything else in the claret and amber.

Luke Medley has disappeared into non-league obscurity with Kidderminster. But he etched his name in City minds with the ferocious angled volley he scored with his first touch in senior football against Wrexham.

That goal, which also clinched Stuart McCall’s first win in management, got plenty of backing – though one hard-to-please tweeter claimed it was just a “cross that he met well”.

But Medley was nudged into second place by the moody but occasionally magnificent Stan Collymore.

City did not see the best of Stan the Man during an ill-fated three months which eventually saw him bundled out of the door for Spain and an even worse stint with Real Oviedo.

But there was one flash of inspiration that won over the fans; an overhead kick at the Bradford End from Beni Carbone’s cross.

It was a worthy winner of our unofficial “best goal before Nahki Wells” mantle.

And I’m sure the fact that it was scored against Leeds had absolutely nothing to do with it.