The very long read: Bradford City has a choice, learn from history or become it

12/12/2024 03:00 AM

By Jake Verity

In March, I wrote a piece called "It's time to save Bradford City" following four of the worst defeats I can remember in some time. The day afterwards, Jason wrote an article called "An open letter to Stefan Rupp" and just a few days later, the club's Chairman responded with his own.

The mood lifted. The team responded on the pitch. We went on a fantastic run at the end of the season. Our fortunes turned around and it was all looking more positive once again.

When we found ourselves 2-0 up within four minutes at MK Dons during the opening game of the season, it felt like things might actually be different this year.

But going into this December, it felt like it was all at risk of becoming a classic Bradford City season again. By this point, fans had started to turn against the manager more so than they had before. Teams once behind us were overtaking. Stands looked very empty for the Barrow game.

It felt like if we weren't careful, another year of stagnation beckoned, and we wouldn't be too far away from the very difficult place we found ourselves back in March.

The last week, however, has provided the opportunity for a reset on the pitch. Injured players are starting to return. The performance at Crewe was positive, albeit in awful weather conditions and with ten-men. Tuesday's win against Stockport was one of the best this season. We now have an opportunity to kick on once again.For all there's been some positive performances in the past few days though, we still haven’t won in the league since the 19th October. That has to change soon.

This weekend's home fixture against Swindon represents an enormous opportunity and challenge. It is matches like this where we have let ourselves down far too often in the past. Win and we suddenly go into a hectic Christmas period with optimism. Lose and there's a real chance things become difficult once again.

Because immediately afterwards we face a run of Notts County (9th), Port Vale (2nd), and Chesterfield (8th) in an eight day period over Christmas. These will be very tough games.

Now it is also worth mentioning that three of our next four league games are at home. That will be an indicator of whether this team really can be different from others that we have had in recent years and perform at Valley Parade when the pressure is on. The hope is we can, and with a much bigger squad to choose from, our fortunes can begin to turnaround.

But that's only a slice of the story

So as we lie tenth in the league and have a new opportunity to really get our season up-and-running, I must talk about the elephant in the room. Let's be honest. The questions around the ownership and leadership of this club haven't gone away.

In March, we had a choice to make. To stay or go. Our hearts probably overruled our heads at the time. A remarkable winning run coupled with clever communication from the club probably reeled us back in when it felt like we were on our way out. City have a good knack of surprising us when all hope is lost.

But we all know that goodwill is easily lost and hard to win back. Or rather, that an open-letter after some bad form isn't going to work again. Many of us are tired. Fed up with excuses. Years of promising and under-delivering have been tough to take.

We have been in a tricky place far too many times in the past few years. So many seasons have followed the same patterns. Good Summer, indifferent Autumn, tough Winter.

Nobody wants a seventh year in League Two. But unless we find a way to really cement ourselves as a competitor in this division and make the most of a recent uptick in form, we can easily end back up in a gloomy place once again.

I found Colchester away particularly tough a few weeks ago. When their goal went in the 99th minute, the realisation that this could be another wasted season hit home. They are arguably one of the worst clubs in the division and that was one of the most abject games I've seen in some time. We should be going there, putting four past them and flying up the league. That's not arrogance. It's what a club that is serious about winning promotion does. Actions, not words.

Now while it's easy to be overly reactive following a loss, I did find myself asking after that game, should I have given up by now?

I travel hundreds of miles to watch us at Valley Parade from London and add plenty of miles on when I go to away games (though Wimbledon & Bromley will make for a nice change for me).

It's often a 6am or 7am wake up on a Saturday to get back to Bradford for a full day out at Valley Parade, and I'm back by 10pm/11pm. I don't make that trip based on the fact we will win, as if I did I'd have stopped a long time ago. But I do it in the hope that I'll be at least entertained. That my Saturday will be interesting. The pre-match beer on North Parade will be good (it often is). But it's become tougher and tougher to find genuine enjoyment in visiting Valley Parade over the last few years once new season optimism has waned.

The thing is, I can't give this up. That's part of the problem. It's the worst and most unhealthy habit. I love this club too much and have ultimately given it far too many chances. I am proud to be a Bradfordian. I go in the hope that we will eventually get out of this league. But I'm still waiting.

