Written by Jason McKeown (images by John Dewhirst)

Those good vibes are holding firm. A first step into the unknown of League One for Bradford City proved to be one laced in the positive familiarity of winning on their own patch, of promotion heroes Antoni Sarcevic and Bobby Pointon scoring goals, of Sam Walker making crucial saves, and of a City number 6 living up to the desired values of the captain’s armband.

And sure, when you looked closely, so much was different about Bradford City – not least their 7 (seven!) debutants. But really, this was business as usual. New main characters picking up the baton and following the tried and tested blueprint. New era. New league. Same values.

All of which resulted in a fun if not a thrill-a-minute opening day success where City impressed greatly and laid down an early League One marker. Is it possible to have a better start to the season than going 2-0 up after 13 minutes? Well yes, if you’re splitting hairs – the Bantams were 2-0 up inside five minutes on opening day of last season. But still, this was a remarkable way to begin life in a higher league. City raced out of the traps and quickly gave the fifth-best side in League One last season two bloody noses. And though they later took some jabs back, they stood strong to earn victory.

All afternoon it felt like City held the edge in terms of intelligence and purpose. The stats are quite striking – Wycombe had 68% possession, produced 497 passes to City’s 220, and had a 77% pass success rate compared to the home side’s 58%. They are quite striking because they don’t tell the real story of what actually happened. The truth is that for all the ball Wycombe had, they were woefully ineffective in making it count. And that was because of City’s street-smartness.

No team in League One had lower opening day possession than City, but no matter. They’ve just spent six years in the basement league largely struggling against any opposition side who prefers to park the bus rather than come to play. So many games where we had all the ball but little penetration. So as Wycombe pushed forward in the early minutes, the only thing stopping City from shaking their hands to thank them was the fact they were busying themselves laying traps so they could take advantage of their accommodating guests.

It’s why the first five minutes of general Wycombe dominance counted for nothing when, from City’s first attack, they scored. Very suspect goalkeeping from Wanderers’ debutant Dutch goalkeeper Mikki van Sas enabled Sarcevic to head home. I’ve checked the tape, by the way. This time it is definitely Sarc’s goal.

Hang on though, because as fun as the goal was – we have to talk about what immediately preceded it. Seconds earlier Josh Neufville had found space to run with the ball into the box. As defenders closed him down, the young right wing back produced an outrageous backheel cross from which the onrushing Stephen Humphrys forced a superb save from van Sas.

From there, Ibou Touray teed up Humphrys for another shot, which is where van Sas spilled the ball in front of a grateful Sarcevic. And as the cheers of the goal subsided, Neufville’s incredible piece of audaciousness lingered longer in the mind. Neufville’s backheel cross was only his eighth competitive touch as a City player (touches three to seven came during the run into the box that led to it). And whatever he goes onto achieve at Valley Parade, you suspect that we supporters will keep circling back to this moment and reflect on what it said about him.

What a way to introduce yourself.

It took only seven further minutes for 1-0 to become 2-0. Another relentless City press meant Wycombe couldn’t get out. Humphrys produced a lovely turn and was tackled, but the loose ball fell to Pointon, and the homegrown hero smashed home what would be confirmed as the game’s winner. It sparked more scenes of celebration that carried a pinch-me-I-must-be-dreaming feel. A chant of “we are going up” was even half-jokily aired.

If it was a dream start for City, it was clearly an absolutely nightmare one for Wycombe. They rocked up not just with an ambition to dominate the ball but with a tactic seemingly aimed at exposing chinks in the Bantams’ armour. The visitors would play it around at back, inviting home players to close them down, in the hope they would leave vacant space behind them to exploit. As City forward players seemingly did what Wycombe wanted, the Chairboys would attempt to quickly knock the ball up the pitch and work it towards lone striker Daniel Odoh, so he could run at the back three.

It was an approach that relied on an awful lot of variables going Wycombe’s way – quick, mistake-free passing, plus City losing their shape – and it was strikingly similar to City’s pre-season friendly win over Middlesbrough, where the Championship side initially found joy from Tommy Leigh’s slight lack of defensive discipline and overran their opponents for 20 minutes. But Wycombe do not have players with the same level of talent as Middlesbrough, and anyway Leigh had evidently learned his lesson.

In short, Wycombe tried to set the bait. But City were not biting.

