By Jason McKeown
From delivering one of Valley Parade’s greatest-ever days to achieving the highest-ever placing as a newly promoted club, Graham Alexander has certainly made plenty of Bradford City history over the past couple of years. But for obvious personal reasons, there’s another precedent the Bantams boss will be especially keen to accomplish over the next 12 months – surviving in the hotseat.
May’s heartbreaking semi-final defeat to Bolton was the fifth time City have lost a play-off campaign. And in the previous four, a change in the dugout took place the following season.
Terry Dolan was sacked midway through 1988/89, as City struggled to recover from losing to Middlesbrough in the play-offs. Phil Parkinson elected to leave in the summer of 2016, weeks after Millwall bested the Bantams. In 2018, Stuart McCall was controversially fired only eight months on from another play-off campaign being ended by Millwall. And more recently Mark Hughes paid the price for a slow start to the 2023/24 season that followed the play-off collapse at Carlisle.
Will Alexander face a similar fate? Hopefully not. And it’s certainly worth contextualising the mood after last season’s Bolton triumph against the atmosphere around Middlesbrough ’88, Millwall ’16 and ’17, and Carlisle ’23. Blame, to varying degrees, was directed at Dolan, Parkinson, McCall and especially Hughes for coming up short in those play-off games.
Dolan was then a victim of his own success, unable to swim with the rising tide of expectation. Parkinson quit with no one wanting to see him go, but with a nagging suspicion City had meekly rolled over to Millwall. McCall was wrongly made the scapegoat by chairman the following season, but like Dolan the tide had also risen. Hughes had begun banging nails into his own coffin after a lacklustre managerial showing in that Carlisle second leg.
Against Bolton, no one blamed Alexander. No one blamed the players or the club for that matter. A sold out Valley Parade clapped their defeated club off the field, with immense pride swirling over a terrific season and the comfort of knowing City gave it their all. The failings felt honest rather than deserving of blame. It’s never nice to lose, but at the same time it was the nicest of ways to lose.
So Alexander emerged from those Bolton tussles with reputation enhanced rather than damaged. He remains in high regard. And he’s built up huge levels of credit in the bank.
All of which leaves Alexander in an enviable position heading into the new season. Right now, the idea of him coming under pressure feels almost unimaginable.
But then there’s Bradford City’s history. It’s a small sample size, but it’s a grim record nonetheless.
Where might headwinds appear for Alexander? The answer, as ever, lies in results and the league table. Like under Dolan in 88/89 and McCall in 17/18, that tide is naturally rising. This time a year ago, we didn’t know what to expect – and many of us declared we’d be happy simply to avoid relegation. The 2025/26 season proved to be so much more than a modest struggle to stay up. It was exciting, it was enthralling and it was a joyous experience.
More of the same? Yes please.
But is that realistic?
Yes and no.
The head of football operations, David Sharpe, recently appeared on the BBC Radio Leeds podcast Take Me Home, where he described last season’s fourth-place finish as an overachievement. He also revealed City’s playing budget ranked only around 13th or 14th in League One.
It was a fair assessment, and one that only enhanced what Alexander and his players achieved. But it also serves as a reminder that last season shouldn’t automatically become the benchmark.
We don’t yet know how much the budget has increased, if at all. Even with further investment, it’s difficult to imagine City suddenly possessing one of the division’s six strongest squads on paper, particularly given the financial muscle of several clubs arriving in League One this summer.
That means if City are to match or improve on last season, they’ll almost certainly have to overachieve again. That’s far from impossible – football has always had room for teams who outperform their resources – but it shouldn’t simply be expected.
And that’s where Alexander could face his biggest test. If City’s results begin to reflect their financial reality rather than last season’s extraordinary standards, they may look more like a mid-table side than genuine promotion challengers. However unfairly, a step backwards in league position might prompt questions about whether Alexander was still taking the club forward.
Those are the moments that test everyone.
It’s that sort of environment that in the past did for Dolan and McCall. And even though both sackings aged horribly in terms of City’s subsequent trajectory – on each occasion they ended up getting relegated 18 months later – in the pressurised here and now of declining results and supporter frustration, the club was put into a position where it faced the sort of stick or twist decision that hasn’t been on the radar at Valley Parade for over two years. The point is we’ve yet to face the conditions that led to previous Bradford City powerbrokers making questionable managerial decisions. But those conditions may arise this season.
And that’s where calm heads and long-term thinking might well be needed. The club have rightly made a great deal of positive noise about the fact the key position holders at Valley Parade have all been in their roles for at least two seasons. Stefan Rupp, Ryan Sparks, Stephen Gent, David Sharpe and of course Alexander have collectively represented stability, and each has grown in their roles because of the continuity around them.
At some stage, those foundations will be pressure tested. It might come this season, or it might come further down the line. It almost certainly will arise if and when the considerable progress since Spring 2024 slows down or levels off. And given City’s overachievement last season, a slowing down or levelling off certainly shouldn’t be ruled out.
