Bradford City

Despite currently being officially called the Northern Commercials Stadium thanks to a sponsorship deal and suffering numerous different names over the years for the same reason, the home of Bradford City Football Club will only ever be Valley Parade to most football fans. Bradford have played their games almost exclusively at the Valley since the club was formed, with the only exception to this coming in the aftermath of the Bradford City Stadium Fire. 56 supporters lost their lives when a fire engulfed The Main Stand and destroyed it in just nine minutes. Whilst the ground was being repaired the club played their home games at Elland Road and Leeds Road Stadiums. The area of ground that the stadium was built on was originally a quarry owned by the Midland Railway Company. It was bought by Manningham Rugby Football Club in 1886 and they spent about £1400 building a stadium with a 20,000 capacity. When Bradford City FC Formed in 1903 they took over the ground, choosing to redevelop it when they gained promotion to the First Division in 1908. They brought renowned football architect Archibald Leitch in to redesign the stadium, expanding the capacity to 40,000. The ground remained largely unchanged between then and 1952 when the club’s Midland Road Stand had to be demolished not once but twice. The stadium was three-sided between 1960 and 1966.