Remembering Bradford City's promotion to the Premier League

Can you remember exactly where you were and what you were doing 25 years ago today?

It was City’s JFK moment as 3,300 delirious and disbelieving fans partied in the Molineux stand with the knowledge that they really were Premier League.

Many, many more will have watched every second of the unfolding drama on TV as a breathless 3-2 win at Wolves clinched something quite unthinkable in living memory.

Stuart McCall raises his arms aloft after the final whistle (Image: Newsquest)

On the anniversary of May 9, 1999, let’s willingly wallow in recollections from that day – and not just about Stuart McCall toppling off the car without spilling a drop of lager!

GOING 1-0 DOWN

ROBBIE BLAKE: “We were a confident team but when Wolves scored first, Jagger absolutely nailed me to liven up. I was thinking, ‘why’s he having a go at me?’ “But looking back after, I realise he did that because I was one of the people who could make the difference and turn the game around.”

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

“They scored a goal that was a foul on Walshy but we played absolutely brilliant football to get 3-1 up.”

THE BANTAMS FIGHT BACK

PETER BEAGRIE: “Their full back (Robbie) Muscat had put his knee in my back early on and I’d given him a bit of verbal. ‘Be afraid, be very afraid’.

“Then the ball dropped between us and he took his eye off it a little bit. I robbed him and there was Keith Curle in front of me.

“I used to play with Keith at Man City and before the game he’s made sure we had all the bar tickets for the wives and everyone.

Wolves keeper Mike Stowell watches the equaliser hit the net (Image: Newsquest)

“Funny enough, he never came in afterwards and it wasn’t until the next day that he phoned me to apologise. He was just so disappointed for buying the dummy!

“We just grew in strength from getting the equaliser. We always had the belief but that just underlined everything we had done that season.”

PAUL SIMPSON’S FREE-KICK HITS THE POST

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

“The last 10 minutes seemed to go on forever.”

PETER BEAGRIE: “Miss, miss, cat’s pXss!

"Whenever we used to have a game of cards and I was in the final against anybody, I'd say it - and I kept saying it when they got the free-kick.

"I managed to put the curse on Simpson - I’m sure some of my family are gypsies and that’s where it comes from.”

Robbie Blake fires City 3-1 up but the drama wasn't over (Image: Newsquest)

DEAN WINDASS: "I was on the end of the wall but none of us could do anything about it. 

"Walshy (Gary Walsh) had stood still. He hadn't even tried to dive because there was no chance of reaching it.

"We were fXXXXd - but somehow the ball smacked against the inside of the post and bounced straight back into his arms."

ROBBIE BLAKE: “The game was like basketball because it was so open. Even at 3-1, you were still thinking we weren’t home and hosed.

“They obviously came back and scored again, then Simpson hit the inside of the post from that free-kick.

“Once that came out and ran along the line, I really thought that Lady Luck was with us and we would be all right.”

GEOFFREY RICHMOND: “None of us could take that impossible tension.

“My watch had stopped, time was standing still – and then the whistle finally blew.”

Lee Mills, who scored City's second goal, hugs Lee Todd (Image: Newsquest)

THEY THINK IT'S ALL OVER - IT IS NOW

STUART McCALL: “We should have been promoted before we went to Wolves but I purposely missed an easy header the week before against Oxford!

“We had the player-of-the-season do during that week and I obviously got well reminded by all the supporters who were there. It did play on my mind.

“The buzz felt even better because of the tension and the fact it had gone right to the wire.

“That’s why thousands of Bradford supporters should thank me for my glaring miss against Oxford. I saw it in the stars!”

PAUL JEWELL: “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.”

GEOFFREY RICHMOND: “When you have supported Bradford City for many, many years, there are not a lot of wonderful days. TPhis has been one of them.”

DEAN WINDASS: "As the gaffer got on the bus, he announced we would all get a promotion bonus.

"Because of that, all debts from the card school will be wiped out. You should have seen Beags' face - he wasn't amused!"

JAMIE LAWRENCE: “I went out for about three days. I said to the T&A that you’ll probably find me drunk in a gutter somewhere later that night. I was true to my words!”

AND FINALLY ... THE VALLEY PARADE CAR PARK

ROBBIE BLAKE: “I was on the main gates with Darren Moore celebrating with the fans when it happened.

"As I jumped down, I turned and could see him just about to go.

“It was so funny to watch but it was also the worst thing about that day, though.

“Nobody thinks about the players on the pitch when Bradford got promoted – all they talk about is Macca falling off the car and not dropping an ounce of lager!”

THE MAN HIMSELF: “My trainer got lodged under the windscreen wiper. The funny thing is the club got a £360 bill for a dented roof!”