All of this sounds negative. It’s not meant to be. City have every chance of repeating if not bettering what they accomplished last season. We should certainly make it our target. They’ve already shown they have little to fear from League One. But if they do indeed have a season as special as the last, we should keep in mind just what that is – an overachievement, again.
You can never predict the future, but my huge hope is that Alexander is still the Bradford City manager in 12 months’ time. That he breaks the play-off defeat curse. That he carves out another slice of club history. And as supporters, I think we have to let him make the most of that huge credit in the bank, if for any reason he needs to call upon it.
Alexander has built something very special. Something that absolutely could take Bradford City into the Championship one day. But the path is rarely smooth. And any steps back should be tolerated if those foundations remain in place. The story of Lincoln City’s triumph is one of staying the course, building and ultimately making hay. The odd backwards step before huge strides forward.
If Alexander isn’t Bradford City manager in 12 months’ time, it should be because he chose to leave – or because something has gone spectacularly wrong.
Because for Bradford City to break that cycle, and resist discarding another manager after play-off heartbreak, probably means learning from the many painful episodes of the past: how easy it is to lose a good Bradford City manager, and how hard it is to find another.
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Graham Alexander gets Bradford City. He gets the fans as well as the football. He’s restored the “Happy Bantam” feel, built real unity, and delivered results on a tight budget.
Losing him because we didn’t back him would be a huge mistake. Nobody wants reckless spending—we know the history—but a bit more support from Mr. Rupp and small ticket adjustments could go a long way.
Time to match the gaffer’s ambition and back Alexander!
Football management is a precarious business. Very few managers can withstand a long run of defeats, which can come about for many reasons, injuries, loss of form, the quality of the opposition, bad luck, bad referee decisions … the list is endless. The best fortification against this is to have a strong and fit body of players. At present we are numerically somewhat short of that. I think we need a couple more starters and three or four squad fillers. Tony Pullis used to say: “You can never have enough big centre-backs; they are always getting injured and suspended!” At present we have four. I don’t count under-sized players who can do a job there. If one gets injured, we don’t have a spare on the bench. Similarly we have any amount of strikers, some more potent than others, but few central midfielders.
there is still time but at the moment we are nowhere near a promotion squad
someone will take the blame if that remains the case
A Few Thoughts on Where We Need to Bolster
If you ask me, we’re still at least one centre-back short, particularly on the right side of that backline. I’d be straight in for Jack Shepherd if it were up to me. Things seem a bit sour between him and Barnsley at the minute, so bringing him back feels like a no-brainer.
On top of that, another right wing-back is needed, plus two distinct types in midfield: a creative spark to unlock teams, and a proper defensive anchor to keep things tight.
Time will tell if the board sees it the same way, but fingers crossed!
To clinch promotion & compete in the Championship the club probably needs a lot more money. Greatly appreciate Rupp’s efforts, but not convinced sufficient investment will be forthcoming under current regime. Hope I’m wrong.
I dont agree at all that any fans blamed Dolan for failing to gain promotion in 88, we blamed Jack Tordoff, our wonderful Life President, for refusing to sign Andy Townsend and Keith Curle before deadline day in March. Signings most agree would have got us automatic promotion. We also never blamed Dolan for the following season. We lost McCall, Hendrie and Futcher, and replaced them with Ian Banks, David Campbell and Andy Thomas, all of whom were dog shit. Dolan doesn’t fit the narrative you’re trying to portray here at all. He also got us to the League Cup quarter final despite all the above, beating Everton on the way.
To whoever has downvoted this. Show your working out.
Hi Leon. I didn’t say the fans blamed Dolan. I talked about a general background of him being victim of a rising tide but I wasn’t implying fans caused that. As you say a poor call from the-then chairman.
There was an element of some fans turning on Dolan though. When he was sacked, the T&A reported “There have been demonstrations by supporters at Valley Parade on the last two Saturdays calling for Dolan to resign or be sacked and critical letters to the T&A about his managerial decisions”.
Never underestimate the fickleness of City fans!
(It wasn’t me who downvoted Leon though – agree with the Tordoff comments).
I was just referring to this Jason: ”Blame….was directed at Dolan”. Who was the blame directed by?
By the late Jack Tordoff
Here’s a question then, at what point do you think Alexander is under pressure? I think Ryan Sparks and David Sharpe will want to give him as long as possible, but the pressure from supporters will come first.
When do supporters start to turn? There are always fans who are desperate to be proved right. Supporters who are waiting for the first opportunity to say ‘I told you so’ on Alexander regardless of what he has already achieved, but when does it extend to a larger proportion of fans.
At the beginning of December, Plymouth were 23rd and stuck with Cleverley. Would we be brave in the same scenario?
Well, after York’s manager got sacked, anyone can be at risk!!!
I think GA’s position would be under serious scrutiny from supporters if the below conditions were met:
**Extended run of losses and draws and bad performances especially from January onwards until the end.**
**Supporters feel his team have lost their identity and GA is no longer able to adapt or progress us further.**
I think a poor run of results can be tolerated if the supporters can see the plan and buy into it. PP started poorly in 15/16 but had enough credit to find his way through and finish in the play offs. PP also had that massive winless run in 13/14 but supporters were very forgiving due to the amazing 12/13 season and it been our first year in Lg1 + he started and ended the season well which was key.
