Written by Jake Verity (images John Dewhirst)

There’s no point pretending otherwise. This next week could make Bradford City’s season.

We are talking about a very big West Yorkshire Derby. The first game away at Huddersfield Town in the league since March 2007. But that’s not even the reason why it matters, or in truth the biggest game, as much as it might upset them.

Yes, a first league outing at Sincil Bank, almost 16 years since the Bantams last league appearance there, could well prove to be the biggest league game the club has played for nearly twenty years.

And if you’re probably thinking this sounds like hyperbole, it isn’t.

It really, really isn’t.

Just look at the league table. Cardiff City are pulling ahead in a race for the title. We’ll know whether that’s really in full flow by the end of Saturday, as they take on a rapidly rising Stockport County at home. If they win there and we lose, it’ll be a twelve point lead for the Bluebirds over the Bantams. If that’s to be the case, then it’s fair to say that it looks very much like there might only be one automatic promotion spot available.

With Lincoln, City, Stockport and Bolton all now within a handful of points of each other, it could be a fascinating race. But before we worry about games hundreds of miles away in South Wales or elsewhere, we must remember we are only in control of our own results. The good news is that’s where we can be very positive again.

Put simply, if we win our next two games, regardless of how Lincoln City do against Burton Albion on Thursday evening, we are guaranteed to be level on points with them at worst. At best, we’ll be three points ahead of them in second place.

This is the sort of reality we can get behind, isn’t it? And don’t forget we have games in hand too.

The magnitude of this next week can’t be understated. It’s a season-defining week. So strap in, get ready, and get excited for the mother of all match previews. Because this is going to be a big week for Bradford City.

Huddersfield (A)

A new manager with just days to prepare. The leakiest defence in the top-six. A four game winless run. If we were coming up against any other club in that position, we’d be feeling pretty optimistic. And why shouldn’t we be, even if it is against Huddersfield?

The simple fact is this game means so much more. Bragging rights. Family arguments. It’s totally personal. But actually, if we’re going to be honest, it does feel a little bit less bigger than that game a few months ago.

That’s not to understate the importance of the derby. It still matters. But actually, many Bradford City fans are far more focused on the fact that we’ve got a genuine chance of winning promotion, rather than simply taking the bragging rights this weekend. It’s more about winning and closing the gap on Lincoln, than it is about a simple victory at Town.

Sure, if we win there will be lots of banter. It’ll be talked about for a while. But it’s going to be so hard to ever live up to a 3-1 victory at home after years without any derby in any competition, let alone Bobby Pointon scoring two (if not three goals). But it’s also that we’ll be more focused on the games to come.

If we fail to win, there’s no time to waste either. It’s quickly onto Lincoln on Tuesday, which really, really, really will matter in that scenario.

The fact is, as over two thousand Bantams make the trip across West Yorkshire to the Accu Stadium, we do so as the second-best side in the county. That’s not sheer arrogance. It’s factual based on our league position. And we do so juxtaposingly at their real moment of weakness and strength.

Start badly under their new manager, and it could be a truly toxic atmosphere over in HD1. But start well, and it might be a difficult day for the Bantams. Mind you, it sounds like there’s a lot of empty seats across their part of the ground, that won’t be able to do much cheering if that is the case.

As they flog tickets for the derby they can’t sell out, we go over to Huddersfield, a completely reinvigorated side who showed we can go toe-to-toe with the league’s best. If you look at what’s changed since we last played the Terriers, too, we’ve only become stronger.

The fact we go into the game with Max Power is a genuine miracle after several successive games without booking, is incredibly welcome. Ideally, he can make it through this one topic as we will need him for the Lincoln game. His partnership alongside the ever-improving Jenson Metcalfe has been the glue to hold together this Bradford City team, and the idea of being without him is slightly concerning, which will happen at some point.

It’s unclear who might start up-front between Will Swan and Stephen Humphrys. Though, I’d assume it may be the latter, and we might opt for the former away at Lincoln. With two huge games in such quick succession, we’d do worse than to rotate our options.

Harrison Ashby, Joe White and Louie Sibley all impressed against Cardiff, so it remains to be seen if any might make a start. All look like strong options.

And in any case, Huddersfield will have to face something they didn’t last time. Indeed, Curtis Tilt missed the last game against the Terriers. You’d expect him to be more than up for this one, and to feed off this atmosphere. What a player he has become for this club, and return from injury he has made too. Games like these are the ones that make memories. Now’s the time for him to get third time lucky with another bicycle kick attempt.

But in all seriousness, just think of this ahead of Huddersfield. A Bradford City win on Saturday would put the Bantams 10 points ahead of the Terriers, with two games in hand on them too.

Should we get three points, that’s almost certainly a stat we can all raise a beer to.

Lincoln (A)

This is the real game to look forward to. It’s going to be very, very tough. But it’s totally winnable. Every match in this league is.

Lincoln have only lost once at home in the league, to Exeter City back on the 4th October. They have a near identical home record to the Bantams, both winning nine games each. The only difference really being that the Bantams recent loss to Cardiff makes it two losses at Valley Parade, whereas Lincoln only have that one, drawing their extra game instead.

There’s very little to separate the two sides, something which we saw back in October when we played out a fairly dull 0-0 at Valley Parade, a result that in truth, most of us might want to take on Tuesday.

