Written by Jason McKeown (images by John Dewhirst)

The emotions are hard to compute. This was another level. Another world. And it was both exhilarating and horrifying to watch Bradford City gamely battle the near-impossible odds, yet lose so unambiguously. They got beaten up, but the fight was never fair – and as much you had to wince at times, you had to admire the Bantams for the pluck they showed in giving it a go.

If it’s any comfort – and I think it is – there’s just no scenario where City don’t avoid a one-sided defeat here. You could have played a different City team, tried a different approach – but every strategic move ends in a thumping Newcastle success. The Champions League side were just on it. A strong starting XI chosen. A fantastic display of attitude. They took the game really seriously, which says a lot about the respect they held for Bradford City. They even did one of their bloody post-match photos to celebrate victory over us. But by bringing such intensity and focus, they left the Bantams without a prayer.

So it was, we got a bit of a hammering. 4-1 doesn’t sound good, does it? In truth, probably should have been more. Absolutely no disgrace in that from City at all. But still, defeats are never exactly fun. And though it’s foolhardy to get worked up or angry about City failings, clearly it wasn’t the night we dreamed it would be.

And that’s where the emotions feel a bit more complicated. Because, well, not to be ungrateful, not to be stupidly unrealistic about the force of what just beat the Bantams, and it feels really uncomfortable writing this, hence this long-winded, mealy-mouthed sentence that should have been ended a lot sooner, but, okay here I go, I’m just going to say it, please don’t judge me too harshly – it feels like we should be a tiny bit of critical of City.

Urgh. This is so unfair of me to say isn’t it? Let’s do the negatives really quickly. It’s slightly disappointing that we didn’t seem to take this tie as seriously as we fans might have expected. Five changes to the City starting line up – which meant in relative terms Newcastle played more of their strongest XI than we did.

Not saying those who came into the team didn’t deserve to play, but Josh Neufville, Antoni Sarcevic and Tyreik Wright must have been absolutely gutted. Will Swan was also ruled unfit, but it sounds like he will be back for Saturday. And look, City didn’t field a weak team at all, but on several occasions during Graham Alexander’s post-match interview he spoke about Saturday’s league game with Blackpool being more important. He showed this with the hand he chose to deal.

Of course he’s not wrong to do that. We’re top of the league. And the upwards curve since City were drawn out to play Newcastle in the cup – three wins in the last four league games – shifts expectations and tweaks priorities. Killing ourselves against Newcastle and still losing – because, as we say, there is no scenario where we win this – won’t help us in the long run. Alexander let his head rule his heart, and we should be really grateful he did that.

But still…we’re supporters. We’re irrational creatures. That’s where those emotions cloud our better judgement.  

It didn’t help that some of the players who got unexpected starting opportunities didn’t exactly pull up any trees. Nick Powell got his first City start – and that kinda seemed a smart idea from Alexander, picking the guy with experience of these sorts of occasions and letting it rub off on the team. But the former Manchester United man disappointed with his body language. Stephen Humphrys was back, but seemed unwilling to press in the manner of Swan. He ended the night with supporters beginning to express dissatisfaction about his overall start to life at Valley Parade. Fair to say Humphrys needs to have a good game very soon.

It all meant that, in the first half, it felt like nine City players were having a go, and a couple of others were not quite giving as much as you felt they could.

Okay let’s stop that now, the negativity ends here. It’s unfair on City, who don’t deserve anything but plaudits for what they’re achieving this season. And that includes what they attempted to do at St James Park. Because this wasn’t a self-inflicted defeat in any way. It all comes back to that unshakeable but comforting truth – nothing was stopping Newcastle from winning this and winning it well.

They really were something else. This was not our regular early season League One opponent, willingly falling into our traps and being overwhelmed by City’s high press and intensity. There was such speed of thought in every Newcastle player. Wits that matched skill levels. The movement on and off the ball was breathtaking. And they had no problem matching up City’s physicality. Everything about them was another sphere to City.

The only crumbs Newcastle offered up were some tiny what-if moments. Less than a minute into the match, City attacked and Humphrys set up Brad Halliday for a shot at goal. Tame, straight at Aaron Ramsdale. But still! Shot on target! On the 15-minute mark, Powell won the ball off Sven Botman and was fouled as he tried to run forward. Bobby Pointon latched onto the loose ball, found space for a shot and forced a scrambled save from Ramsdale. So close! From the resultant corner Halliday got space to send over a cross-shot that the Newcastle keeper pushed out. Come on City!

Alas, cold water was abruptly poured over our hopes. Newcastle went straight on the attack and the ball was pinged back and forth in the final third, with the tempo slowed, sped up, and slowed again, as the home side waited for a small gap to emerge. Anthony Gordon eventually hit a shot towards goal that Halliday blocked, but the ball stopped perfectly in the path of Joelinton, who was able to calmly stroke it home. 1-0 Newcastle, and the powerful sound of 47,000 Geordies cheering (the less said about their noise during the game overall the better).

Less than two minutes later it was 2-0. Bruno Guimarães ran forwards with the ball, and he produced a superb through pass in-between Matt Pennington and Ciaran Kelly that William Osula was able to run onto. He finished clinically, and put his commanding team in a commanding position.

