The 2018/2019 season saw Bradford City Women relegated into the FAWNL Division 1 North from the Northern premier Division after a season that saw them pick up 0 points and finish with a -128 goal difference. Maybe the drop down a league was just what they needed to be able to regroup however, that following season didn't really go to plan either with the pandemic taking hold during the 2019/20 season the league ended up voiding results and the season ended before the team could hit the ground running under new Manager Chris Hames. Hames took over towards the end of 2019 and his first game in the City dugout saw City narrowly defeated 1-0 by a fifth place Liverpool Feds side which already showed the progress they were making under his management and training style. It is a shame that season was cut short as I really do believe we could have seen the team come together and get the results they wanted if they had the consistency of regular games. Before Chris was appointed after every game you could see how defeated the team felt but since he has come in they seem to keep their heads up for much longer and fight to claw back a result which just goes to show the turn around he has created.
I think if that season hadn't been cancelled we would have seen them climb the table but it just wasn't meant to be. I don't know what Chris had the team doing during the pandemic but when the 2020/21 season kicked off you could see the team looked more put together and like they were ready to give the season their all but once again that season was cut short thanks to the pandemic and the team only got to compete in 4 games, this time though they ended up with 3 draws and 1 loss which showed they were definitely stepping it up a gear it is just a shame we again didn't see a full season from the league as I think we could have ended up with a good run of results.
Moving onto this season (2021/22) we seem to be back to a normal fixture list and the season is progressing nicely. As it stands Bradford are currently 10th in the league with 7 points however, so far they have only played 8 games so have quite a few games in hand on those teams around them, if they can capitalise on these games in hand they are bound to keep climbing the table to avoid relegation. With it being a while since City have played a league game it is going to be interesting to see how they fair up with the teams at their level once more but I believe that since the start of the season we have definitely seen them up their game and show us all what they are capable of, just take the game at Valley Parade vs Leeds for an example, we certainly went into that as the underdogs but came out as 1-0 winners after playing a very good game, more performances like that and we are bound to see City climbing the table and causing a few upsets along the way.
With the amount of games left this season it is definitely going to be interesting to see how the remainder of the season progresses but I think with how things are going at the moment we are going to be in for an exciting few months although no doubt they could be a bit nerve-racking too as there are still a few tough opponents to face but I am sure we can put up a good fight against them all and prove that we deserve to be in that league.
Since Hames came into the picture there has definitely been improvement and now lets just hope the consistency of games can create more progress and a good run of form so that we get to see the team pick up more points before the end of the season and get higher in the table like they deserve.
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