BRADFORD CITY V COVENTRY CITY
SATURDAY AUGUST 9TH AT 3.30PM
AT CORAL WINDOWS STADIUM, VALLEY PARADE, BRADFORD, WEST YORKSHIRE, BD8 7DY
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TRAVEL
Club Coach All Booked Up SBT All Booked Up
Arriving by Road
From the North East take A1 southbound to join A1/M1 link then join M62 westbound.
From the South take M1 or A1 northbound to join M62 westbound.
From the North West / West take M6 then M60 Manchester Ring Road to join M62 eastbound then: From M62 exit at j26. Take M606 towards Bradford
At end of motorway take the middle or right hand lane and follow signs for Ring Road East (under tunnel) onto Rooley Lane (signs Leeds/Bradford Airport). McDonalds is now on your left. Over traffic lights at Asda Superstore and turn left at roundabout into Wakefield Road. Stay in middle lane.Over two roundabouts staying in middle lane (signs to Shipley & Skipton) on to Shipley Airedale Road (A6037) which then becomes Canal Road.After Tesco, Staples & P C World (on left) go over traffic lights and turn left into Station Road (A6177) and left again into Queens Road.
Uphill to third set of traffic lights and turn left into Manningham Lane.After Gulf Petrol Station (on left), take first left into Valley Parade for Stadium.
Supporters are advised that there is NO public car parking at the stadium on matchdays and there is very limited street parking.
Buses to the Stadium
First Bradford and Keighley & District Travel Company operate frequent bus services from Bradford city centre, Bradford Interchange and outlying areas to the Coral Windows Stadium (buses stop on Manningham Lane or Queens Road).
Arriving by Rail
The nearest Rail Station for the Stadium is Bradford Forster Square. Services are operated by Northern Rail.Bradford Interchange also connects with Leeds City station for National Express East Coast and Cross Country services.
Taxi
If going to the ground by taxi, make sure you ask for Bradford City or Valley Parade as in Bradford, the term "Bradford" refers to Bradford Park Avenue.
Worth A Read - http://www.thegroundguide.co.uk/groundguide/bradford.html
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TICKET NEWS
There are a few restricted view tickets remaining for the match and the club are yet to have confirmation if any further tickets will be available on the gate.
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FOOD AND DRINK
Pubs that are safe to drink in for away fans with children welcome close to the ground are the Oakleigh and Park Hotel (both off Manningham Lane towards Shipley), the New Beehive in Westgate at the top end of town, Haigy’s (a little closer as you walk to the ground from Westgate), and The Bolton, Goldsbourgh, and Corn Dolly which are to the east of the ground.
If you are into curries then Bradford has a plethora of establishments which can provide a cheap pre-game feed.
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MATCH DETAILS
This League One fixture kicks off at 3pm.
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THE LAST TIME
This will be the thirteenth time that Coventry City have played a league game at Valley Parade.
City have won only once with a 3-1 win on September 15th 1959, lost seven times and drawn four times including the game last season on November 17th 2013 which saw goals from Andy Webster and Leon Clarke put the Sky Blues two up in six minutes before Nahki Wells cancelled them out with a brace. Callum Wilson restored City’s lead in the 42nd minute, only for the Sky Blues to give away a 94th minute penalty which Wells dispatched for his hat-trick and a share of the points.
The teams that day were as follows:
City: Murphy, Adams, Webster, J. Clarke, Christie, Thomas, Fleck, Baker, Moussa (Phillips 84), Wilson, L. Clarke. Subs: Burge, Haynes, Garner, Barton, Daniels, Loza.
Bradford City: McLaughlin, Darby, Meredith, Reid (Da Vita 84), Hanson, Thompson (Yeates 67), Jones (C), Wells, Bates (Connell 82), McArdle, Doyle. Subs: Ripley, Kennedy, Taylor, Folan..
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MATCH OFFICIALS
The currently appointed referee for Coventry City's League One game at Bradford City on Saturday is Andy D'Urso from Essex.
Andy, whose hobbies include gardening and travel, has been on the National list since 1994. He has also spent four years on the FIFA list.
His last Coventry City game was the 2-0 defeat at Tranmere on September 15th 2012.
Other City matches that Mr D'Urso has been in charge of are: the 1-0 win against Barnsley in February 2012, the 2-1 home defeat to Nottingham Forest on February 1st 2011, the 2-0 win over Portsmouth in August 2010., the 1-0 home defeat by Derby County last season, the 4-1 defeat at Charlton Athletic on May 4th 2008, the 2-0 defeat at Norwich in November 2007, the 1-1 at Norwich in Feb 2007, the 1-0 home defeat to Birmingham City in October 2006, the 2-0 defeat at Palace in Nov 2005, the 2-0 home win against Forest in April 2005, the 2-0 defeat at Rotherham in December 2003, the 1-0 home win against Sheffield United in March 2002, the 2-1 win at Manchester City in August 2000, the 5-0 defeat at West Ham in April 2000, the 2-0 defeat at Liverpool in December 1999 and the 3-2 defeat at Tottenham in September 1999.
His assistants are Robert Aiken and Mark Duncan and the Fourth Official is Matt Corlett.
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BETTING
The Bookies are expecting Coventry City to be the under-dogs for their opening game of the season at Bradford City.
The bookies are quoting odds of 7/4 on a Sky Blues win with Bradford City at 6/4 and 9/4 the draw.
Bet Victor are offeing the best odds of a Coventry City win, quoting 2/1.
You can get odds of 8/1 on a 1-0 win for the Sky Blues and odds of 6/1 on Marcus Tudgay being the first goalscorer.
If you are planning on having a bet on the game, make sure you shop around for the best odds as some of the bookmakers are exceedingly tight on the odds they give.
You can check what the leading bookies are offering by clicking on http://www.oddschecker.com/football/english/league-1/bradford-v-coventry/winner