captain, and signed a new five-year contract. On 27 September 1997, he scored in the 1–0 victory over arch-rivals Manchester United when Roy Keane's knee was badly injured in the act of fouling Alfie Haaland, who then accused Keane of feigning injury. Keane later took revenge on Haaland during a Manchester derby and said to Haaland as he lay on the ground: "And don't ever stand over me again sneering about fake injuries, and tell your pal Wetherall there's some for him as well." Later that season Wetherall was among the Leeds travelling party who escaped unhurt as their aircraft crash-landed after an engine caught fire on takeoff. When David O'Leary replaced Graham as manager it became clear that his centre-back pairing of choice would be Lucas Radebe and the 18-year-old Jonathan Woodgate, so Wetherall decided to leave Leeds for a club where he could play regular first-team football. A transfer to nearby Huddersfield Town fell through after terms had been agreed, and the player's reluctance to move house while wife Caroline was heavily pregnant with their second son caused him to reject an offer from Southampton. After eight years with Leeds, having scored 18 goals from 250 games in all competitions, he accepted an offer from fellow West Yorkshire club Bradford City. Bradford City Bradford City signed Wetherall for a club record £1.4 million, to give experience to a side who had just been promoted to the Premier League. Wetherall was aged just 28, but manager Paul Jewell had made a number of signings aged over 30, prompting journalists to call his team "Dad's Army". Bradford won their first game 1–0 with a last-minute goal at Middlesbrough scored by Dean Saunders who started a celebration pouring scorn at the club's cynics. Wetherall's first goal for Bradford was in a League Cup game at Reading before he scored again in the following round as Bradford were knocked out by Barnsley. His first league goal came in a 2–0 win against Newcastle United on 18 December. Wetherall missed only two cup game for Bradford City during his first season, and was the only player in the Premier League to have played every minute of the league season. His partnership with the emerging Andy O'Brien in central defence was the front line in Bradford's survival attempt. Bradford went into the final game of the season facing possible relegation. After only 12 minutes