ILLUMINATIONS? WHAT ARE THEY?

It is a bit late in the day and I could have used the excuse for not writing this earlier that I have been watching the first ties of the Emirates FA Cup, but I haven't. Eastleigh and Swindon played out an exciting 1-1 draw and Millwall beat Southend 1-0 in a South-east derby. I could have travelled south, but NO I have been to listen to the Halle Orchestra in Sheffield! Even missed the U13 practice as the youngsters prepare for a local derby on Sunday v Hade Edge.

Tomorrow's cup fixtures left me with several choices. If a chum of mine had said "yes", I would have gone to Stockport County to see them take on Woking in a classy First round tie, But he couldn't, so I then thought next nearest? Well across the Pennines there is Bury v AFC Wimbledon, plenty of scope there for an historic rant, or Bolton v Grimsby and then possibly Oldham v Donny. Hmmm not convinced.

Further north-west there are some splendid cup ties with the stand out match being Southport v Fleetwood, how much more Lancashire can you get? (the cockles derby?) Blackpool are at home to Kidderminster and Morecambe host Coventry. The M6 and M58 will be heaving over the weekend, probably because of the Blackpool illuminations?

In the end it is the unofficial opening of the Bradford City new illuminated LED scoreboard that is going to get the nod. £150,000 invested through the Bradford City bantams family and supporters board, has had the new scoreboard erected between the TL Dallas and Midland Road stands at Valley Parade. Following on from the dreadful "fire", such investment is important to this brave League 1 club as they continue to upgrade their stadium.

Remember their cup run last year? Chelsea, Sunderland and finally losing to Reading  after a draw in the 1/4 finals. How much joy did that bring to all neutrals (especially the 4-2 thumping of the Blues at the Bridge).

So we are getting a sneak preview of the Bradford "illuminations" which will show films before games, involve social media and generally cheer everyone up. The official opening is next Saturday before the Rochdale game.

Accrington Stanley from League 2 are the cup opposition tomorrow and they have won less in the way of major football honours than the Bantams. Bradford City did win the FA Cup in 1911. The Bantams have been up and down the leagues since their founding in 1903 but poor old Stanley having been ousted from the FL in 1966 have fought their way back, with little to show for themselves than survival. They do have the honour of being one of the original Football League members and of course there is the famous advert.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgYP1d5nN2o