So why does all this matter?

Well, I have decided to write this mammoth piece, which may well be the longest in the history of this site, because I want to talk about where things have gone wrong over the past eight years, and hope we learn lessons from it.

I want to take this moment for everyone to really think about where we are at. Before we hopefully make a step in the right direction. For us to all pull together now the mood has lifted slightly.

But I must be honest it is not an enjoyable read. It does lay bare the failures of the last eight years where it needs to. I want to create a cautionary tale about what could happen this season if we don't make the right decisions, because we've seen so much turbulence, I don't want any more of it. And also remind the leadership of the club what we've had to put up with as fans. We have been very, very patient.

Even the most positive of fans have to accept that we have regressed over the last eight years. We haven't really done much. Our only recent highlights are a failed play-off campaign against Carlisle and EFL Trophy Semi-Final.

When you contrast that with the fact we had a team on the cusp of the Championship. We had a fan base and club that were fully together. We had stability. It's tough.

With the exception of the 22/23 season, when was the last full season where we were actually good?

If we are to move forward, we need to learn from the mistakes we've made. But we also need a culture of accountability. I'll talk about this later.

So I want to take a step back eight years ago with this piece and ask, what has gone wrong since then?

I want everyone who reads this piece to ask themselves at the end of it, whether we can seriously think that everything I outline is acceptable?

I want a non-Bradford City fan to read this and start to understand just why we are so desperate for success. What has happened to this once Premier League club?

So without further ado, let me take you back eight years and through to the present day – because it might start to explain why we've gone wrong where we have. I'll then finish this piece with my final thoughts about what should come next for this club.

2016/17 – The pinnacle

On starting the 2016/17 season, we had solid foundations, but a completely different set-up to the previous decade. New ownership in Stefan Rupp and Edin Rahic. But also a new manager in Stuart McCall, back for his second full-time spell in charge of the club.

It was the start of a completely new era for City. Phil Parkinson left for Bolton after achieving incredible things with us; while the previous owners had left.

How different was it for McCall? He previously left us in 2010, as a mid-table League Two side that was struggling to achieve.

He now inherited a strong League One team that had lost in the play-off semi-finals the previous season; but also had experience of a League Cup Final; FA Cup Quarter-Final and promotion from League Two in just a few years after his departure.

So all he had to do was go one step further under new ownership. And he so nearly did. Because this season was arguably one of the best we've ever had in recent history.

We only lost one game in our first sixteen league matches and ended up in a League One Play-Off Final – the best finish we've had since I started watching us in the 2006/07 season at the age of eight.

We finished on 79 points, six ahead of Millwall who were promoted to the Championship after beating us in the final. They haven't been relegated since, by the way.

It wasn't just about the final league position. The football was so entertaining. Mark Marshall out on the wing –  phenomenal. A young Josh Cullen in midfield – outstanding. Nicky Law and Tony McMahon – brilliant. Romain Vincelot? He embodied everything you want to see in a captain – brave and fearless.

Now a quick spoiler. Everything gets worse from here. But a few extra reflections about that campaign.

Our top goalscorer that season was Jordy Hiwula who scored only nine in the league. To put that into context, that's a number which Andy Cook has already beaten this season, albeit in the division below. The goals back then were shared out between the likes of Billy Clarke, Tony McMahon and couple of mid-season arrivals like Charlie Wyke and Alex Jones. It was a team built on defensive solidity, and remarkable home form. But there were other reasons why this season was so good.

Firstly, some of the occasions we had at Valley Parade were incredible. I missed the 3-3 draw against Sheffield United which many talk about as one of the best games in our recent league history; but I remember seeing 21,000 packed into Valley Parade for the return of Phil Parkinson with his Bolton team that were ultimately promoted.

Even though attendances remain healthy, those days feel a long time ago. It is rare that teams bring such good away followings now. Valley Parade back then was a cauldron of atmosphere. But that's because we had a team we could really get behind after an era of success.

That atmosphere was at such a level, that during a Boxing Day clash against league leaders Scunthorpe (then managed by Graham Alexander) that season, both Rahic and Rupp took to the pitch pre-match talking about our ambitions to reach the Premier League. The fans responded extremely well. Could you imagine the ownership doing that now?

