The club was formed in 1920 by the Reverend JT Canton, the rector of Christ Church, Bradford, Manchester. At the time Bradford was an heavily industrialised area of East Manchester.
In fact part of the underground seams of Bradford Colliery are now covered by the City of Manchester Stadium. Although only covering an area of 1 square mile, Bradford produced many talented footballers, and during its history some  left the club to grace the professional game, some played for the England Amateur XI and many represented the club at County and League level.
During their inaugural season of 1920-1921, Bradford Parish played in the Manchester YMCA League and were fortunate enough to be able to call on the services of two Lancashire Schoolboy players, who had also played at England Schoolboy level.
The team with an average age of just 17 became League Champions and Shield Winners in that first year. All their home games were played at the David Lewis Recreation Ground or Donkey Common as it was known. Most playing surfaces in those days were not grass but shale and cuts and scrapes were common due to the harsh surface.
The following season 1921-1922, saw the club enter the Openshaw and District League. It is a matter of conjecture as to why the club left the Manchester YMCA League but if it was to find sterner competition they still had some way to go.
The team went undefeated in the league, scoring 76 goals for, with 19 against. The record of cup goals for and against is not known but by winning the cup they were undefeated during the season. Double winners and undefeated, a great achievement in any level of competition.
The Lancashire & Cheshire League, which the club entered in the 1922-1923 season ran two senior divisions, the 1st Division and the A Division, later renamed the 2nd Division. It was in the A Division that Parish started their long association with the league. Parish won the A Division that season finishing with 4 more points than their nearest rivals, Union Chapel, another church side.
The team also reached the final of the Rhodes Cup, winning the competition, a feat that has been repeated on a further 9 occasions by the club. An incredible 17 coach loads of supporters travelled to Urmston to watch them defeat West Didsbury in the final. Judging by the number of coaches there must have been around 800 fans supporting their local team.
It was during this season that Parish, for the first time, ran two teams. The church, or was it was the football, was attracting more and more youngsters, this prompted the committee to set up another team. The 2nd team was a junior side and was entered into the Manchester YMCA League which they duly won at their first attempt.
So now it was 3 seasons, 4 league titles and 3 cup wins.
Having won the league and cup in their first season in the L & C League, it must have been the committee’s intention to consolidate in the senior division in the 1923-1924 season. They consolidated by doing the double, winning the 1st Division and for the second season running winning the Rhodes Cup, beating Werneth Amateurs in the final.
The 1935-1936 season was a major turning point in the history of Bradford Parish, they were to leave their controversial Cemetery Road ground and move to a new enclosed ground with better facilities and a good quality playing surface, at the Ashton Moss Athletic Ground. This was achieved with all the hard work of the committee and in particular Alf Cook the secretary.
Season 1937-1938 saw the Parish side again win the league and cup double and if WW2 had not taken place the club would have faced a promising future with many experienced and good quality up and coming younger players.