Three years under Graham Alexander restored upward mobility at Bradford City and so much more.
Alexander made a connection. ‘He’s just got what we were about,’ according to one Bradford supporter ahead of Saturday’s draw at Reading.
Which means he was honest and straightforward, and understood how a loyal fanbase rooted in the working class had been forced to suffer more than its share of disappointment over the last decade and was approaching the end of its collective tether.
So, his decision to walk out when they were on top of League One left its mark.
The 54-year-old leaves with gratitude from the vast majority and good wishes to take over at Preston North End where he made 400 appearances as a player.
But those same fans are not immune to anxiety about what happens next at Valley Parade.
Will momentum escape? Is it the end of a cycle of relative success? Or can they push on without him?
Bradford are confident they can continue their upward march despite Graham Alexander’s exit
Bradford, a city with a population of more than 560,000, have been outside the top two tiers of English football since 2004.
They spent six years in League Two until Alexander led them up in 2025 and finished fourth in League One, losing to Bolton in the playoffs and making a flying start to this season.
They were nudged from the summit by Plymouth Argyle on Saturday.
This will be a true test of nerve but there is a quiet confidence inside the walls of the club that they have what it takes to push on with the right managerial appointment. Michael Duff is strong favourite for the job.
‘The foundations have been set for the club,’ said long-serving co-interim boss Mark Trueman on Saturday. ‘It’s a good team we’ve built with the right people behind the scenes, and the club is in a better place. We’re in a great position so it would be stupid to feel sorry for ourselves.’
Leading the search for a new manager is head of football operations David Sharpe, whose arrival in March 2024, four months after Alexander, is seen by some as the real turning point in the club’s fortunes.
Bradford were at a low ebb at the time with playoff hopes vanishing after three emphatic home defeats in a row and a 3-0 humbling at Harrogate, the West Yorkshire rivals they never knew they had.
Some fans organised a protest about absent owner Stefan Rupp.
Sharpe has bound all elements of the club together and enabled the team to thrive with Alexander given the scope to overhaul his squad in tandem with head of recruitment Stephen Gent.
Using Gradient Sports analytics, they set about sourcing players with drive and energy to fit a 3-4-2-1 shape. The result is a powerful, hard-running, unpretentious team. Big and strong and not afraid to be direct when required.
Centre forward Jake Beesley, signed from Burton Albion this summer, scored the opener at Reading.
It was his first for the club headed in from a fine cross by homegrown star Bobby Pointon to complete an excellent move launched with sweeping pass out of defence.
Alexander has left the club to return to Preston after a successful spell with the third tier side
Beesley has a prodigious work-rate, regularly covering more than 12km in 90 minutes, the sort of distance associated with those playing as wing backs.
Of course, it will help if he can score a few more as well.
In defence are three towering centre halves. Bradford have conceded only six in 11 games and kept seven clean sheets. There are interesting parallels to Lincoln City who won League One against the odds last season.
There are also echoes of Phil Parkinson’s Bradford team which reached the League Cup final and won promotion to League One in 2013, which reinforces the idea they have reclaimed a lost identity under Alexander.
Such has been the impact of Bradford’s defensive prowess that goalkeeper Jon McCracken earned a Scotland recall and missed Saturday’s game.
Wing-back Ibou Touray played for Gambia as they beat Ghana 4-2 in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on Tuesday before returning to start against Reading.
International call-ups and managers being head-hunted rather than sacked are signs they are finally doing something right.
With a team tailormade for Alexander it would be foolhardy to now bring in a manager devoted to a completely different style of football.
Such aimlessness has been the hallmark of Bradford too often during a decade under Rupp.
But insiders insist they will not feel sorry for themselves as they look to mount a promotion charge
This time, they have zeroed in on candidates identified over the last six months by Sharpe and Co as they became aware of growing interest in Alexander from elsewhere.
Duff, successful playing a similar brand of intense and physical football with Barnsley in League One, makes sense even if he underwhelmed in three jobs since leaving Oakwell.
Gary Rowett is another in the frame because his football fits the right profile.
There might be more glamorous candidates out there and plenty of fans are grumbling but these are signs of a club with a plan and that is not something that has always been evident at Bradford.
When Sharpe addressed players after Alexander’s exit he stressed the ongoing success of Lincoln, who kept faith in the way they were operating and belief in the team they had assembled.
Lincoln survived the shock of losing boss Michael Skubala to Bristol City and started well in the Championship.
Stability despite managerial upheaval is a sign of a well-run club. It is not all about one person. See Brentford and Brighton as good examples in the Premier League.
We might be about to find out about the new Bradford.
