Written by Jason McKeown (images by John Dewhirst)

Football, like life, is a forever-turning wheel of good times and bad. For two teams who have swapped misery for joy, and joy for misery, in recent years, this was an evening that saw those contrasting fortunes continue, while offering a reminder of how quickly the wheel can turn.

For Bradford City, these certainly are wonderful times. Success here, taking a higher-league club to a penalty shootout and then winning it, represents another landmark moment in a superb start to the season. This was a special evening to place alongside an ever-growing collection of happy memories. An occasion worth appreciating simply for what it was, while fuelling excitement over just how far this team might go.

As City fans celebrated Adam Phillips sealing the shootout victory and the players took turns to salute the Kop with fist pumps, off skulked a sizeable Burnley away following into the growing darkness of the night. Defeated again, with their winless run stretching all the way back to February, they continue to struggle to adjust to life after relegation. The stench of decline was unmistakable.

We’ve been there. And they’ve been where we are now. You do not have to look far back in either club’s history to find a time when the mood among City supporters was as low as it appears to be for Burnley fans at this moment, and when Burnley followers felt every bit as optimistic as Bradford City’s support does now.

The small crumb of comfort for Burnley is the knowledge that bad times do not last forever.

The lesson for City is remembering that the same is true of these good ones.

Which is why this was an evening to savour. A rejigged Bantams side were outstanding. They stood up to the obvious threat of a similarly reshaped but dangerous-looking Burnley team. They defended magnificently while retaining an attacking ambition that caused their higher-league visitors plenty of problems.

It’s all just so, so impressive from City. Graham Alexander has built a remarkable side; incredibly organised, radiating purpose and utterly fearless. He’ll be delighted to see so-called back-up players come in and perform as well as they did. If a lack of depth held City back at times last season, the signs here are extremely encouraging. The contest for player of the match was a crowded field.

City, like Burnley, have enjoyed more successful periods in their history than the present day. But it is rare to have a Bantams team so perfectly in tune with its supporters. They ooze character and personality, combining frightening levels of work rate with total commitment. They are everything supporters could want and more, and the Bradford public have rightly taken them to their hearts.

And while the current City side are unlikely to replicate the cup miracles of the Phil Parkinson era, they have developed similar good winning habits that are routinely taking the club beyond the limp early exits that once felt inevitable, while building an increasingly notable collection of scalps.

This was certainly another scalp, and one of the biggest they’ve claimed so far.

There are terrible goalless draws, and this certainly wasn’t one of them. Between them, the two sides produced 39 attempts on goal. There was wonderful goalkeeping, heroic defending and plenty of bright, inventive passing.

The gap in quality was at times evident, but City did everything they could to level it. Burnley started well and Jon McCracken had to make a superb early save to keep out the excellent Connor Roberts. A near-5,000 strong away following made terrific early noise. As Burnley zipped the ball around with speed and wit, you feared their greater quality would soon count.

But City stood firm. It’s been a feature of all their games this season that they’ve not started games brilliantly but grown stronger – and the same happened here. Henry Cartwright and George Lapslie deputised in central midfield and began to find their feet. Like Cartwright, Reece Welch made a full City debut and did not look out of place.

Captain for the night Matt Pennington was outstanding in making so many excellent blocks and last-ditch tackles. Macaulay Gillesphey slightly lacks Aden Baldwin’s passing range, but soon was able to get City up the pitch. Jake Beesley put in another mega shift up front that prevented the game becoming one-way Burnley traffic.

In the visitors, City were once again up against a 4-2-3-1 set-up. Burnley were cunning. They’d done their homework. They kept overloading one of the flanks as they went forward, laying the bait for other City players to come over and help out, then suddenly switching the play inside to try and profit from the space that popped up. It provided Burnley plenty of openings. Their attacking midfielder Zeki Amdouni was arguably the best player on the pitch.

But where other managers might have addressed the gaps Burnley were exploiting by going cautious, Alexander stayed characteristically true to his gameplan and City’s boldness.

So yeah, it wasn’t always great to see right wing back Kayden Jackson caught out by the link up play of Mike Tresor and Lucas Piers, or of Will Swan and Phillips’ initial struggles to get on the ball. But this City team are commendably comfortable taking risks and dealing with spells of opposition pressure.

And they do it because of what they can offer at the other end.

