Written by Tim Penfold, Alex Scott and Jason McKeown (images by John Dewhirst)

Part one of our Bradford City squad assessment can be found here. We continue with a look at the wing backs and central midfield options who will compete to play in the middle part of the Bantams’ likely 3-4-3 set-up.

Wing backs

Brad Halliday

By Alex

City’s number two enters his fourth season at Valley Parade after his first three resulted in Player of the Season finishes on this site of 3rd, 1st, and, last year, surprisingly only an Honourable Mention (which led to an internal inquiry into our voting procedures).

He’s proven an excellent signing since joining from Fleetwood and is now a core member of the squad, and its Teesside Mafia. He is also “best mates” with new defensive partner Joe Wright, after playing together at both Accrington and Doncaster previously.

Which is all to say that you’d be expecting another strong season from Halliday at the heart of things for City, stepping back into League One. Thinking about the trajectory of his City career, whilst early days, he has Wayne Jacobs-ish potential on the right, having clocked 124 league starts already, all of which have been at least 7 out of 10.

That said, this off-season City have brought in Josh Neufville from Wimbledon on a three-year deal to compete for the right wing back slot, who is a very different style of wing back. Neufville brings a lot of versatility, so it isn’t hard to imagine both in the same side, but nevertheless represents a threat to Halliday’s iron grip on the right flank – especially given his impressive start in the pre-season win against Middlesbrough.

There’s a decent chance Halliday doesn’t start this week’s home opener against Wycombe, and for perhaps the first time has a genuine battle for playing time. But given what we’ve seen so far though, you’d bet on City’s Number Two winning his job back before too long.

What a good season looks like: Locking down the right wing back position, continuing his run of steady away 7/10+ performances, ending up in the Player of the Season debate again. Brad Halliday 2023/24.

What a great season looks like: Making the step back up to League One with aplomb, separating himself as a player who’s been at the wrong level for too long. Stephen Darby in 2013/14.

Josh Neufville

By Jason

Eyebrows were raised when City took Josh Neufville from under the noses of fellow newly promoted side AFC Wimbledon. There was clear sadness from Dons fans at losing their player of the season. Here was a guy who had seemingly found a happy home after a nomadic existence on loan at several clubs whilst waiting for an opportunity that never came at hometown club Luton. Wimbledon seemed to offer him everything, but he’s packed his bags and headed North.

And the right wing back arrives in West Yorkshire with a keen eye on taking the immovable Brad Halliday’s place in the Bantams team. Early pre-season impressions are that Neufville is much more attack-minded than the Ginger Cafu, but probably a bit less reliable defensively. He has pace, a strong engine and he can whip over a brilliant ball. He’s going to be very exciting to watch.

Can he really take Halliday’s place? It seems that in home games especially, where City have more of the ball and there is a greater onus to breakdown deeper opposition, Neufville will be leaned heavily on. Whether he is trusted in tough away games where the Bantams might have to do a lot more defending is less clear.

On the player’s very own YouTube channel, Neufville’s proud father talks about how his son just needed a season where he was fully fit to show what he could do. He absolutely did that for the Dons last season, and he comes to Valley Parade pushing towards a ceiling he hasn’t yet reached.

What a good season looks like: He is an important player in a team that relies on good attacking width and produces consistently good performances. Tony McMahon in 2016/17.   

What a great season looks like: He bursts onto the Valley Parade stage and becomes a firm favourite for his up and down adventurous style. James Meredith in 2012/13.  

Ibou Touray

By Jason

There’s a lot to like about this summer arrival. Ibou Touray has made 63 league starts in the last two seasons at Stockport, clearly playing an integral role in County not only going up from League Two in 2023/24 but finishing third in League One last season (Touray played in 43 of County’s 46 league games in 2024/25).

Touray was well liked at Edgley Park. He was offered new terms but turning them down to sign for the Bantams. He’s played nearly 400 games rising from Chester, Rhyl, Nantwich Town, Salford and County to Valley Parade. He’s being capped 23 times for Gambia which included playing in the 2021 African Cup of Nations. In short, he has a very good track record.

