IT WAS a face-saving moment, quite literally, that Neill Byrne has never forgotten. Stockport’s newest signing was convinced he had broken the deadlock against City with a firm close-range header. But somehow Harry Lewis managed to keep it out in unorthodox fashion, the ball cannoning off his face and clearing the woodwork.
“The ball came across and I was nearly off celebrating,” said Byrne. “But it hit him in the face and somehow went over the bar. “It was my second game at Edgeley (Park) and I got the man of the match.
But I remember thinking afterwards it would have been the icing on the cake to score my first goal.” Byrne also recalls that night in January 2023 for the volume of travelling fans backing the Bantams . Neill Byrne challenges Dara Costelloe against City in January 2023 (Image: Thomas Gadd) Those numbers were a pull in his decision last week to follow former Stockport teammate Antoni Sarcevic across the Pennines as City’s second summer recruit.
“You could see the support they brought away from home against Stockport. It was two big teams going at it. “You always get that feeling when you pull up to Valley Parade.
It’s a massive stadium. “You play in big grounds that might be half full but with Bradford, it’s busy the majority of the time. “You can hear them from minute one.
I remember when I was playing there for Hartlepool, you could hear the fans from the moment we came out for the warm-up. “We were all thinking, ‘this is a prop.