The name Bradford is derived from the
"broad ford" at Church Bank (below the site of Bradford Cathedral)
around which a settlement had begun to appear before the time of the
Norman Conquest. The ford crossed the stream called Bradford Beck.
Bradford has long been a centre of the West Riding wool industry.
Bradford was one of the many English towns which became prosperous
during the Industrial Revolution. Bradford's textile industry dates back
as far as the thirteenth century, but it was not until the nineteenth
century that it became world-famous. Wool was imported in vast
quantities for the worsted cloth in which Bradford specialised. Other
fibres were also processed, e.g., alpaca. Yorkshire boasted plentiful
supplies of iron ore, coal and soft water which were used in cleaning
raw wool, and a huge coal seam provided the power that the industry
needed. Sandstone, Bradford's local stone, was an excellent resource for
the building of the mills, and the large population of West Yorkshire
meant there was a readily available workforce.
Bradford City Football Club are an
English football team based at Valley Parade (otherwise known as The
Bradford & Bingley Stadium, due to stadium sponsorship) in Bradford.
Bradford & Bingley will also be the club's official shirt sponsor for
the 2006/2007 season. Bradford's only major trophy to date is the FA
Cup, which they won in 1911.
The club was originally known as Manningham
FC, a rugby club and a founding member of the Northern Rugby Football
Union. Manningham RFC left that code at the end of the 1902-03 season to
switch to association football and the club changed its name to Bradford
City AFC. The invitation in 1903 to join the Football League was an
attempt to introduce the sport to the rugby-dominated region, and the
club was accepted into the League even before it had a team. Bradford
City and Chelsea share the distinction of being the only clubs to join
the League without having played a competitive fixture.
Bradford Bulls are a professional
rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, England. They have been
one of the success stories of the Super League, and are one of the
biggest clubs in British rugby league. The team jersey is white with
red, amber and black 'V'. The club plays its home games at Grattan
Stadium which is located to the south of the city centre.
The Bradford Rugby Club was formed in 1863.
Park Avenue was established as their home ground in 1880. They achieved
their first major success by winning the Yorkshire Cup in 1884.
In 1895, along with crosstown neighbours Manningham, Bradford were among
22 clubs to secede from the Rugby Football Union after a historic
meeting at The George Hotel in Huddersfield, in response to a dispute
over "broken time" payments to players. These 22 clubs formed the
Northern Rugby Union. In 1903-4 Bradford finished level on points with
Salford at the top of the league and then won the resulting play-off
5-0.