So as the minutes ticked by, Burnley’s initial menace became increasingly predictable and ultimately limiting. Their personal demons caught up with them. Their sprightliness betrayed by their lack of confidence. When you’ve not won for so long – not even a pre-season friendly – courage can be hard to muster. Burnley looked good, until they got to that final moment of turning slick build-up play into a meaningful effort. And City’s uncompromising defence simply wasn’t going to let them waltz through.

As the rearguard stood firm, the home side began to find joy from their press. Ibou Touray and Phillips had presentable opportunities. Then a Phillips corner inadvertently came off the post. Burnley had plenty of the ball, but City were quick to spring into life on the counter attack.

The trend very much continued in the second half where the Bantams began to have spells on top. Swan especially came to life, running and harassing Burnley’s backline and getting his team up the pitch with no little skill (a penny for Stephen Humphrys’ thoughts right now). As Burnley kept playing it from the back, the claret and amber press forced errors and Phillips was unlucky to be denied by Gregoire Coudert.

The vociferous early noise of Burnley fans had faded as home fans pumped up the volume. What an atmosphere. There were moments when you simply looked around a heaving Valley Parade and breathed in what a remarkable evening it was.

On the hour mark Alexander rang the changes with four subs. Nick Powell took over from Beesley and proved an utter pest to a clearly agitated Burnley backline. Josh Neufville added greater defensive solidity than Jackson but also a major attacking threat – it’s good to see him back at his absolute best. Antoni Sarcevic and Calum Connolly maintained the energy and enthusiasm Cartwright and Lapslie had delivered. City were indebted to McCracken for another brilliant save, late on, against Josh Laurent.

It’s fair to say City’s attacking threat faded in those final 20 minutes, even with Bobby Pointon coming on for the excellent Swan. Burnley waited and waited to make their changes, with the bigger hitters of Zian Flemming, Hannibal, Jacob Bruun Larsen and Marcus Edwards only getting onto the field with 10 minutes to go. They were moves, it seemed, made with one eye on the growing likelihood of the tie needing to be settled by a penalty shootout.

Which is what happened. City won the toss to have the spot kicks taken at the Kop end – prompting a huge roar. But Burnley won the right to go first, which is so often a decisive factor in shootouts. Flemming and Sarcevic both scored their team’s opening penalties, but Amdouni paid the price for a stuttering run up by hitting the post, and after Gillesphey put City 2-1 up Jon McCracken made a superb save to deny Bruun Larsen.

The Bantams were in a great position. And weren’t about to pass it up.

Touray made it 3-1 before Edwards slotted home for Burnley, leaving Phillips with the chance to seal City’s victory and their place in round three. He duly obliged with a confident low finish. City had scored all four of their pens. There are suggestions Coudert had notes on his water bottle over which direction City players were likely to send their spot kicks, and that McCracken threw it into the Kop when his opposite number wasn’t looking. Whatever the truth, McCracken was the hero for sure.

The celebrations began and City were clapped off the field by a grateful home crowd. Meanwhile for Burnley, the misery continued. A performance of promise ultimately came to nothing more than an exit to a team from the division below, heaping more frustration and upping the pressure.

We know what that all feels like. We’ve been there.

And that’s why we have to relish every second of this bright, beautiful era. It took us the best part of a decade of gloom, failure and existential crises to get back to having a club we can truly be proud of. The progress made since March 2024 is incredible, and nights like this underline the potential for it to go even further.

The club read the room brilliantly with this tie, charging only a fiver and getting the place packed-out. And it made for a fantastic, stirring occasion that will be fondly remembered for some time to come. It all adds to the feelgood vibes of an excellent start to the season – one where City are still yet to even concede a goal.

Whatever their ceiling is, this isn’t it. And for that, Alexander deserves immense credit. The only cloud on the horizon might be keeping the inspirational manager. Before kick off, he made a point of going over to the Burnley crowd and applauding them – a sharp reminder that we’re not the only fanbase to hold him in high affection. With a growing crisis at another of the clubs where he is deeply revered, Preston, there may soon be a managerial vacancy where he would be high on the list.

All ifs, buts and maybes. What matters for now is that City march on to the next round and an underwhelming but very winnable away tie at Leyton Orient. They stand top of the fledgling League One table with games coming thick and fast. The new signings are looking so impressive. The squad looks stronger than last season. The football is even better.

With Alexander at the helm, anything feels possible. More memorable times surely lie ahead – but the scars of the past, and the highly-relatable Burnley gloominess, are important reminders that the football wheel never stops turning. The challenge is to enjoy the highs when you have them.

Categories: Match Reviews

Tags: 2026/27, BCAFC, Burnley, League Cup