Parkinson savours historic win

The npower League Two outfit overcame Barclays Premier League side Aston Villa 4-3 on aggregate despite losing the second leg 2-1 at Villa Park.

Former shelf-stacker James Hanson scored the decisive second-leg goal to set up a final meeting with either Swansea or Chelsea. Christian Benteke and Andreas Weimann netted for Villa.

Parkinson said: "We said to the lads before that there was a chance to make history but, while we knew that, we had to focus on the key elements in the game to get us there.

"I felt we certainly did that in the second half. These lads will be remembered in the history of Bradford City for years to come.

"There's a 1911 lounge at the club to celebrate the cup victory of that year. Well, in years to come, there will be a lounge named after this cup run and these players because of what they've achieved."

Bradford have twice gone into administration since being relegated from the Premier League more than a decade ago.

Hanson is the only player at the club to have cost a transfer fee - £7,500 when he moved from Guiseley three seasons ago.

But Parkinson is confident the current cup run, in which Bradford have also knocked out Wigan and Arsenal, will help to make the Bantams financially secure for the foreseeable future.

He said: "Financially, the money we have earned up until this point has been fantastic.

"But to go to Wembley is going to keep the club going for quite a while, I imagine. For the city of Bradford, it's massive and I really feel that this can galvanise the area.

"Our supporters have stuck with the club through some really tough times. Over the last 10 years there hasn't been a great deal to cheer about being a Bradford City supporter.

"I'm so pleased tonight that we've given them something so they can go into work tomorrow [Wednesday] and hold their heads up high and be proud of the club."

Parkinson admitted: "This has been the highlight of my career. It's got to be, to take the club to a Wembley final.

"A lot of players, a lot of managers, never get this opportunity to be in a semi-final. To take a team from League Two to Wembley is a dream and we are going to savour every minute."

Hanson defied a broken toe to score the winner.

Parkinson said: "He hasn't trained for 10 days. He's had a crack in the bone in his toe. He trained on Monday for the first time, he had an injection five or 10 minutes before kick-off.

"He's a very unselfish player and I'm so pleased for him that he gets the headlines. It shows what can be done."