Sheridan Doing it the Rite Way

AFTER failing to secure promotion from Npower League-One with Oldham Athletic during his two year spell, John Sheridan is looking to secure his first managerial honour with League-Two outfit Chesterfield.

The Spireites currently sit top of the league, nine points clear of Wycombe Wanderers - who they thumped 4-1 in midweek - but having played a game more. Even so, there is a substantial gap for the Chairboys to make up.

With just two defeats in their last 16 league games, the Derbyshire club are on course for a return to the third tier of English football after a four year exile.

The Spireites stunned English football when they made it to the FA Cup semi-final in 1997 - taking Premier League side Middlesbrough to a replay having draw the initial tie 3-3 at the Riverside. That season, they overcame Bolton Wanderers and Nottingham Forest before the Division Two (now League One) side were finally seen off by the eventual runners-up.

Chesterfield came close to sealing a Play-Off spot last year but were pipped to seventh place by eventual Play-Off winners Dagenham and Redbridge, who beat already relegated Darlington 2-0, despite their 2-1 win against second place Bournmouth in Sheridan's first season at the helm.

It turned out to be the last game played at Saltergate, the Spireites home since 1884, and what a send off it was with Derek Niven netting a 96th minute winner to spark a pitch invasion.

In their new home the b2net Stadium, Chesterfield have won eleven out of 16 games scoring 43 goals along the way - more than any other League Two side. The most noticeable victory being a dramatic 5-5 draw with Crewe Alexandra on October 2 2010.

46-year-old Sheridan has transformed a club used to losing to one that never gives in, and has attracted high quality players to the b2net,with former Brighton and Hove Albion striker Craig Davies, who leads the club's goalscoring chart with 19 goals in all competitions, the perfect example.

Add to that the loan signings of Scunthorpe United's Ian Morris, Crystal Palace's Kieran Djilali, Manchester City's Javan Vidal and Deane Smalley whom he worked with during his time at Boundary Park.

But, there is also a vast amount of experience in the Spireites squad, namely the shape of veteran striker Jack Lester, who has netted ten league goals this season. With players such as Danny Whitaker, Mark Allott, Robert Page and Ian Breckin all over the 30 barrier, it is the guidance young stars such as Scott Boden need to develop into quality players.

It is the right formula for success that Spireites fans deserve, and what they have been craving since they were last promoted in 2001 - after overcoming a nine point deduction.

Feather-Light Bantams' Weak Punch

BRADFORD City, always remembered for the fire that tragically claimed the lives of 56 people on May 11 1985, on a day that the Bantams were supposed to be celebrating promotion from Division Three as champions.

But, that is not the focus here.

Bradford play their home games at Valley Parade, their home since they were founded in 1903 and a crowd of 11,000 watched the first game against Gainsborough Trinity on September 5 1903.

Since beating Newcastle United in the FA Cup final replay 1-0 at Old Trafford courtesy of a Jimmy Speirs goal in 1911, the club has failed to win a major honour. The highlights of a desolate existence are two promotions to the English top flight, first in 1908 where City had a 14-year spell, and then in 1999 after a 77-year exile.

Sadly, it was a short stay of just two years for Bradford, who finished 17th in their first season, at the expense of Wimbledon, having beaten Liverpool at Valley Parade in front of more than 18,000 people thanks to a David Wetherall goal just twelve minutes into the tie. The Dons were beaten 2-0 by Southampton at the Dell to compound them to relegation from the top flight.

However, the following season would prove to be a torrid term for the Bantams who finished bottom of the pile with 26 points, their misery made even worse by a 6-1 thrashing in the Yorkshire derby at Elland Road on the penultimate game of the season. An Ashley Ward goal was the only saving grace for already relegated City as Mark Viduka, Ian Harte, Eirik Bakke, Alan Smith, Harry Kewell and Lee Bowyer all netted for United.

Bradford continued to slip down the Division One table through the seasons, and in 2004 they were relegated to the third tier of English football, 15 points from safety, along with Walsall and Wimbledon, who finished bottom with 29 points.

The following season, City finished six points outside the Play-Offs in a mediocre season in the newly reformed Coca-Cola League One, before a second consecutive 11th place finish saw no progress for the Bantams.

But, the next campaign would bring about one of the darkest hours in the club's history. A 3-0 defeat at already relegated Chesterfield on the penultimate game of the season condemned Bradford to the fourth tier of English football, finishing four points from safety after a 2-2 draw with Milwall on the final day of the season.

David Wetherall, who took the reigns after Colin Todd was sacked, was too shown the door at Valley Parade before fans favourite Stuart McCall was given the managerial job to try and lift the club out of its slump.

But two successive mid-table finishes saw the dismissal of McCall and the introduction of Peter Taylor midway through McCall's third season at the helm.

The Bantams are now hovering precariously above the relegation zone, with fear of dropping out of the football league. That would be a great shame for one of England's, perhaps not historic clubs, but certainly a club with such character.

It is always a sorry state of affairs to see a club topple like Bradford have done. They are not the first, and they will not be the last. But hopefully, like MK Dons and rivals Leeds, they will find their feet once more and push their way up through the football league - under the charge of interim manager Peter Jackson, or anyone else for that matter.