Bradford City are currently plodding along in League Two, but the last 20 to 30 years have been a real rollercoaster for the West Yorkshire club.  

The Bantams have tasted life in the Premier League in that period of time, as well as the depths of the fourth-tier of English football.

Alongside that there has been Wembley joy, Wembley heartache and some memorable days at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup.

That’s all quite impressive given the fact that Bradford have never been big spenders, as the following list of players shows.

The question that we are asking is what the club’s record arrivals are up to now?

Follow the link to reveal who Bradford’s 10th most expensive signing is and what he’s up to now…

Molenaar made a name for himself across West Yorkshire with Leeds United, who nicknamed him the Terminator during his time at Elland Road.

That came to an end in 2000 as Leeds were looking to challenge for the Premier League title, with Bradford the centre-back’s destination on the back of his Elland Road exit.

It’s reported that Molenaar made the move from Leeds to Bradford for just under £600k back in 2000, which sees him onto this list.

Recently, Molenaar was involved in management, with his latest spell coming with Almere City FC back in 2019, which was his fourth spell in management following RKSV Halsteren, FC Volendam and Roda JC Kerkrade.

Walsh had played for Manchester United and Middlesbrough before the latter loaned him to Bradford in 1997.

Shortly afterward, Walsh was arriving at Valley Parade on a permanent transfer, for a reported fee of £600k.

Walsh made over 100 appearances for the Bantams and played for them in the Premiership between 1999 and 2001.

After his spell in West Yorkshire, he moved back to Middlesbrough on loan, then to Wigan Athletic.

Currently, Walsh is the goalkeeping coach at West Bromwich Albion, aiding the Premier League side, who have just seen No.1, Sam Johnstone, called into the England squad.

After impressing with Millwall and Bolton Wanderers, Bradford were convinced to sign McGinlay in 1997 after a couple of prolific stints in-front of goal.

Roughly, the striker cost Bradford somewhere in the region of £600k when they swooped to sign him from Bolton.

Despite boasting a great goalscoring record prior to signing for Bradford, McGinlay only scored three times for the Bantams in a hugely underwhelming spell in West Yorkshire.

Around 12 months ago, McGinlay was offered the chance to return to Bolton as a Club Ambassador under the new regime for the Trotters, who he enjoyed his best spell of football with.

Whalley passed through the ranks at Crewe across the mid 1990s, which eventually led him to the door of Bradford City.

As per the T&A, Whalley cost a fee of around £600k when he arrived at Valley Parade, which gives him a place on this top-10 list of Bradford’s record arrivals.

Whalley made over 100 appearances for the Bantams and ended up having a loan spell back at Crewe before he joined Cardiff City on a free transfer.

After retirement, Whalley still remains involved in football, with Manchester City, where he has an interesting role as the club’s Loan Coach.

Wolves, Derby County and Port Vale had all had Lee Mills on their books before Bradford got their hands on the forward in 1998.

At the time, Mills became the Bantams’ first ever £1m signing when he arrived from Vale.

Mills scored goals in the First Division, which guided Bradford into the Premiership in 1999, handing Mills an opportunity to play in the top-flight.

A handful of goals followed in the Premier League before Mills moved out on loan to Manchester City.

Retirement followed a series of moves, with Mills eventually stepping into management.

It’s believed that his last role was with Dudley College.

Bradford swooped to sign Rankin from Arsenal, despite the fact that Rankin had made just one senior appearance for the Gunners.

As per Arsenal’s records, they received a fee of £1.3m for Rankin from Bradford at the time of his transfer.

Rankin played regularly and helped Bradford win promotion into the Premiership, but he struggled to really have an impact in the top-flight and was moved out on loan to Birmingham and Bolton before eventually joining Barnsley.

Rankin retired from playing professional football in 2014 after a spell on the books with Hendon.

The fee that took him from Arsenal to Bradford remained the highest of the forward’s career.

As per transfermarkt, the fee that was paid for Windass in 1999 was around the £1.35m mark.

That came after a real goalscoring burst with Oxford, with it proving to be money well spent as Windass helped Bradford over the line in the race for promotion to the Premiership.

In total, Windass’ first spell at Bradford saw him score 20 goals, which he would add to when he returned in 2003 with a further 66 goals.

He continued to thrive at Hull City after that second spell with Bradford, before retirement.

Windass is still involved in the game with his punditry, whilst his son, Josh Windass, is on the books at Sheffield Wednesday and playing in the Championship.

Ward had been prolific for Barnsley and Blackburn Rovers before making the switch to Bradford, as well as commanding a hefty amount of transfer fees.

That continued when he made the move to Bradford in 2000 for a fee above £1.5m, according to transfermarkt records.

Ward scored six goals in his first season with the Bantams, and totalled 20 by the time he left the club in 2003.

His destination was Bramall Lane and Sheffield United, which proved to be Ward’s final professional club.

Right now, Ward is a businessman and appears on The Real Housewives of Cheshire alongside wife, Dawn Ward.

Across the 1990s, Wetherall made a name for himself elsewhere in West Yorkshire, thriving at Leeds United.

However, in 1999 the time came for Leeds and Wetherall to go in different directions, with the centre-back moving to Valley Parade and linking up with the Bantams.

The fee involved isn’t quite clear, but at the time it was a club-record for Bradford and believed to be somewhere in the region north of £1.5m.

Wetherall’s goal against Liverpool in 1999/2000 kept Bradford in the Premiership, with the centre-back enjoying a long stint with the Bantams that saw him make over 300 appearances.

As per Wetherall’s LinkedIn page, he’s Head of Youth Development at The Football League.

Like Molenaar and Wetherall, Hopkin made the move from Leeds to Bradford around the Millennium.

Leeds were heading in a new direction at that point, with Bradford splashing a club-record fee on Hopkin, which remains the club’s record outlay on a player.

That proved to be a poor deal from a playing point of view, with Hopkin managing only 16 appearances for the Bantams and not living up to the fee paid for him.

Hopkin would return to manage Bradford, but that wasn’t a success either and he lasted only a short amount of time.

Now, the Scot is in-charge of Ayr United as he continues his management career.