GA should have enough credit, he’s delivered 2 incredible seasons and his win rate must still be around 50%? I’d like to believe most supporters would let him off if this season we finished bottom half. But, GA would have to show people he has a plan to take us forward and make sure most fans buy into the plan.
Managers can survive a bad run of results, which can transpire for various reasons (e.g. bad luck, bad ref decisions, injuries, poor form, playing the best teams back to back) but the crowd has to see that the players are still playing for the manager, the manager has an inspiring vision and we can see light at the end of the tunnel.
Ultimately now, there are less sticks to beat a manager with too, GA isn’t solely responsible for the signings and long term vision of our first team, like how PP was. If signings go bad there are Sharpe and Gent to point to as well.
I believe GA has enough credit to survive a poor season, not that I think we will have one. But, I also think when the season becomes poor matters, like you said, Cleverley was under massive pressure but turned it round and they have optimism entering this season but if the season was flipped you could argue Cleverley would have and should be sacked.
It’s crucial to build momentum at the right time, think back to Alexander’s first season, results were mixed until March when we fell off a cliff but what happened after 4 defeats in a row, we won our last 6 league games in a row. Also, in 24/25 we were 12th in early December after losing 3-0 and then finished our form, especially at home, surged from December until March.
GA should only come under serious scrutiny and pressure of the sack if he loses the dressing room, he shows he can’t adapt and take us further forward and the club is flirting with relegation for an extended period and all of the above were with good conditions (e.g. no injury crisis). If we did a Plymouth and were in the relegation zone in December I’d still stand by GA if you could tell the players were playing for him and he still had a plan/vision.
It’s a fair bet that if we fall out of love with GA that he will be embraced by PNE. What tends to happen at VP is that when something goes wrong there is a scapegoat and things become toxic. In reality it’s not always so black and white and besides we rarely have all the facts to make such a judgement whether to blame the board or the manager.
As in the case of the aforementioned ‘nearly season’ there is a strong counter-argument that the time for strengthening the squad had been the 1987 close season and not the closing months of the season. Terry Dolan is understood to have wanted to stick with a small, cohesive squad and decided against signings that summer. There was a strong logic to this given that in 1987 we still had the momentum and team spirit from the Cherry / Yorath era.
Cup games and injuries tested the squad to the limit in 1987/88 but promotion was ultimately lost by a number of disappointing results and poor performances in big games. The manager’s tactics were criticised by many supporters during 1987/88 but Tordoff took the blame in the post-mortem. The club had a weak bargaining position to sign players in the second half of the season and the subsequent record demonstrated that mercenary signings rarely delivered at VP. Indeed Dolan failed in 1988/89 when he resorted to ‘big signings’. Dolan’s rationale all along had been that he didn’t want to disrupt the team ethos and there is no guarantee that the new faces would have fit in the back end of 1987/88. I am not suggesting that Tordoff was blameless but neither do I believe that Dolan was beyond criticism and in hindsight he should have acted in the 1987 close season. There has been a tendency to overlook Dolan’s failings and point at Tordoff but either way it wasn’t black and white.
I also hope GA is in charge in 12 months time, but i guess what I really mean is, I hope the good times keep rolling, if he’s not here, they’ve probably stopped.
‘I hope the good times keep rolling, if he’s not here, they’ve probably stopped.’
Mega Ellis is right I suspect – but, sadly, he may be even too optimistic.
‘The rising tide’ is the real risk to GA in my mind. It is surely true that we outperformed last season. That is what our highest final placing of as a newly promoted club means. And yet, whilst it may be in the make-up of all supporters of all clubs, it certainly is of City’s – we all too often then get carried away and expect more of at least the same.
Now if it’s true we have a player budget that is, in effect, the 13th or 14th (ie, mid-table) largest in this division, would it be disappointing to end up there?
Obviously you can say ‘Yes’ because, as Mega Ellis says, we all want the good times to continue – not least as we’ve had such a long run of things being far from even ‘average’, let alone ‘good’. But in the cold light of day (and I’ve made this point before on these pages), the fact is that our average league position from the advent of four leagues (as opposed to Div 3 North and South) in 1959 has been in the lower reaches of what is now League 1…in which case 13th or 14th is surely fine (or it’s at least ‘average’!)
We are who we are. I don’t expect everyone to agree but, after over 50 years as a supporter and having in that time been to Wembley and White Hart Lane and well as Barnet and Dagenham and Redbridge, I’m happy with who we are!
The problem is that if ‘the good times don’t keep rolling’ than you just know that GA will (probably unfairly but it won’t matter) be blamed – that too is also in City’s DNA. Because in the same last 67 years that we’ve averaged a lower end of League One finish we’ve had, I think, 39 managers (not counting caretakers).
Patient is not who we are – sadly.