From Rock Bottom to Renewal with Graham Alexander at the Helm
Just five months ago, Bradford City were sitting 12th in League Two, reeling from a 3–0 defeat at Notts County and looking more like a mid-table side than promotion contenders. The atmosphere around the club was flat, supporters were losing belief, and the pressure was beginning to mount on the newly appointed manager Graham Alexander. Fast forward to now, and the story could not be more different. After a dramatic final-day victory over Fleetwood Town, sealed by a 95th-minute deflected goal from Antoni Sarcevic, Bradford City are officially promoted to League One — and Alexander deserves immense credit for the turnaround.
When Alexander arrived in November 2023 to replace Mark Hughes, the mood was one of cautious optimism. He had pedigree — previous promotions on his CV and a reputation for instilling discipline and unity — but the task was enormous. Bradford had been stuck in the fourth tier for six long years, weighed down by expectation and inconsistency. For much of the first half of the season, those patterns remained. Performances were mixed, goals were hard to come by, and injuries — most notably to top scorer Andy Cook — added to the struggle. By Christmas Day, after the humbling loss in Nottingham, any talk of promotion seemed premature.
Building Belief and Breaking Records
But what followed was nothing short of a revival. Bradford went on a club-record run of ten consecutive home victories, transforming the University of Bradford Stadium into a fortress. Alexander found a system that worked, even without a natural goalscorer, and relied on resilience, smart rotation, and late-game grit. His decision to back players like Sarcevic, switch up attacking options, and introduce Jack Shepherd as a makeshift striker in crunch moments paid off. The match against Fleetwood was a perfect reflection of his style — not always fluid, not always pretty, but relentless and full of belief.
More than tactics, though, Alexander instilled character. His team has not lost by a four-goal margin since November 2021. They didn’t panic after the loss to Tranmere. They steadied the ship with key wins against Colchester and Crewe, and even when automatic promotion looked to be slipping away, they found a way. It’s no coincidence that a manager like Alexander, with a history of grinding out results in the toughest moments, was the one to finally lift Bradford out of League Two.
A New Era Begins
This isn’t just a short-term bounce — this feels like the start of something. In leading the club to their first automatic promotion since 1999, Graham Alexander has written himself into Bradford City folklore. And the best part? He looks like a man just getting started.
