Gianni Paladini In Talks to Buy Bradford City
Former Queens Park Rangers chairman Gianni Paladini has registered as a director of a new Bradford City holding company in what appears to be the first move towards taking control at Valley Parade.
Paladini has been searching for a way back into football since he left Loftus Road in 2011, since then he has tired to purchase Birmingham City and has also been linked with buying Millwall and Nottingham Forest. The Italian seems to have enjoyed more success in West Yorkshire where he has forged an official link to Bradford.
Phil Parkinson’s team captured the imagination of fans across the nation when they fought back from 2-0 down to win 4-2 at Chelsea in the FA Cup and went on to beat Sunderland before losing in a quarter-final replay at Reading.
Those FA Cup exploits came against a backdrop of colourful and passionate support. They took 8,000 supporters to Stamford Bridge and generated a brilliant atmosphere for the tie at home to Sunderland.
It was a reminder of the club’s enormous potential, having been led out of the doldrums of League Two and administration by chairmen Julian Rhodes and Mark Lawn, with the help of Parkinson’s managerial skill.
Lawn has spoken of the need to attract new investment and Paladini is registered as the sole director of Bradford City (Holdings) Limited, a company which was registered back in February.
The company was originally set up with Paladini and Mauro Milanese named as directors but Milanese’s name has been removed. Milanese is a former centre half who played for several Italian clubs and had one year at QPR during a long playing career, before briefly managing Leyton Orient last year.
Paladini spent eight years at QPR, seizing control after a complicated takeover in 2003 and attracting investment from billionaires Lakshmi Mittal and F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore. He left his role at Loftus Road in 2011 following the takeover by Tony Fernandes.
Chadwick Media 