Bradford chairman: We would reject a Europa League place

Feb 23, 2013 12:40:00 PM

The club are set to clash with Swansea in the Capital Once Cup final with a place in Europe, as well as the trophy, up for grabs for the winner

Bradford City could be set to reject a place in the Europa League should they qualify by beating Swansea City in Sunday's Capital One Cup final.

The Bantams' co-chairman Mark Lawn has revealed that the West Yorkshire club would refuse to pay in order to play in the early stages of the Europa League, which consequently would mean forfeiting a potential place in Europe.

Lawn told The Sun: "I'm not going to pay to play in Europe.

"When we beat [Aston] Villa [in the semi-final], I was told, 'You don't really want to get into Europe - it costs you money in the early rounds'.

"I said, 'Well, that'll be fun because if it costs us money, we won't be there'.

"Realistically, it's not going to be a problem because I don't think we're going to win against Swansea."

He added: "I won't put us in fiscal danger to play in Europe. That's not going to happen. I'm deadly serious.

"It's all very well saying there are financial rewards once you get to the group stage, but we're a fourth division [League Two] club - realistically, we're not going to get there."

Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25
Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200
Sign up to Paddy Power for £250 in free bets
Sign up today with Coral and get a £50 FREE bet - no strings attached!
Sign up today with BetVictor and get a £25 FREE BET!

play

open

Inside Goal.Com

Player Ratings: Gladbach 3-4 Bayern Munich
Goal.com evaluates the performances of everyone involved in a game that was effectively decided by the brilliance of die Roten forward Franck Ribery
Player Ratings: Freiburg 1-2 Schalke
Goal rates the talent on show at the Konigsblauen claimed a nervy win at the Mage Solar Stadion to seal Champions League football for next season
Madrid see red after Copa carnage
Cristiano Ronaldo was dismissed as los Blancos lost their heads during a dramatic 2-1 final defeat by their city rivals in an epic final at the Santiago Bernabeu
Player Ratings: Real Madrid 1-2 Atletico Madrid (aet)
Goal was on hand to cast a critical eye over the dramatic events at Santiago Bernabeu
Falcao throwing his career away by signing for Monaco
The Colombian is quite rightly regarded as one of the most lethal finishers in world football but he now seems set to take a step down in level solely for financial gain