One hundred and twenty years ago Bradford City embarked on its Football League adventure and this season, 2023/24 will be the club’s 110th in peacetime. Of those a total of 12 have been spent in the top tier (1908-22 and 1999-2001); 29 in the second tier (most recently between 2001-2004); 25 in the third tier (most recently 2013-19); 28 in the fourth tier (currently since 2019) and 16 in Division Three North (1927-29 and 1937-58).

In 1903/04 the club played in Division Two of the Football League which then comprised just two divisions of 18 clubs apiece. Relegated from Division One in 1902/03 had been Bolton Wanderers and Grimsby Town and Bradford City had taken the place of Doncaster Rovers in Division Two.

The Football League had been formed in 1888 but by 1903 it was already well-established – a hierarchy of clubs had developed that has persisted and is still recognisable today.

Of the current Premier League membership (20), eight were members of Division One (18) in 1903/04 and three were members of Division Two (18). Making up the numbers, of the current second tier clubs (24), seven were in Division One in 1903/04 and three in Division Two. Hence, of the 36 Football League clubs in 1903/04 there is a total of eleven in the Premier League in 2023/24 and ten in the Championship (second tier). Most striking of all is that of the 18 Division One clubs in 1903/04, only three – Derby County, Notts County and Bury – are currently outside the top two divisions of English football.

Of the 18 clubs in Division Two in 1903/04, twelve are currently below the top two tiers of English football. Of those, Barnsley, Bolton Wanderers, Blackpool, Burton, Lincoln City and Port Vale are in the current third tier (six); Bradford City, Grimsby Town and Stockport County are in the fourth tier (three) and Chesterfield, Gainsborough Trinity and Glossop North End (three) are outside the Football League. That only eight clubs in total (including Bradford City) of the 38 members of the Football League in 1903/04 are currently outside the top three divisions of English football can be interpreted in a couple of ways. On the one hand it shows that the vast majority have retained a senior status and derived advantage from having been long established. The other doesn’t reflect particularly well on BCAFC and highlights the relative underperformance of the club.

The story of how the Football League developed is that membership was expanded through southern clubs and the eventual absorption of the Southern League to create a truly national competition that had originally been dominated by northern sides. For example, of the nine current Premier League clubs who competed outside the Football League 120 years ago there are six who were then members of the Southern League: Brentford (Southern League, Division One), Brighton & Hove Albion (SLD1), Fulham (SLD1), Luton Town (SLD1), Tottenham Hotspur (SLD1) and West Ham United (SLD1). Two had not then been formed: Chelsea FC was founded in 1905 and elected to the Football League in 1905. Crystal Palace FC was also founded in 1905 and elected to the Southern League, Division Two the same year. The most impressive upward mobility however has surely been that of AFC Bournemouth who (as Bournemouth & Boscombe FC) were playing at a local level in 1903 and the club was not elected to the Football League until 1921.

The extent to which southern – as opposed to northern – clubs have been an emergent force in the Premier League reflects firstly the shift in economic wealth in England in the last 120 years and secondly, the relative strength and potential of the former Southern League / Division Three (South) clubs compared to those with a Division Three (North) heritage. To a lesser extent southern clubs have also been an emergent force in the Championship.

Of the clubs currently in the Championship, ten were members of the Football League (Divisions One and Two) in 1903/04. Of the remaining fourteen, a total of five were then members of the Southern League: Southampton (SLD1), Millwall (SLD1), Watford (SLD2), Queens Park Rangers (SLD1) and Plymouth Argyle (SLD1). Another three have Southern League heritage albeit post-1903: Coventry City, elected to Southern League in 1908; Cardiff City formed 1899, elected to Southern League in 1910; and Norwich City formed 1902, elected to Southern League in 1905. The rise of Ipswich Town is also notable, formed in 1878 but not elected to the Football League until 1938. The five remaining clubs had not been formed in 1903: Leeds City, formed 1904 and elected to the Football League in 1905 (current club dates to phoenix in 1919); Swansea City formed 1912, elected to Southern League in 1913; Hull City formed in 1904, elected to the Football League 1905; Huddersfield Town formed 1908, elected to the Football League in 1910; and Rotherham United founded 1925 and elected to the Football League in 1925 (predecessor club Rotherham County was elected to Football League in 1919).

Of the current lower divisions, the vast majority of the combined 48 members joined the Football League after 1903 (with the exception of Derby County, Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers in the third tier and Bradford City, Grimsby Town, Notts County and Stockport County in the fourth tier). Notable is that of the remaining 41 clubs as many as twenty joined the Football League after 1945 of which thirteen since 1993 (excluding Barrow FC which is treated as having regained its status). The bulk of the rest joined the Football League when it was expanded after 1919 through the creation of Division Three (South) from the absorption of the Southern League and Division Three (North). The fourth tier (current League Two) continues to have a higher proportion of northern clubs compared to the third (League One) and includes eight clubs who have joined the Football League in the last 30 years (again excluding Barrow). However, the geographic split of the recent newbies has been pretty even between north and south.

A remarkable distinction for Bradford City AFC is that although Notts County can claim to have been founder members of the Football League in 1888, the club has the longest uninterrupted membership of the Football League among those competing in League Two in 2023/24. Of those in League One only four clubs can boast longer uninterrupted membership of the Football League: Derby County, founders in 1888; Bolton Wanderers, 1888; Barnsley FC, 1898; and Blackpool 1900.

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A recent feature on VINCIT by the same author provides an alternative history of BCAFC and attempts to explain the reasons for the club’s underperformance since 1903.

The author’s blog provides further features on the history of BCAFC as well as book reviews and can be found from this link.

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