Where Bradford City’s highest Valley Parade attendance this season would rank in League One and the Championship | OneFootball

Bradford City's home support has been incredibly strong despite the club's recent League Two spell

After six years in League Two, Bradford City supporters' loyalty was finally repaid in the most dramatic of fashion on the final day of the season.

Due to the club's stature, stadium size and recent history, pressure has always mounted significantly on the Bantams to deliver success in comparison to many of their fourth-tier rivals, and the experienced Graham Alexander was able to deliver a promotion for the first time since 2013 against Fleetwood Town.

After an inconsistent first half of the season, an experienced squad were able to gain such strong momentum which took them from 10th at the halfway point to the automatic promotion places in just eight games, as well as competing strongly against League One champions Birmingham City in the EFL Trophy semi-final on February 18th.

Despite being in the lower reaches of the EFL since suffering relegation from the second-tier in 2003/04, Bradford have constantly been the beneficiaries of strong praise in recent seasons for making ticket prices extremely affordable and, as a result, packing out their historic stadium, Valley Parade, on a regular basis, regardless of the club's prior struggles in the basement division of professional football in this country.

With that being said, FLW has taken a look at the Chickens' strongest home attendance this season and compared it to figures in the EFL's top two divisions.

Bradford City's highest gate at Valley Parade in 2024/25

The Bantams' stadium was the second-largest in League Two this season with a capacity of 24,840 only trumped by MK Dons' Stadium:mk which can fill 30,500 seats when full.

However, unlike the Buckinghamshire side, Bradfordians have been packing out at least three-quarters of the famous old ground this term, with an average attendance of 17,762, by far the best in the division - 7,136 clear of their nearest competitors Notts County and 11,619 above the divisional average as a whole.

Unsurprisingly, as City's chances of automatic promotion grew stronger and stronger as the season neared its climax, the final four home matches in BD8 were all over the 20,000 mark, with the highest of those coming for the last-day showdown against Fleetwood Town.

Alexander's men knew a win would end their lengthy hiatus from the third-tier whilst Walsall were looking to pounce on any slip-ups from the West Yorkshire side.

It looked as if that would be the case as George Hall gave the Saddlers a 1-0 win at Crewe Alexandra, before Antoni Sarcevic turned an initial George Lapslie shot home, causing mayhem among the 24,033 in attendance as a pitch invasion followed both the goal and eventually, the final whistle after a lengthy stoppage.

How Bradford City's highest attendance compares to clubs in League One and the Championship

It has been argued for some time that Bradford's support-base is the envy of many clubs in League One and some in the Championship, and such a debate has been somewhat proven when taking this season's figures into account.

Birmingham had, by far and away, the highest average attendance in League One with a number of 26,236, and the largest gate at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park for a league clash this season came on the opening day against Reading, where Chris Davies' side salvaged a 1-1 draw thanks to a late penalty from Alfie May.

Meanwhile, in the Championship, only nine sides averaged an attendance across the season that was superior to Bradford's final-day gate against the Cod Army, although 16 teams have had a higher average gate in comparison to City's seasonal figure of 17,762.

The last season the Bantams spent in League One saw them average 16,122 with a total of 354,676 spectators coming through the turnstiles. Given the feel-good factor in West Yorkshire at present, those numbers look set to be trumped in 2025/26.