The scoreboard read: "We hope to bring Premier League football to Bradford in our lifetime. If you don't dream, nothing happens".

I'll leave that one there for now.

Secondly, our transfer policy that season was bold. The two new owners quickly endeared themselves to fans with a philosophy that was ambitious in approach. We signed three players in the January window for undisclosed fees.

Charlie Wyke was an instant hit, eventually going on to join Sunderland after scoring plenty of goals for us. Alex Jones, while unlucky with injuries, had a great impact too. He joined from Birmingham City and scored several goals.

We signed a player on their way up the divisions (Wyke); coupled with a young largely unproven talent from the divisions above (Jones). Both signings addressed places in the squad that needed it.

If you remember, James Hanson had left for Sheffield United that January and helped take them into the Championship. The fact we didn't wait around to replace him and invested well was to be applauded.

To quickly move back to the present day, you can't help but think if we implemented that approach this January, we'd really benefit. Take a younger striker from League One as our own (in a similar way to what we did with Kavanagh who hopefully is now up and running) and take a proven goalscorer from the top of the National League for some cash. We'd not only be less reliant on Cook. But we'd hopefully end up with some future resale value.

The final thought about that season is how formidable we were. We went the entire season unbeaten at home and only lost seven games all season.

No team has lost the same amount of games or fewer in League One in and failed to be promoted in the last ten years (with the exceptions of Fleetwood in the 2019/20 season – cut short due to COVID, and Sunderland in 2018/19). We just drew far too many games that season. But, imagine an unbeaten season at home? Truly incredible.

2017/18 – Worrying signs creep in

Now why was that previous season so good?

The new owners and the manager inherited a very strong squad built on years of steady success. While his managerial record at Valley Parade is mixed, McCall has had a phenomenal impact as an assistant during his several spells at Sheffield United in both the Championship and Premier League. He is good at taking quality players up to the next level.

We saw the players’ admiration for McCall when we travelled to Echterdingen for pre-season.

So what went wrong during the 2017/18 season?

We laid the groundwork for future chaos. For a start, the transfer business was bizarre. The recruitment was probably some of the strangest we've ever seen.

The aim was to bring in young players who we could ultimately sell on for profits. This, of course, is a sensible concept.

Now some had promise. Take Omari Patrick scoring on his debut against Blackpool. Or Jake Reeves, the ball-playing central midfielder brought in to cover Cullen's departure. Shay McCartan was another interesting signing alongside Jordan Gibson – both of whom were exciting talents.

But alongside these signings from the Football League were a bunch of random signings from across Europe and beyond. Take Joel Grodowski from PSV Bork. Lucas Raedar from Vitória de Setúbal. Lachlan Barr from FC Internationale Berlin and an older Ryan McGowan from Al-Sharjah. These players all joined other international recruits in Rouven Sattelmaier and Kai Brünker, the latter of whom we'll never forget.

I have no problem with us signing players from anywhere. Whether it's Middlesbrough or the Middle East – if they can add to this football club and help us to be successful, I'm sure they'll be welcome with open arms. But it spoke to a random approach to recruitment.

At the same time, we had lost players who had become woven into the club's fabric and were big parts of some of the biggest moments in our recent history. Darby. McArdle. Meredith. Clarke. They all were part of a distinct identity on the pitch.

To truly understand what happened in this season though, you need to look at January and February.

On New Years' Day, we sat fifth in the League and looked set to be once again competing to get into the Championship. But then everything went badly wrong.

We lost five in a row. And McCall lost his job.

As this piece outlines, McCall reportedly spent a long time at the training ground following his departure saying goodbye to a squad that loved him. Some famously went out for a meal with him after. We all know many of those players weren't at the club for much longer.

This went on to be a winless run of ten in a row. The play-offs slipped away.

It was suggested that one of the real moments of the season came at Yeovil away in the FA Cup – relating to theLuke Hendrie transfer saga. They beat us that day to go through and get a home draw against Manchester United, another one on the long Bradford City list of what we could have won.

