On the last day of a winter break in Gran Canaria, Ilkley resident Martin Hirst turned to page 40 of the La Provincia newspaper and saw a full page article about Bradford City.
The focus of the feature, however, was not the current team’s Capital One Cup exploits. It was all about City’s FA Cup Final replay victory in 1911 against Newcastle United in Manchester.
“La Provincia is the Las Palmas daily, which appears to be the main newspaper of the island,” Mr Hirst said.
The article includes a team photograph of the 1911 squad and an inset picture of Jimmy Speirs, the scorer of City’s winning goal.
“I cannot imagine it being of much interest to the average Canarian but I found it fascinating, both in its content and where I discovered it,” Mr Hirst added.
The introduction refers to “modest Bradford securing qualification to the final of the League Cup...The Bantams (Roosters) will have the opportunity to the second title in its history...thanks to Scottish Jimmy Speirs...who lost his life in one of the most cruel battles of World War Two”.
Speirs was killed during the battle of Passchendaele, July to November 1917. He was one of nine City players who lost their lives in the First World War.
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