As a left wing back, he adds depth to an area of the team that a year ago we feared was our weakness. With Tyreik Wright showing he could cut the mustard and Lewis Richards blossoming, there is suddenly heavy competition for places that Touray will only raise the bar even further on. He is certainly the most defensive-minded of the three, and could add the necessary balance if Neufville is picked to be a rampaging wing back on the opposite side.

Touray won’t find easy against a fit-again Richards in particular, but he will come here naturally expecting to be first choice and will probably take that role. Everything on paper suggests he can make a real difference. Here’s a guy who not only knows League One, but what it takes to thrive at this level.

What a good season looks like: He proves to be a steady addition who gives his all and never lets anyone down, if not quite imposing his personality on the team. Matt Foulds in 2021/22.  

What a great season looks like: He proves to be very dependable. Not the standout player but standing out for his consistency and reliability. Paul Heckingbottom in 2003/04.

Tyreik Wright

By Alex

Tyreik Wright’s young stop-start career seems approaching another fork in the road, as he enters the final year of his contract at Valley Parade. After starring under Mark Hughes in late 2022 as a wide forward and striker, he was brought back a little over a year later with Graham Alexander, initially starting again in the forward three. His brace away at Accrington, partnering Andy Cook was an early highlight before the season hit the skids in March. By the end of the season he’d been rebranded a left wing back, with some success.

His form on the left faded somewhat last season, eventually losing his place to Lewis Richards, and then on-loan Tayo Adaramola, before ending the season back in the front three. Now as City step up into League One, the signing of Ibou Touray, and the retention of Lewis Richards probably signal that Wright’s time primarily as a wing back is at an end. Yet with Bobby Pointon, Stephen Humphrys and Will Swan all spending time on the left of the three, it’s also not exactly clear how Wright will fit in there either. This uncertainty is compounded by an injury limiting him to 45 minutes in preseason.

City are still, generally, better with him than without. Since his return he’s started 30 league games from which City have gained 57 points. Yet here he sits, contract winding down, injured and with a complicated route to playing time. He’s only 23, and certainly has got the talent to perform at this level, let’s not forget Plymouth signed him two years ago on the verge of the Championship. But since that time, he’s never really found his stride.

This season looks make-or-break at City: either he will force his way into the team and thrive in League One, or he may fade into the background and likely leave the club in the summer. Big season ahead.

What a good season looks like: He eventually breaks through into the team on the left flank and finds some consistency and end product to capitalise on his talent. Kyel Reid in 2015/16.

What a great season looks like: Entering the season as a bit part, he stars when given the opportunity, reaching a new level of performance, taking on more responsibility in the team. Mark Marshall in 2016/17.

Lewis Richards

By Tim

It’s all gone a bit downhill for Lewis Richards in the past six months. After a slow start to last season, stuck behind Tyriek Wright, he stepped up into the team from November and had an excellent run of form, popping up with useful goals against Barrow and Grimsby and putting his name into player of the year contention.

Unfortunately, after that he picked up injuries at Wimbledon and on his comeback at Bromley, and needed surgery, and that was his season done. Tayo Adaramola came in and was hugely impressive, and suddenly Richards was the forgotten man.

This season, his contract renewal seemed to rumble on for a while – he was linked with a switch to Stockport which never came through, and he re-signed after pre-season had started, losing his number 3 shirt to Ibou Touray in the process.

He’s only had very limited pre-season action as he recovers from injury, and there’s a new player right in front of him – it doesn’t look great.

But then the same could’ve been said about James Meredith in 2014. He delayed signing a new deal as he looked elsewhere, and Alan Sheehan replaced him as first choice – but with Sheehan shifting inside to cover Andrew Davies at centre back, Meredith forced his way back in and was undroppable from then on.

The same could happen here – both Richards and Touray are capable of playing on the left of the back three, and injuries in the defence could open a space for Richards – either on the left of the three or at left wingback while Touray covers in the back three.

It’s a long season, and Richards will get chances to play – he has the ability to make the most of them too.

What a good season looks like: He’s not an automatic first choice, but plays plenty of games as Alexander rotates his team. Carl McHugh in 2012/13.

