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Valley Parade

Valley Parade
Valley Parade, Bradford.jpg
Full name Northern Commercials Stadium
Location Valley Parade, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD8 7DY, England,
Coordinates 53°48′15″N 001°45′32″W / 53.80417°N 1.75889°W / 53.80417; -1.75889Coordinates: 53°48′15″N 001°45′32″W / 53.80417°N 1.75889°W / 53.80417; -1.75889
Owner Gordon Gibb pension fund
Capacity 25,136
Field size 113 yd × 70 yd (103 m × 64 m)
Surface Grass
Opened 1886
Tenants
Manningham RFC (1886–1903)
Bradford City (1903–present)
Bradford (Park Avenue) (1973–1974)
Bradford Bulls (2001–2002)

Valley Parade, also known as the Northern Commercials Stadium through sponsorship rights, is an all-seater football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It was built in 1886, and was the home of Manningham Rugby Football Club until 1903, when they changed code from rugby football to association football and became Bradford City. It has been Bradford City's home since, although it is now owned by former chairman Gordon Gibb's pension fund. It has also been home to Bradford (Park Avenue) for one season, and Bradford Bulls rugby league side for two seasons, as well as host to a number of England youth team fixtures.

Football architect Archibald Leitch was commissioned to redevelop the ground when Bradford City were promoted to the First Division in 1908. From then, the stadium underwent few changes until 1985, when it was the scene of a fatal fire on 11 May 1985, when 56 supporters were killed and at least 265 were injured. It underwent a £2.6 million redevelopment and was re-opened in December 1986. The ground underwent significant changes in the 1990s and early 2000s and now has a capacity of 25,136. The record attendance of 39,146 was set in 1911 for an FA Cup tie against Burnley, making it the oldest surviving attendance record at a Football League ground in the country.

Manningham Rugby Football Club, formed in 1876, originally played games at Cardigan Fields, in the Carlisle Road area of Bradford. When their ground was sold to facilitate the construction of Drummond School, the club required a new home. Consequently, they bought one-third of the Valley Parade site in Manningham, taking a short-term lease out on the rest of the land in time to play there for the 1886–87 season. The new ground and the road it was built upon both adopted the name of the local area, Valley Parade, a name deriving from the steep hillside below Manningham. The land was previously a quarry, and formed part of a greater site owned by Midland Railway Company.


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