In the real world he did what I have just said.

Crybaby

So, for the avoidance of doubt, you confirm your opinion that Bradford is a shìthole?

He doesnt even support Bradford and the only place he's been to is Odsal. 3 times.

Quoting the obvious is often futile.

As is not answering a straight question, when your meaning was perfectly clear.

Bradford is a hole.

Is that clear enough?

The city centre is. The rest of it's not that bad though. Some of it is beautiful and miles better than parts of Leeds.

Actually it's not. Some chunks of it are, sure, but then again Little Germany is oustanding; there's nothing much wrong with the so-called "West End" which includes the NMP/cinema, and a good and extensive selection of eateries and bars; City Hall is a superb centrepiece; the stone-flagged area around the Wool Exchange is very nice and North Parade is decent. And Darley Street and the shopping centre are no more a hole than the identikit street/stores in any city centre, ditto the Leisure Exchange and the landscaped areas around the new(ish) courts.

Sure it's criminal what the Council's allowed to happen in the city centre, but it is still a curate's egg, with much that any city would be happy to take.

Yes. Thanks Matt.
Thanks for f*****g off and leaving us in the lurch. What a honourable sportsman you turned out to be.
Good luck to your next club. Lucky team.

I've not been up Little Germany for years. Apart from the Corn Dolly what is there up there to attract me apart from looking at some victorian mill buildings?

I agree that there are a few great buildings in the city centre. Shame about what's in some of them and what's around them. I went to St George's a week or two back and was depressed to see the state of the city centre with empty shops and pubs. It was awful. I couldn't get out quick enough!

When that bit in the square is finished in front of the Alhambra (City Park? is it called?) that'll look really good.

Great for theatres, nice restaurants, musems the City centre isn't as bad as people make out and I quite like it. I don't go out to bars and clubs so couldn't comment on that side of things and the shopping's carp.

The surrounding areas are beautiful. How many Unesco world heritage sites have other more heralded cities got to boast about?

Maybe you missed my point, which was that Little Germany (for example) is no hole. Whether it contains anything to attract you is not the same issue. If I were a tourist, I'd love it, and apparently, many do.

What could they put in Little Germany that would attract you? In the sense of keeping on coming back, again and again? That's the hard question, and it's not restricted to Little Germany.

I entirely agree that, taken as a hole - sorry, whole- the sum total of Bradford city centre as the Council have allowed it to become is a dead zone, but what keeps city centres such as Leeds busy is people with enough money shopping in enough decent shops. Once you have them, the hang-on businesses such as cafes and bars will just naturally pick up passing trade. But through a policy of attrition and planning madness, Bradford as a place to shop was slowly strangled to death by the Council and I see no sign of them stopping any time soon. On the contrary, they spend most of their time making excuses for Westfield, and designing ever more elaborate traps to extort penalties out of any visitor who may be brave or foolish enough to attempt to enter the city centre, rather than inviting and encouraging them in.

A mate has been trying to open a new bar in the city centre these last few months. It is in a row of unoccupied shops. Well, of bloody course it is, seeing as that is pretty much the centre. Will they let him? Oh, no. This is a retail zone, you see, we can't have a bar in there to spoil the shopping vibe. You couldn't make it up. You'd think anyone actually wanting to open a new business in the centre would have their hands snatched off by the Council.

That is a shame. You are such a "happening guy" that no doubt your mates are all hip dudes too so I reckon this bar would have been a big hit. If he had been allowed to open this bar then maybe it just could have been the reason for Orford to reconsider his decision to go home.

Coming from Bradford gives me street cred in Exeter. When people ask where I'm from they either look at me blankly (at which point I remind them that Bradford is near Leeds, which usually does the trick), or ask me if I took part in the riots.

You've piqued my interest. Did you?