Written by Jason McKeown (images by John Dewhirst)

The biggest challenge Bradford City faced here was resisting the urge to get carried away. This was a hugely impressive opening day performance, one that hinted at an even brighter future. Retuned and refocused, they gave an early indication that they are an even better side than last season – and are capable of making an even bigger mark on League One.

But opening day results come with all the usual caveats. The sample size is tiny. Early dawns are often false. The excitement is justified, but should remain on a tight leash for now.

Still, the signs are good. Really good. They were simply fantastic in how they suffocated and bulldozed a hapless Peterborough, demonstrating there are levels to this division, and City are operating well above those expected to languish near the bottom.

This was a repeat of the scoreline when the two clubs met at Valley Parade last season. The February contest was much more one-sided in City’s favour, but conversely the gap between the two sides seemed bigger here. The Bantams displayed a wisdom and sophistication that underlined just how much they are blossoming, threatening to leave others in their slipstream.

Maybe we can make one confident prediction on day one – this Bradford City side are not going to be relegated this season.

Last year’s successful DNA was evidently still coursing through their veins here. It was a very Graham Alexander Bradford City display at its foundations. But there was more. More quality on the ball. More variety in possession. More attacking ambition. More depth from the bench.

All of which is mightily encouraging. This is not a rinse and repeat Bradford City, trying the same thing and expecting a different result. It’s an evolution that promises to take them further forward.

And that really stood out. Four league debutants from the start who look like they might be upgrades on those they’ve replaced. The best thing you could say about Callum Connolly – who, just like last week, set up a goal from a corner – is that he does not look like a central defender asked to play out of position. Jake Beesley battled and bullied the Peterborough backline, allowing City to plant their flag in the final third and swarm the visitors with their energetic high press. Jon McCracken made a good early save and caught the eye with his distribution. Macaulay Gillesphey opened the scoring. And the five newbies were supplemented by Adam Phillips coming off the bench and setting up City’s second.

Promising first impressions that deservedly curried favour with the Bradford public.

The fresh and familiar City faces mixed well to dominate large spells of the game and keep Peterborough pushed back. The visitors were better than last season’s naive-fuelled Valley Parade horror show. Less playing it out of the back and inviting pressure. Luke Williams’ 4-2-3-1 invited former City midfielder Brandon Khela to try and take advantage of the gap between Connolly and Antoni Sarcevic, whilst the middle base of Carl Johnston and Harrison Jones were meant to close off the space for the City skipper.

The plan failed.

Chances came pretty frequently. In a precursor to the way they combined to open the scoring, Gillesphey got on the end of a Connolly set piece and saw his header scrambled off the line. Connolly himself then hit the bar with a thunderbolt effort that left Alex Bass grasping for air. Beesley headed over a Ibou Touray cross. Kayden Jackson won a high press and played in Will Swan, who should have offered more than the weak shot Bass easily saved. Josh Neufville fired an effort from the edge of the box that Bass blocked.

Peterborough’s only chance of note came when Beesley gave the ball away and midweek signing Ethan Williams ran on and hit a low shot that McCracken blocked. But it was otherwise largely one-way traffic.

In possession City have very much evolved to a 3-3-3-1 set-up of Sarcevic playing as high up the pitch as Jackson and Swan, and the trio feeding off long passes to Beesley, or lying in wait to press.

Off the ball, City are more their usual 3-4-3 with Sarcevic dropping back. It requires a lot of energy from Sarcevic that will challenge him over the course of the season. And we’re still yet to see how better teams counter what City are trying to do, meaning we still need to apply an asterisk to the success of a Connolly-Sarcevic midfield. But this was another test run passed with flying colours. If it’s not going to work, we haven’t seen any tangible signs of failure just yet.

Perhaps the only lingering question at half time – as City went in goalless – was whether the adaptations that make Beesley the focal point and Sarcevic a more attack-minded midfielder were reducing the influence of the wide forwards, Jackson and Swan. Those positions were so vital to what City did last season, yet initially here the pair looked slightly marginalised. Is fixing one issue going to inadvertently create another?

