 In January 2013 , City became the first club from the fourth tier of English football since Rochdale in 1962 to reach the Football League Cup final , and the first fourth tier club ever to reach a major Wembley Cup Final . They defeated three Premier League sides en route to the final – <unk> Athletic 4 – 2 on penalties in the fourth round , Arsenal 3 – 2 on penalties in the quarter @-@ finals and Aston Villa 4 – 3 on aggregate over the two legs of the semi @-@ final . They met Premier League side Swansea City in the final at Wembley , but lost 0 – 5 . On 18 May 2013 , the club returned to Wembley where they defeated Northampton Town 3 – 0 in the League Two <unk> Final to secure a place in League One for 2013 – 14 . On 24 January 2015 , Bradford City caused an upset by beating Premier League leaders Chelsea 4 – 2 away in the FA Cup . The victory sent Bradford through to the fifth round for the first time in 18 years . There , they defeated another top @-@ flight team , Sunderland , to reach their first FA Cup semi @-@ final since 1976 , in front of their biggest home crowd for 50 years . 
