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Share your Bantams memories for university’s VR project

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Bradford City fans have been invited to share their memories of supporting the club for a virtual reality (VR) inspired project from the University of Bradford.

One person holds a small drone camera while a person stood next to them holds a football shirt as they both stand together in a football stadium

Academics are creating a digital copy of the University of Bradford Stadium, traditionally known as Valley Parade, which people will be able to explore through VR.

The fans’ stories will be attached to different places in both a physical and digital copy of the stadium for people to view. 

Participants in the ‘Stories from Valley Parade’ project are asked to fill out an online form, answering questions about their experience of supporting Bradford City, nicknamed the Bantams.

The questions include sharing memories of their first Bantams match, most memorable game, how they started supporting the club, family members’ memories of following the Bantams, where they sit at the University of Bradford Stadium and what it means to be a Bradford City supporter. 

A football shirt lies on the grass touchline of a football pitch next to a box with a drone on top of it inside an empty football stadium

The survey also includes a question on how people and communities supported each other following the fire at the stadium on May 11, 1985, which claimed 56 lives and injured 258 others. 

The stories will be revealed during the Bradford 2025 City of Culture celebrations.  

Professor Chris Gaffney, Professor of Archaeological Science at the University of Bradford, said: “We would love Bradford City fans to share their memories of supporting their team over the years for this exciting project.

“It is a mixture of the old and the new, as we use VR to showcase memories of the club from over the decades. Fans’ stories will provide us with a treasure trove of information on what the club means to them, simultaneously allowing us to produce a digital copy of the University of Bradford Stadium.”

Two people sit next to each other in an empty football stadium's stand, one of them holds a drone while the other person holds a football shirt in front of them

‘Stories from Valley Parade’ is one of two projects the University of Bradford is running to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1985 Bradford City Fire. The university’s Plastic Surgery and Burns Research Unit (PSBRU) is also producing a book on the positive contributions their research has made to burns patients around the world.

Profits from the book will go towards continuing the work of the Burns Unit.  

The university signed a four-year sponsorship deal with Bradford City in 2022. This includes the university’s logo appearing on the back of the team’s home, away and alternative kits and Valley Parade being re-named as the University of Bradford Stadium.

Davide Longo, Bradford City’s Chief Commercial Officer, said: “We encourage as many of our supporters as possible to come and share their memories of Valley Parade as part of the University of Bradford’s exciting new project. 

“Stories from Valley Parade not only again represents another example of our strong relationship with the university, and the different initiatives this delivers, but also an opportunity to be a part of something memorable while tapping into new technologies and mechanics of the digital age. 

“The link to the PSBRU adds another poignant element to what we hope will be a very successful joint endeavour with the university, and we are looking forward to seeing you reminisce and recount your favourite memories of Valley Parade with the final product.”

The project's 3D data collection has been made possible by substantive investment from the Arts & Humanities Research Council’s (AHRC) Capability for Collections (CapCo) fund.