We at bantamspast are setting up a working party to get the first floor museum, office and café area ready for the new season next Saturday, July 24, from 10am.

One in a Million (Wayne Jacob's Charity) are the new tenants and as part of their planned development they have already built a wall across one end of the space. This requires painting, and when complete will form part of the museum.

In addition we need to tidy up, hoover, polish trophies and other items on display, in order to get the area ready for the new season.

CAN YOU PLEASE HELP?

If you can give a few hours between 10am and 3pm next Saturday we can make a real difference.

The future of the bantamspast museum is assured following talks with our new landlords Wayne Jacobs' charity One in a Million. As many will know Leeds Metropolitan University leased the space above the club shop over the last three years, that deal lapsed after the last game of the season. Into the breach stepped the One in a Million charity. Wayne Jacobs' charity who have signed a five year deal. They are very supportive of the work of supporters' groups such as bantamspast, The City Gent and the Bradford City Supporters' Trust. The museum and café will remain available to supporters on matchdays.

Over the next twelve months a permanent wall will be built where the red partition currently stands and the wall will be available for museum use. There is a long term plan to remove the escalators and build a dedicated entrance, but for the time being it will be business as usual on matchdays. The museum is in need of a revamp and the charity are looking forward to helping the museum volunteers in achieving that aim. There will be a meeting with interested parties in June.

The charity do require the former museum store room to be cleared out and volunteers will be undertaking this task on Wednesday from around 10.30am. As usual we welcome any help however modest. Supporters can join David Pendleton at the museum, willing hands are all that is required.

bantamspast's David Pendleton has attended many of the events commemorating the 25th anniversary of the tragic fire which left 56 people dead and many more injured. You can see some of his pictures from the day here.

As reported previously, the BBC's Football Focus presented their programme from Valley Parade prior to the final home game of the season, in order to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the fire tragedy. Since then, Dan Walker has written a personal view of the broadcast in his blog, including extracts from the programme itself.

Twenty five years on from the fire Bradford will once again pause to remember its darkest day in modern times. The Archbishop of York will lead the service in Centenary Square at 11am. Given the significance of the anniversary a stage has been erected so the expected large crowds can view the event. We understand that this year admission to City Hall will be by invitation only.

At 2.50pm the Lord Mayor of Bradford, and his counterpart from Hamm, will rededicate Hamm Strasse and unveil a new marker stone at its junction with Manningham Lane. The road was named after the German town in recognition of the support the people of Hamm gave to Bradford in its hour of need. Hamm of course donated the memorial in Centenary Square.

Valley Parade will be open from 3pm so people can be in the ground at the actual time of the fire. In the evening Bradford Cathedral is holding a service of remembrance which commences at 7.30pm.

picture by Carl Bromwich

As many of you will know, the BBC's flagship football preview programme, Football Focus, was broadcast live from Valley Parade yesterday, May 1st. Stuart McCall, Terry Yorath, John Hendrie, John Helm, City Gent editor Mike Harrison, former T&A reporter David Markham, Gabby Logan and many more appeared in a moving tribute to those who perished in the Bradford Fire.

Gabby Logan also described her memories of the day on Radio 4's Archive Hour.

City fan Nick Kitchen will be giving a presentation about the signed football from 1985 he has recently loaned to the bantamspast museum. The ball features the signatures of the team that won the Third Division Championship in 1985. The celebrations were, of course, tragically cut short by the fire that killed fifty six fans. Twenty five years on from that sobering event Nick will give his perspective on those times. The talk will commence at 2pm and as ever admission is completely free of charge.

The Cathedral, in collaboration with Bradford City Football Club, is marking the 25th anniversary of the Bradford Fire with a special Service of Remembrance to be attended by the Lord Mayors of Bradford and Hamm, members of the team’s management and players, and other invited guests. The Cathedral will also be open from 8.30am until 5.30pm – with a candle under the memorial plaque in the North Transept – for anyone wishing to spend quiet time in prayer. A tenor bell will be tolled at 3.40pm, the time the fire was first noticed, and a half-muffled peal will be rung before the service which starts at 7.30pm.

The Dean, the Very Revd Dr David Ison, will lead the service which has been arranged to complement the big public memorial event being held in the morning in Centenary Square. This service will provide a quieter opportunity to remember, including the lighting of 57 candles – 56 to remember each person who died as a result of the fire, and one for all those injured, in body or mind, on that terrible day.

David Markham, the T&A reporter who was there on the day with his two sons, will talk about his personal experience of the day and Ben Miranda will speak about the achievements and aspirations of the Burns Unit.

All are welcome, for more details please contact the Cathedral Office on 01274 777720.

This afternoon, prior to the Barnet game, bantamspast co-curator, David Pendleton, gave an illustrated presentation which outlined some of the many events being held in 2011 - the centenary of City's famous FA Cup win.

A large and enthusiastic crowd listened attentively as he spoke of the importance of the win back in 1911 and how essential it is that it be commemorated.

Briefly, the main features of the celebration are: a book, an exhibition at Bradford Industrial Museum and a Spring-Summer visit to the graves and memorials of the nine City players who died in the First World War.

David himself is currently writing the book, Glorious 1911, which will cover not only the cup run itself but also the lead up and aftermath - a period running from 1908 until 1922. He described how people can now become subscribers to the book. This will enable them to buy it at a reduced price of £10 (instead of £12), have their names printed in the book itself and also receive a commemorative 1911-2011 badge. A reminder that the application form to become a subscriber can be downloaded by clicking here.

The exhibition will run from March 19 until June 12 2011. Hopefully, at least 4 of the players' winning medals will be on display, in addition to a large number of artefacts and images.

The club have confirmed that the team will wear a replica 1911 kit for the home cup games next season.

The bantamspast team will also give a series of pre-match presentations to coincide with the anniversary of each game in the cup run. These will include the stories of players and officials along with a description of other events in the Bradford area at the time. We hope to give a real flavour of Bradford life in 1911.

We will give further information about these and other events as it becomes available. Once more we attempted to record the audio of David's presentation. Again, this was not successful but you can view the slides above.

The forthcoming book, GLORIOUS 1911 by bantamspast curator and former City Gent editor, David Pendleton, is a celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the FA Cup winning season in 1910/11.

The book is being released next October in advance of an exhibition at the Industrial Museum from January, 2011 but it is possible to subscribe for a copy in advance. Subscribers are able to get a discount on the cover price as well as purchase one of the limited edition FA Cup centenary badges. Further details are included on the form.

Hard copies of the subscriber application form will be distributed at Valley Parade on Saturday, April 17th at the bantamspast museum following the aforementioned presentation (see below). Completed forms can also be handed in or sent to the address given on the form itself. Copies of the application form can be downloaded here.