The difference is though, that Lincoln have found real goalscoring form since then, with ten goals in their last four games. They have also conceded five though, so there’s a good chance of grabbing a goal against them.

Michael Skubala and Graham Alexander have both managed almost the same amount of games for each of their clubs. The former having managed 120 games for Lincoln City with a 45% win record, and Alexander managing 124 for the Bantams with a very impressive 50% win record. Both managers took their respective jobs a week apart back in November 2023, and the relative stability of each appointment has led both clubs to be in a really strong position.

But actually, what’s most interesting about this fixture is how both sides approach it. Will it be a high intensity, high scoring affair where both teams know a win would make a huge difference?

Or will both sides take a more cautious approach? It’s hard to tell, and it feels results over the weekend could dictate this.

It’s impossible to speculate much more about Lincoln, without seeing how we get on at Huddersfield. But, it’s fair to say that three points over the two fixtures would be good. Four points would be great.

But six points has to be the aim, if we’re truly serious about aiming for automatic promotion.

But why?

Imagine that, in four months’ time, we’re heading into a crunch game against Bolton Wanderers in our final home match of the season, with both sides vying for promotion to the Championship. But after failing to win, a result away at Exeter on the final day is unlikely to be enough. It’s the play-offs for the Bantams, and a lottery lies ahead.

It’d be a very similar story to the 2016/17 season, where we had an incredible home record, lost out to Bolton in the final few weeks, and it was all down to the play-offs. But there are some key differences.

Firstly, the play-offs would represent remarkable success for a team only recently promoted from League Two to League One, unlike the 2016/17 season, where we had become an established League One side and contended in the play-offs the previous season.

Secondly, we haven’t drawn nearly as many games this season, yet. We have actually been quite good at getting a result more often than not, and have led the league for most of this campaign in the top two or three.

But thirdly, and this is the main difference: we became a stronger side that season and cemented ourselves as a contender after spending big money on bringing in Charlie Wyke as our main striker, and Alex Jones alongside him (on the similarities front, we brought in a young lad on loan from Newcastle United, the second of the season to join from the Toon, called Alex Gilliead).

The reality is though, we have a chance to really cement ourselves as a serious contender which we haven’t really done since that 2016/17 season, or at worse, drop back into what might seem like more of a play-off push. The latter still represents huge success. But it would be disappointing after the start we’ve had.

It’s not just about results though. It’s about recruitment.

After Lincoln, there will be just days left of the transfer window. And it is so far widely acknowledged that we need to invest a little bit more in this squad, especially up front.

Which that’s why not only is this the biggest week in Bradford City’s league history for twenty years. But it’s arguably our biggest transfer window too.

To state the obvious. Championship football, at present, is just three points away. Of course, we have a game in hand, but Crewe away in the 22/23 season should have taught us not to treat those as foregone conclusions.

The simple fact is this: if we win a lot of games, we might well go up. Back into a league we haven’t seen for many, many years. Twenty-two, to be exact.

But to win a lot of games, you need to score a lot of goals. And the truth is that a free-scoring City side, which started this campaign by finding the net left, right and centre, has dried up.

A side that scored 22 goals in its first 13 games has since managed just 13 in the last 12. While that is still respectable, it is clearly a drop-off. We now have the second-lowest goals scored in the top six, with 35, slightly short of the top two, Cardiff and Lincoln, with 45 and 42 respectively, but still pretty good.

The thing is, those extra seven or ten goals could make all the difference. And a new player scoring them would mean the world. Antoni Sarcevic and Bobby Pointon are our top league scorers with seven apiece. Will Swan has five league goals, and Stephen Humphrys just four.

The fact is, if we want automatic promotion, we need more. It really is that simple.

And while I’m sure you’d agree that both Humphrys and Swan are welcome additions to the squad, we are lacking something up front that neither quite offers.

Now, there’s no point dwelling on players who have left the club. We need to deal with the reality of where we are and what we have, and that reality is that we need a top-end League One striker who knows where the net is. In January, that comes at a premium. But it’s one worth paying.

Discussions about a striker joining us will no doubt continue to grow as the window goes on: but if there’s one outcome we should really hope for over the next week, it’s that we really invest in our future.

League One clubs currently receive around £2m/season, compared to roughly £11m/season in the Championship. For all costs to go up with a promotion, that’s a staggering difference in cash to receive.

Player valuations rise too. A Championship Bobby Pointon is probably worth two to three times the price of a League One version. Add Jenson Metcalfe and Josh Neufville into that equation, and suddenly we’re talking about a lot of money.

If we can invest in a proper striker who can really lead the line, promotion and all that comes with it could be a real possibility. Let alone the fact that we are largely getting our toughest fixtures over and done with over the next week. Only Stockport and Bolton will remain for us to play in the top-six as it currently stands.

Make no mistake. This is a huge week for Bradford City. Get it right and then there is suddenly a lot to look forward to, be excited about, and real hope that this could be another great season.

Get it wrong and there’s no time to waste either with games coming thick and fast afterwards against Doncaster, Luton and Peterborough, the latter two of whom will fancy themselves as outside contenders for the play-offs.

This next week is what it’s all about. But this next month is too. This has been the season that simply hasn’t stopped giving. So let’s hope it can give us just a little more.

Enjoy the next week.

Categories: Previews

Tags: 2025/26, BCAFC