Bradford vs. Swansea, 2013 League Cup final: Swans are first-time Welsh winners

Good news for Bradford City as defender Rory McArdle, easily one of their best players, is fit and will start after being an injury concern leading up to the match.

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Despite their solid historical standing in English football, they’ve finished in the bottom half of League Two for three straight years, and haven’t qualified for the promotion playoffs since dropping down to English football’s fourth tier. While they have an excellent chance to make the playoffs this season, and they made it to the semifinals of the Football League Trophy, they can hardly be considered a club on a rapid rise. Besides this incredible run to the League Cup final, they’ve been on a slow, but steady ascent this season. They’re really not supposed to be here.

There’s no reason to predict that Bradford will win on Sunday, but there wasn’t any reason to predict that they would get to this point. Predictions are pointless at this point, as they keep defying the odds. It wouldn’t be stunning to see a thrashing by Swansea, nor would it be too surprising to see Bradford pull off one more upset.