There will be a little bit of Barnsley past at Wembley for the Capital One Cup Final next month after Bradford City made history last night by defeating Premier League Aston Villa 4-3 on aggregate.
The League Two outfit became the first fourth tier team to EVER reach a major cup final at Wembley after losing 2-1 at Villa Park last night. Their astonishing 3-1 victory at Valley Parade in the first leg proved enough to send them through to a date with either Chelsea or Swansea.
And they were led there by a string of ex Red’s players. Midfielders Gary Jones and Nathan Doyle both played key roles in the Quarter-Final victory over Arsenal, plus both legs over Villa, with Ritchie Jones, Ricky Ravenhill and Kyel Reid all playing roles during the six rounds the Bantams have had to get through to reach the Final.
Congratulations to all at Bradford City!
Ex Reds in action:
Gary Jones (2001-2004 Played 56 Scored 2)
Signed by Steve Parkin who he had worked under at Rochdale. Could not save The Reds from relegation from the First Division in 2002.
Nathan Doyle (2009-2012 Played 98 Scored 2)
Signed by Mark Robins, initially on loan, from Hull in September 2009 – just nine days after Robins had taken the reigns. He joined permanently on the 14th January 2010. He moved to Bradford from The Reds only last summer.
Kyel Reid (2006-2007 Played 26 Scored 2)
Signed on loan from West Ham by Simon Davey on the day he was appointed caretaker manager. Ironically both of his goals were scored in separate games against Southend. One came directly from a corner.
Ritchie Jones (2007 Played 4 Scored 0)
Another Davey loan signing arrived from Manchester United in February 2007. Of his four appearances only one was a start.
Ricky Ravenhill (2000-2002 Played 0)
Born in Doncaster, he started his career at Oakwell but failed to make a singe appearance for The Reds and left for his hometown club in 2002.
N.B Another ex Red, striker Andy Gray is now also at Bradford but is cup-tied after appearing for Leeds United earlier in the season.