The charity encounter in support of the late Bradford City player Allan Gilliver’s chosen dementia charities.
Allan was a regular attendee at these fixtures, and this game was tinged with sadness, as the first since he passed away last December.
Sunday’s match saw Bantams icons such as Stuart McCall, James Hanson and Dean Windass facing off against Leeds.
In an exciting charity encounter, with rivalries put to the side, there were plenty of goals, with the Leeds side winning 5-3 despite a comeback effort from City.
Despite Windass scoring a fine volley in the first half from a fine Filipe Morais assist, City found themselves 5-1 down at the break.
But they kept Leeds out in the second half, and almost threatened an extraordinary turnaround, with goals from Gary Jones and Hanson almost getting the Bantams back in it.
Allan Gilliver, pictured here at the 2024 match, would have loved what he saw on Sunday. (Image: Linda Gartland)
But really, the highlight of the day for the supporters of was the money raised for the charities.
The Bradford City Veterans Football Club have announced that the match raised a total of £15,433.
Allan’s 10 chosen charities will each receive a split of the £12,333 raised at the charity match, with the rest going to semi-professional club Silsden, who made £3,100 from food and drink sales.