The club can confirm we have accepted the resignation of Chief Operating Officer, James Mason.
James joined the club in 2014 and over the past four years has served the club with distinction.
On a commercial front, James has elevated The Bantams to another level, allowing the club to build several successful relationships.
He has also overseen a considerable rise in the profile of the club, steering our PR and media output to great effect. Through regular communications with our fans, James has helped create an incredibly positive relationship between the club and our supporters.
During his tenure, James has also been very active in the community and has served the City of Bradford as admirably as he has served our club.
On his decision to leave, James commented:
"It’s a sad day as I think everyone knows how much I cherish this club and how seriously I have taken my role. But after careful consideration, I have made the difficult decision to move on and focus on new projects.
It’s been an absolute privilege to work for my club and I am very proud of what we have achieved together. We've seen the number of season ticket holders grow from 11,000 to 19,000 last season and I’m especially proud of the vibrant and strong commercial community we have created. Our social media presence has also grown hugely, with the number of followers of our official Twitter account increasing from 35,000 to 95,000.
I’d like to thank everyone who has played a part in this because it was a team effort from all the staff, supporter groups, volunteers and sponsors. Undeniably we built something special.
I would like to thank Julian (Rhodes) and Mark (Lawn) for giving me the opportunity to join the club in the first place and believing in me to deliver, and for all the good work David (Baldwin) had done before me. I am also very grateful to Edin and Stefan for their support over the past two years and for continuing to show faith in me.
It has been quite a journey. Having seen us beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, then create a series of unforgettable campaigns against Millwall, Sunderland and Reading in the FA Cup to our trip to Wembley the other year, I cannot really complain. But the most rewarding part of the job was the simple pleasure of being able to use the power of Bradford City to make people smile.
Football is a release mechanism. It’s our job to make the citizens of Bradford proud to support the club. But for this club to be successful it needs the full backing of its constituent parts. Hopefully, that can be achieved with the appointment of a new head coach. Please support the club during this time.
I will always offer my help and expertise to Bradford City should it be required. Who knows, I may return in the future. But, for now, I’m looking forward to using my energy and experiences to support other projects.'"
City co-owner Edin Rahic thanked James for his incredible support over the past two years, commenting:
“We must say a huge thank you to James for everything he has done.
“James played a key role during our acquisition of the club, and massively helped Stefan and I adapt to the culture of English football.
“He has been a big asset to the football club over the last four years and we are pleased we will still be able to call on his considerable experience going forward”
James will remain in his current post until Wednesday 20th June, at which point he will assume a consultative role to complete a handover process.
It is the intention of both parties to agree a longer-term advisory role for James, to allow the club to continue to benefit from his experience and expertise.
Everyone at Bradford City would like to place on record our sincere thanks to James, and wish him all the best for the future.