What a great season looks like: He gets an early chance and forces his way back as first choice. James Meredith in 2014/15.

Centre midfielders

Max Power

By Alex

The Captain is Dead! Long Live the Captain! Max Power (Ooh hey! great name!) arrives at Valley Parade installed as the new number 6 and Club Captain, taking over from the Don of the Teesside Mafia, Richie Smallwood. A changing of the guard at the heart of the City team for the first time in three years.

The arrival of Power also signals an evolution of ‘the plan’. This era of City was initially forged around a core group of Middlesbrough youth graduates[1], a really sensible starting point given the strength of that academy, and leveraging Stephen Gent’s network. Last season’s promotion was built around a core of Stockport County alumni[2], again a smart ploy given Dave Challinor’s team have been the pick of lower league recruiters over recent years, and they played the same system.

This season’s assault on League One is going to be fuelled by the Wigan team of the early 2020s, with Power arriving alongside title-winning colleagues Curtis Tilt and Stephen Humphrys (and Yanic Wildschut in preseason).

And hey, a plan is a plan. And one built around a player with the pedigree of Max Power entering League One as a newly-promoted team is a good start. He’s a huge step up from Smallwood. Likely to be the deepest of the two sitting midfielders alongside the more up-and-down Alex Pattison or Jenson Metcalfe, Power profiles very differently to his predecessor. One of the best ball playing midfielders throughout his League One career, he offers something that City have not had since Elliot Watt’s departure: the ability to retain and create from the base of midfield.

Yet this signing still represents a gamble. Power has barely played in two seasons (and that’s probably why we could get him). Given City are likely to be outgunned by their opposition semi-regularly this season, sacrificing the consistency, leadership and defensive stability of Smallwood without directly replacing his skillset creates a big risk. We all remember what happened in his absence last season. Power is the personification of City’s ambition this year. They’ve come to compete, not hang on.

How well Power adapts back to English football, and how available he can be throughout the season, will likely go a long way to defining how successful City’s crack at League One will be this season. Amidst a squad built to be rotated, he probably stands alone as the one player City cannot afford to be without.

What a good season looks like: Arrives to immediately become one of the defining players in the side, bringing stability and leadership to the heart of City’s team. Romain Vincelot in 2016/17.

What a great season looks like: Transforms the way the club plays, grasping the leadership mantle, at the heart of everything the team does well. Gary Jones in 2012/13.

[1] Alex Pattison, Richie Smallwood, Calum Kavanagh, Brad Halliday, Harry Chapman, Calum Johnson, Sam Stubbs, Callum Cooke, and Andy Cook (honorary)

[2] Antoni Sarcevic, Neill Byrne, Tayo Adaramola, Michael Mellon, Ibou Touray (this season)

Clarke Oduor

By Tim

This is a make-or-break season for Clarke Oduor. He’s in the last year of his contract here, and while he has shown flashes of potential he’s never quite produced a consistent run of games.

He started last season in first team contention, ahead of Bobby Pointon in attacking midfield, but despite some promising performances he drifted back out of the team and played just fourteen minutes of league football after New Year’s Day.

His versatility does give him several routes into the team, either in midfield or at wing back, but there are a lot of players ahead of him, and it could well be that his future lies away from Valley Parade.

What a good season looks like: He gets regular football – either here or somewhere else – and starts to add consistency to his talent. Joe Colbeck in 2007/08.

What a great season looks like: He has a breakout year and becomes a genuine consistent attacking threat. Andy Gray in 2002/03.

Alex Pattison

By Alex

“Deceptively fast”. One of those backhanded compliments built into the footballing lexicon. “You look like you’d be well slow mate, but actually you’re pretty quick”. Alex Pattison is deceptively fast.

It’s nice when people have a go-to move. Comforting. Seeing Alex Pattison tearing up the inside right channel full pelt on a breakaway waiting for a through ball with the opposition midfield in his wake was a common refrain throughout last season. It often got overlooked, but his return after Christmas was one of the key coinciding points that help offset the loss of Andy Cook. After a period on the sidelines, he appeared in 14 of the 15 games after Boxing Day, of which City won 11.