And that cranked up Newcastle’s energy levels. My notes from the game are full of the word ‘lovely’ when jotting down the home side’s opportunities on goal. Osula ran through and saw a low shot blocked by Sam Walker’s feet, after lovely build up play. Walker turned behind a powerful Gordon effort from distance, after lovely Newcastle passing. Osula got free and forced Walker into saving a shot from an angle, after lovely skill to beat Pennington.

But viewing this through claret and amber lens, “lovely” just isn’t the right word is it? “Terrifying” is more apt. So let’s try that again. Osula ran through and saw a low shot blocked by Sam Walker’s feet, after terrifying build up play. Walker turned behind a powerful Gordon effort from distance, after terrifying Newcastle passing. Osula got free and forced Walker into saving a shot from an angle, after terrifying skill to beat Pennington. Yep, that captures the emotions.

Unclear how Alexander viewed it all, but after that Osula chance on the half hour Walker conveniently went down injured and the City boss held an impromptu meeting with his players. The upshot was the Bantams retreated. Max Power and Tommy Leigh held back instead of pressing. The wing backs inverted for a time and it became more of a back five. And maybe that’s why the criticism of Powell and Humphrys is a tad harsh – because the ask of them to chase hopeful passes, and to press without any back-up support, was pretty thankless.

The retreat worked in slowing the flow of Newcastle chances. But it left City struggling to keep possession. Nevertheless, just after the interval – and after a half time swap of Sarcevic for Powell – they did carve out a great opportunity. Pointon, who ran all night and did everything he could to be a pest, got some space and sent over a cross to Humphrys. The City forward connected with the ball, but could only head it tamely at Ramsdale. It wasn’t exactly a sitter, but it was the sort of chance Andy Cook would have made so much more of. Another black mark for Humphrys.

On the hour, he was taken off for Cook – with Tyreik Wright and Neufville also introduced – and it heralded some of the City shackles being taken off again after the mid-game retreat. That bolder rejig did come with the risk of letting Newcastle shift up the gears again, which they duly did.  

Guimarães had already clipped the bar and Joelinton headed just over, before Osula and Gordon had efforts that flew wide when they might have done better. Still, the third goal arrived with 15 minutes to go. Guimarães embarked on a superb run into the box, before spinning around and assessing his options. There was Joelinton wriggling clear of Pointon and Wright and finding space to receive the pass. One touch and the ball was stroked into the back of the net.

But then, something unexpected, something wonderful happened – City scored. And not just any goalscorer – Andy, Andy Cook. He gets the ball, after the otherwise hugely impressive Lewis Miley made a harsh of clearing his lines, with his clearance hitting Leigh and bouncing off Cook’s shin. He scores a goal, after the ball sat up brilliantly for Cook to lash into the roof of the net via the underside of the bar. Andy, Andy Cook. An absolutely stunning volley, from the life-long Newcastle United supporter. Another incredible Andy Cook moment, that we all celebrated wildly.

Is that the best consolation goal in Bradford City history? It surely has to be. Not just for the quality of the strike, but the deep significant meaning behind it. There’s no City player you wanted to score more here than Cook. The guy who has been to hell is now absolutely back, with three goals already to his name since returning from the long-term ACL injury. Imagine what he’ll be like when he’s fully fit?

It would have been nice if that had been the end of the scoring, but Newcastle had the final word. An attack had been thwarted, but the ball came straight back. Record signing Nick Woltemade – who came on from the bench – set up fellow sub Harvey Barnes, and his low cross was turned in by Osula with Wright guilty of ball watching.

4-1, but luckily no more damage from there. At full time Guimarães had swapped shirts with a City player and was walking around St James’ Park clapping fans whilst wearing the Bantams away kit. It was the closest a pink shirt had got to him all evening. He and Joelinton absolutely ran the show. A masterclass that was both awe-inspiring and incredibly scary. I’ve always rated Thierry Henry as the best opposition player I’ve ever seen live, from the Premier League days, but Guimarães’ masterclass here runs that very, very close.

In less than a year’s time we might be watching on TV the Brazilian duo Guimarães and Joelinton being presented with the World Cup trophy by Donald Trump. Or maybe the US President will be applauding Woltemade’s Germany lifting the silverware. Or perhaps an England side with Lewis Hall, Gordon and Ramsdale will triumph. Point is, we weren’t just watching a very good Premier League side rip apart our beloved Bantams – but some of the very best players in the world.

And that’s why the emotions are slightly confusing. It wasn’t the night we hoped it would be, but it was still so special. St James Park is such a wonderful stadium. Being part of a 5,000 City away support – who Newcastle fans and their manager Eddie Howe are full of praise for because of the way we backed the players – makes you well up with pride. Our players couldn’t bridge the gap, but the gulf in class was so wide that you can’t have anything but appreciation towards them for trying. It’s never nice to lose a game of football, but this was as nice of a defeat as you can get.

Indeed, it’s the first time City have lost by a three-goal margin since December 2024. That was of course the 3-0 hammering to Notts County that left Bradford City 12th in League Two, winless in the league for two months, with hostility aired towards Stefan Rupp, Ryan Sparks and even Graham Alexander.

The turnaround since has been utterly spectacular. The progress stunning. And that’s why nothing that happened on the pitch at St James Park can dampen the emotion of how proud we feel to be Bradford City supporters.

Categories: Match Reviews

Tags: BCAFC, Newcastle United