A new era is about to begin at Bradford City Women and it is certainly a huge step in the right direction for the club. It has been announced that the Bradford City Community Foundation will be taking over the running of the Women's club to try strengthen ties with each avenue of the club which is only going to benefit current and aspiring players. The Bradford City Community Foundation chief executive officer said “We are delighted to have Bradford City Woman under our umbrella. After recently taking over Bradford City Girls, it made great sense for us to bring in the ladies in as well, to further strengthen the relationship and promise of the club." The changes will hopefully develop players to work through the ranks at the club and keep them progressing at Bradford City instead of heading elsewhere. 

This clubs decision was made after the announcement that  long-serving chair Sally Thackray and treasurer Allyson Matthews were going to be retiring. The club were looking for new volunteers and this seems to be a great direction the club is heading in after the announcement of the retirements.The club are hoping that this move will bring the women's side in-house and help stabilize the future of the club, which is something the club has been trying to do for a while now, hopefully this will also help minimise the issues that will arise from the ongoing pandemic situation too. 

Qasim Akhtar who is currently the business development officer of the Bradford City Community foundation will be stepping in as general manager while the Bingley Bantams Ian & Keith Taylor will become head of operations and treasurer roles.  

I got to ask club secretary Matthew Kermode what he though of the changes and here is what he had to say,  "We're extremely excited to be moving to be part of the Bradford City Community Foundation.  It allows us to reconnect with the FITC Girls' teams to provide a clear pathway from the youngest players right through to our first team.

You can read the official announcement here.