The Bradford City and Crawley Town situation that still defies belief: View | OneFootball

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Both Bradford City and Crawley Town are still battling it out in League Two.

The two sides met on the opening day of the season, with the Red Devils overcoming the Bantams with a narrow 1-0 victory.

Whenever the pair face off, it stirs up memories of 2012 when a remarkable mass brawl erupted after the final whistle.

Little is known about what sparked it, but it is remembered for the pure spectacle and the fallout.

What happened between Bradford City and Crawley Town?

The sides met on a cold Tuesday night in West Yorkshire in March 2012, with new Bantams boss Phil Parkinson trying to galvanize his struggling side.

Their opponents, Steve Evans' Crawley Town, were hunting for an automatic promotion spot at the time.

Crawley won the game 2-1 thanks to goals from Leon Clarke and Gary Alexander, which canceled out Chris Dagnall's leveler, but it is what happened after the game that grabbed the headlines.

Evans' side was known at the time for being aggressive in their approach and this in turn earned them a lot of bookings. During this encounter, Crawley had already six bookings during the 90 minutes.

That ill-tempered approach is likely what caused things to boil over after the final whistle, as pretty much straight after the referee blew for full-time, what can only be described as a royal rumble erupted.

The official followed the players and handed out five red cards, which equaled the record for the most sendings off given out in any English game.

Andrew Davies, Jon McLaughlin, and Luke Oliver were red-carded for the hosts while Crawley's Claude Davis and Pablo Mills were also given red cards.

Both clubs were fined by the FA, with City receiving a 9,000 pound fine and Crawley getting double as it was their second offense of this nature in the past 12 months.

Crawley midfielder Mills was fined and stripped of the club captaincy, and given a three-game ban, with Davis also getting a three-game ban. It was later discovered, that Kyle McFadzean played a part so he was also given a three-match ban as well.

Oliver and McLaughlin were fined two weeks' wages whereas Davies was punished by parent club Stoke City.

Bradford's head of operations at the time, Dave Baldwin, released a statement accepting the FA's fine and wished to move on, saying: "We will accept the punishment given to us by the Football Association and look to move on. The club is now keen to concentrate all their efforts on ensuring that we can confirm our League Two status for next season."

Who is to blame for the brawl?

Whilst it will be easy for both sides to blame each other for their part in the brawl, both Bradford City and Crawley Town are to blame for this.

Whoever started it first doesn't matter in this case, as both lost complete control and failed to keep their emotions intact.

It can be a lesson for any footballer watching this game back, that big implications can happen if you lose control of your emotions.

Both clubs have moved on from this and have come out to say they regret their actions on that night, but the memory of the Battle of Valley Parade lives on.