Beating Aston Villa isn’t that impressive. These days it seems like it isn’t even particularly taxing. However, Bradford’s run to the League Cup final is one of club football’s most impressive achievements, ever. That might sound hyperbolic but the stats from the Sporting Intelligence blog hold up – if Bradford win their Capital One Cup final they will become the first fourth tier team in the history of world football history to win their nation’s cup (albeit confined to nations in the top 100 of the FIFA rankings).
The only fourth tier side to ever win a national cup was the Sri Lanka Navy side; however they were essentially a first tier side who, at the start of that season, had been demoted to the fourth tier to accommodate their business of also being a navy. The standard and standing of football in Sri Lanka (national side ranked 190th in FIFA rankings) means that win is devalued further, to the point that were Bradford to win they could legitimately be considered the holders of the record.
Only once previously in English football history has a fourth tier side reached a cup final – Rochdale in 1962 – and only twice in all of world football – Calais made the French cup final of 2002.
Beating Aston Villa might not impress many, but being the first fourth tier side in the world to ever win a national cup?
That’ll do.