This was the first time we’d really seen him in earnest after he spent most of his first season injured. After starting the season brightly, scoring a winner against Colchester, Pattison was infamously rushed back by a desperate Mark Hughes at Prenton Park, managing with his job on the line, leading to a 29th minute injury which signalled the end of Pattison’s season, and Hughes’s tenure.

His return midway through last season unlocked City’s move to a 3-4-3 which proved the skeleton key to their promotion. This year, as Alexander looks to build on that structure, Pattison again looks set to be a key cog in a midfield, likely rotating with new signing Jenson Metcalfe to provide the pressing energy out of possession and the extra attacking threat on the counter. Entering his age 28 season, and the last year of his contract, Pattison will be looking to stay fit and prove himself again at this level.

At his best he can offer so much to the team’s structure out of possession, as well as crucial goals with the ball – 7 goals in 24 starts last season. Given his impact in a City shirt, and their challenges without him, Graham Alexander will be desperate for him to stay fit. They don’t have a 20-goal striker, for them to succeed they are going to need goals from all over the pitch, and Pattison will be central to that.

What a good season looks like: Steps up into League One as a consistent top performer in the box-to-box midfield role, proving his worth at this level, chipping in with key goals. Lee Evans in 2015/16.

What a great season looks like: He steps up a level and becomes the key part of a great attacking unit, potentially creating opportunities with Championship clubs. Claus Jorgensen in 2002/03.

Tommy Leigh

By Jason

It was understandably overshadowed by, you know, the madness of 90+6 – but during the final day victory over Fleetwood, Tommy Leigh actually looked the part. A half time introduction for an injured Alex Pattison, Leigh revelled in playing deeper and was very influential in the Bantams’ late, successful push for a winning goal. His pass from deep was a key moment in the build-up to the breakthrough moment.

It was also the first time we’d seen Leigh playing central midfield, a position he has talked about this pre-season as being the role he is best suited for. Prior to that, Leigh’s minutes had been as one of the front three, and he’d struggled to justify the wisdom of City’s January decision to pay money for his services and award him a two-and-a-half-year deal.

To use the hopeful cliché, he’s now had a pre-season at City. And a decent one at that, playing deeper and showing what he can do. And though the competition for places is fierce, Leigh will be expecting to reverse last season’s trend of being named as a sub rather than starting.

He has a lot to prove of course, but if Pattison’s fitness proves to be an issue again (and after two injury-punctured seasons at Valley Parade, you wouldn’t rule it out) there could be an opening for Leigh to become a more influential figure. He has previously fared well at this level for Accrington (he got 12 goals the last season he played in League One), and after a difficult 12 months, he will just hope to show what he can do.

What a good season looks like: He steps up and gets a decent amount of gametime, impressing everyone with his box-to-box all action style, scoring lots of goals in the process. Alex Pattison in 2024/25.  

What a great season looks like: He becomes the heartbeat of the side and inspires everyone around him with his endless energy, quality on the ball, and infectious enthusiasm. Dean Furman in 2008/09.  

Jenson Metcalfe

By Tim

This, on paper, could be the best signing of the summer. Jenson Metcalfe is young, but already has an impressive loan spell at Chesterfield behind him and was particularly good in the 3-3 draw towards the end of last season, scoring his only senior goal against us.

He’s an energetic midfielder and a good presser, but also a fine technical player, and could well end up being a slightly more rounded version of Richie Smallwood.

A three year contract gives him time to develop, and you would expect Power and Pattison to be the first choice midfield initially. But Graham Alexander rotates his teams and there are bound to be injuries, so he will get opportunities.

Next summer we could be looking at a fine midfield option and a potential saleable asset – this looks like good football and good business.

What a good season looks like: He gets a good amount of games, even if he isn’t automatically first choice, and acquits himself well in them. Levi Sutton in 2020/21.

What a great season looks like: He quickly establishes himself in the side and becomes the heartbeat of the team, breaking up play and contributing in attack. Josh Cullen in 2016/17.

In part three we’ll look at the frontline of the 3-4-3.

Categories: Opinion, Previews

Tags: 2025/26, BCAFC