Maybe not. Graham Alexander swapped Swan for Bobby Pointon at the interval, and City were much better on the left for it. It wasn’t long after that Jackson was replaced with Phillips, and again this side of the attack looked stronger. An interesting day for Jackson who was harshly booked before the break then lucky not to get a second yellow card early in the second half. After the injury problems of last season, we’re yet to fully know just how key Jackson could be to City. His quiet performance here, and overall team improvement when he left, doesn’t bode brilliantly.

By the time Jackson was taken off, City were a goal up. They’d started the second half well and came close when Sarcevic won a press, played a superb cross over and Beesley headed just wide. Soon after came the corner from which Connolly set up Gillesphey to score. It came only nine minutes after the restart, yet was already City’s fifth effort of the half.

Bass will take a huge slice of blame for the goal as he completely misjudged Connolly’s delivery. He continued the trend – seen in the meeting last season and over his loan spell at Valley Parade in 2021/22 – of being both wonderful and woeful. He is their match winner and their downfall in equal measures, and must be so frustrating to watch.

And Bass’ nerves soon spread across the team. Peterborough’s reaction to conceding was terrible. City upped the pressure and launched attack after attack. Peterborough kept giving the ball straight back to them, rushing clearances when they needed to pause, and getting caught out by City’s high press. They were in big trouble.

Weirdly they did stabilise for a time, when out of nothing they got a chance in the box and Harry Leonard hit the bar from a scramble (it looked like McCracken himself sent the ball onto the bar with his clearance). A triple sub gave them some much-needed composure and a belated attacking edge, with Matt Pennington producing one piece of excellent defending to stop an attack. But overall it was powder puff stuff from the Posh.

That they enjoyed even a brief spell of encouragement is a slight concern for a City defence that at times looked vulnerable. Something to keep an eye on. Though individually, Pennington, Aden Baldwin and Gillesphey largely did fine.

The fight back was too limited to become a serious threat, and City sealed the game through sub Nick Powell. Pointon – who did really well when he he came on – had produced a dazzling piece of skill that attracted a squeal of excitement from the crowd. The ball was worked to Phillips, and he sent a great low cross over for Powell to convert. Phillips has arrived at City with a track record of sizeable goals and assists from his time at Oakwell. Here was the first of what we hope will be many.

As for Powell, his renaissance continues. He’d only been on the pitch for two minutes before he netted. He was magnificent over the rest of the game, and his arrival from the bench is a really good way of unburdening Beesley’s workload, after the former Burton man had run himself into the ground. In Beesley and Powell there are echoes of 2022/23 and the way Andy Cook would play 70+ minutes before Vadaine Oliver came onto share the load. The difference being that Beesley probably won’t score as many goals as Cook, but that Powell will provide much more potency than Oliver.

The game was in the bag, and though City could have scored more they were equally mindful of a late Peterborough goal that was disallowed, and of McCracken having to make a save from a Posh corner. All before defender David Okague got himself sent off for a silly kick out on Connolly when already on a yellow card. The sight of Peterborough’s away fans streaming out long before the end told its own story about their side’s miserable day. Posh have spent the best part of the week being widely predicted for relegation by various written and podcast League One previews. And on this evidence, they look like reasonable forecasts.

As for City, the maturity they showed in seeing out the game was as impressive as the way they had gone up the gears to win it. This feels like a more grown-up, intelligent City team than this time a year ago, where fresh exuberance of returning to this level delivered thrilling wins but in time was worked out.

It seems that the club’s post-mortem of last season concluded that the Bantams were at their very best when they were on the front foot, and in games that were open. And the summer recruitment and formation restructure looks very much about making City more attack-minded and encouraging opposition sides to be expansive rather than park the bus.

There are risks in dangling the prize of a wide open central midfield that canny opponents can exploit, but with City’s burgeoning quality it seems Alexander is happy to back his charges to succeed by being bolder and more adventurous.

It’s a plan, and so far it looks like a very good one. But it comes back to the challenge of the day: not getting carried away. Bigger tests await in the shape of Sheffield Wednesday, Burnley and Plymouth over the next fortnight, and we will learn much more then.

Still, if Alexander’s ideas continue to prosper under tougher examination, Bradford City could be set for a very special season.

Early days. But so far they have not put a foot wrong.

Categories: Match Reviews

Tags: 2026/27, BCAFC, League One