Football Season Guide

The perennial underachieving big club in League Two; Bradford City begin another season looking to finally lose this unwanted tag. Unfortunately there remain two big reasons to prevent this from happening. The ownership of Stefan Rupp, with fans growing increasingly frustrated with his motivations and ambitions for owning the club. Manager Graham Alexander. He was appointed following Mark Hughes sacking and it was met with bemusement. He’d been sacked barely two months into the season by his former club and yet was deemed the man capable of leading the Bantams to promotion. Of course this did not happen; the side failed to make the play-offs, eventually finishing in 9th place. Little can be taken from those performances and results to suggest things are likely to improve much this time around. Those looking for optimism will point to the additions of centre-back Neill Byrne and midfielder Antoni Sarcevic, which look good on paper with both having collected League Two winners’ medals with Champions Stockport County. There’s also midfielder Alex Pattison and striker Jake Young, who are fit again following long-term injuries and will be looking to make up for lost time. Teenager midfielder Bobby Pointon has come through the youth system and is already attracting attention. He has signed a new long-term deal and will be looking to establish himself this season. There is however an over-reliance on experienced striker Andy Cook for goals. His influence might just be on the wane however with injuries beginning to catch up with him. Alexander really needs his side to make a good start to get the fans onside. Another managerial change is the last thing the club needs.