It meant that the visitors’ first half performance seemed especially awful. All that ball, but what were they doing with it, other than passing it back and forth? They didn’t even register an attempt on goal until the 25th minute. They were trying to be too clever and intricate in their approach. But they were a collection of players making bad decisions_[1]. And every time City won a turnover, the home side charged forward in numbers and overwhelmed Wanderers’ timid defence.

If this was a pub, Wycombe were having a miserable time pretending to like craft beer in order to be cool. Meanwhile City carried no such pretensions, as they loudly enjoyed themselves drinking plain old Stella.

And just like the old Stella strapline, this revamped Bradford City side does look Reassuringly Expensive. It’s still really early days, but what an opening 45-minute performance this was. Every home player was on top of their game and looked the part. For new signings to already be so up to speed on the ethos was especially encouraging. As a beaming Graham Alexander declared afterwards, “Every player committed”.

Leigh was the epitome of this. It’s a low bar, but this was by far his best game for the club. He lined up deeper alongside Max Power and the pair ran the game. Leigh was more positionally aware and showed he was good in the tackle as well as getting up and down the pitch. The experienced Power helped Leigh greatly. Early impressions are that he is Richie Smallwood but with a greater attacking edge.

The wing backs Neufville and Touray were both superb. Every time Neufville was in a position to run at the opposition, he took it and soon had the crowd on the collective edge of seats. Touray is more defensive minded but still contributed a lot going forward.

Up top, as well as scoring Sarcevic and Pointon ran themselves into the ground. Hat offs to them both. Humphrys played through the middle, despite the pre-season warnings this isn’t his best position. He was a constant menace. Not everything he tried came off, but the intentions were always brave.

And at the back, the defenders looked anything but a collection of centre backs who had never played for the club – or with each other – before. Joe Wright is the unofficial leader, telling his partners when to push up and when to hold their line. On the infrequent occasions a member of the back three was left in a one-on-one situation, they could rely on the other two to provide cover. It just worked so well.

Truth be told, City didn’t hit quite the same heights in the second half. Wycombe clearly improved for sure. The over-passing of the ball continued, but they were able to make it stick in the final third. Magnus Westergaard missed an absolute sitter 56 minutes in, firing over with the goal seemingly at his mercy. But at the half way point of the second half, Wright was penalised for an off the ball incident and from the resultant free kick Udoh got free to fire home from an angle and reduce the arrears.

It naturally introduced anxiety into the home stands when before there had been so little. Humphrys was desperately unfortunate not to quickly remove that fear when he was denied by an astonishing save from van Sas after getting on the end of a brilliant Leigh cross. But even though the atmosphere turned more nervy, City largely held firm during what felt like a long final 20 minutes.

Wycombe threw on late subs and did create a late chance when Sam Walker made an important block. And maybe they should have had a penalty when the ball struck an arm deep in stoppage time. One of those shouts rarely given in real time, but which in the Premier League VAR always overturns. Wycombe have a case to feel aggrieved then, but can have few complaints overall. As Chairboys boss Mike Dodds reflected after, “We’ve got more important things to worry about in terms of that first 20 minutes than a penalty decision that didn’t go our way.”

Indeed, those scares aside, City were excellent in the way they managed the final 20 minutes. They took up a disciplined off the ball shape, but were always willing to counter up the pitch when they could. No panicky clearing of their lines and forever giving the ball back. No sitting too deep and inviting constant pressure. A one-goal lead is never a relaxing situation, but City made it as comfortable as it could be.

It’s the law that we have to utter the words “there’s a long way to go” on the opening day of the season – whatever the result. So there you go, we’ve just done that. Don’t book out the open top bus for May just yet. Don’t get carried away. How good a result this was cannot be accurately judged until the league takes shape in six or seven games time.

But right now at least, the signs are as encouraging as you could dare hope. The squad has been ruthlessly revamped. The new signings look to be settling in very well. The team is continuing to play in the same functional and highly effective manner. And we’re still winning at home – this was the 21st victory in City’s last 27 Valley Parade league games.

The vibes are still strong. As the beat goes on.

[1] Wycombe were also seemingly affected by the transfer saga of star striker Richard Kone, who tellingly was not in the squad after the club had received six (and counting) bids from Championship clubs.

Categories: Match Reviews

Tags: 2025/26, BCAFC, League One, Wycombe Wanderers