As a Manchester City supporter, I've recently visited Valley Parade for a pre-season friendly. Maybe it's because I've been spoilt rotten
with our recently-acquired, plush, new stadium (The City of Manchester Stadium), but I found the facilities in the Dallas Stand (behind the goal) alarmingly poor. Especially so as the ground, in general, is very impressive when you take into consideration that Bradford are currently playing their football in the old 3rd division.

On this particular day, Manchester City fans arrived in huge numbers and there weren't too many empty seats as the game kicked off. But surely we aren't the only team to have brought such strong support to Valley Parade in recent years. That being the case, the food facilities are totally inadequate. A small hut staffed by three, startled-looking Catering Staff was nowhere near enough to accommodate 'the masses'. Not only that, they soon ran out of food (well before Kick Off) and there didn't seem to be any real plans to restock the ovens. By the time I got there, they had run out of pies/pasties & chips. They had ran out of onions for burgers and much to everyone's amazement, they didn't even have any mustard/sauces available.
For the price of around £2, you could purchase a dry burger on a bun...no butter of course. Buying for 3 people, I purchased 2 dry burgers, 2 packets of crisps and 2 bottles of spring water for £8! However, these prices were in line with the thin, 23-page program being sold on the day for £2.

The less said about the toilet facilities the better. Needless to say that
they were nowhere near adequate enough in terms of numbers. The blokes toilets we small and very narrow indeed and most women emerged from their amenities with words of disgust. For those who chose to say nothing, their faces said it all.

But worst of all...NO BAR!

Like I said; maybe I've been spoilt in recent years. I used to travel all
over the country to watch my beloved Blues from the mid-to-late 80s through to the mid-90s and enjoyed nearly every away trip back then (Bradford City in 1989 included). I tend to stick to all home games these days. I used to love swaying too-and-fro in all-standing terraces and would still advocate for most grounds to have safe, controlled standing areas. But I think that, in general, my standards have risen somewhat, which is perhaps a bit shameful in a way...

Other than that, Valley Parade is a decent-looking stadium with friendly fans and I have to remind myself that I was sat in the oldest of the 4 stands. Ideally located just off a main road; a 15-minute walk takes you into the town centre where various bars, chippies & bakeries can be found quite easily. If you fancied staying in the town centre until 'late on' before Kick Off, there's a taxi rank in-amongst the shops and £3.50 will get you to the ground within 5-minutes.

Steve, Manchester.