Now Yeovil have admittedly suffered more than we have after that game, going through three relegations. But they do also have something that we haven’t since then. A promotion. After they won the National League South last season. I'm not suggesting we want to be in their place, but it speaks to the lack of success we've had – even if it's all relative.

Anyway, after McCall's departure, Simon Grayson came in. A man who proclaimed on arrival "to get someone like myself is a coup for the club". He hardly endeared himself to fans in the process.

The serial promotion winner delivered a poor end to the season and was gone by the summer. One of the most remarkable stories about Grayson's tenure has to be a remarkable interview about a 5-0 loss that we suffered away at Blackpool.

He claimed Rahic was supposedly making 'suggestions' around the team and that he wanted the players to go down to the Ticket Office to hear from fans after the bad result. You couldn't write it, could you?

If that's not ridiculous enough. Don't worry, you've got another 3,000 words to go.

And what better way to continue in that vein and close the 2017/18 chapter, than to talk about "Matter of Heart".

A feature-length film showcasing the 2016/17 season, covering the owners first year in charge of the club.

Now, it wasn't quite a Sunderland 'Til I Die; or an "All or Nothing" special – but it was quite something. I imagine it makes for sobering viewing now, and I'm not quite willing to put myself through one hour and twenty minutes of it. But you can, if you want.

I remember the phrase "see you in the Championship next year" featured in the documentary.

Ouch.

2018/19 – Bottom of the league

That video was made even more painful, because the next season was dismal.

It is near impossible to know where to start. But thisWOAP piece from the archives is a good backdrop to the start of that season, and the state the club was in.

It wasn't just that we had an awful season. It was the ridiculous nature of it. Three managers. One of whom had never ever managed a professional club before.

We started the season by 'taking a risk' and introducing a 'Head Coach' model. This probably sounds fine on its own. But what this actually meant, was taking the under-18s coach, Michael Collins as the full-time boss aged just 32-years-old.

Now he obviously did his best. But it was an ill-judged move. For some more recent Bradford City context, Collins is only sixteen days older than Matt Derbyshire.

What was more difficult is that Collins was appointed after a six week period of recruitment, but only lasted six games. Then David Hopkin came in. Who lasted six months. Before Gary Bowyer took over.

Jason wrote an article about Hopkin back in 2019, stating that he was the 12th managerial change he had seen in 16 years.

Little did Jason know at the time of writing, that in the subsequent five years, there would be a further eleven changes in the Bradford City dugout.

Now there was a lot of bad moments that season. But there were also a lot of things that were so strange in hindsight, that they are hard to process.

The pre-season friendly where we lost 7-2 against a non-league Harrogate Town with a future Love Island contestant scoring both goals for us?

A run of form over the festive period where we somehow won two games 4-0 and another 3-0?

Ivan Toney scoring from the halfway line for Peterborough in an 4-4 FA Cup replay that saw us knocked out on penalties?

Kai Bruenker scoring his only goal at Valley Parade against Oldham in the EFL Trophy?

One of the most hilarious but equally depressing Bradford City seasons on record.

The season was probably best summed up by a Boxing Day trip to Sunderland which broke a League One attendance record with 46,000 people inside the ground. We lost 1-0 that day, but should have left with a draw, after Jack Payne's effort clearly crossed the line.

The big talking point for that season though, was the departure of Edin Rahic. This was very well documented at the time and every City fan knows about what happened, so I'm not going to spend ages getting into it.

But there are two quotes worth pulling out from Stefan Rupp following Rahic's departure in the December of that season:

"I will do everything in my power to wash away the dreadful memories of the last 12 months and consign them to the history books for good"

"The people of Bradford deserve much, much better."

We finished rock bottom a few months later.

2019/20 – Eoin Doyle

A return to League Two beckoned with Gary Bowyer as manager.

Now I should add in early doors that this season was of course curtailed early owing to COVID. But our first season back in League Two proved to be a poor one, after fan expectation was high.

We started the season by signing former Premier League striker James Vaughan. We finished ninth on PPG. We brought back McCall halfway through the season. But there is nothing that explains this season better than Eoin Doyle.

Doyle has always been a goalscorer at every club he's played for. He was best known for his form at Chesterfield, scoring 32 goals in 69 games – and had gone on to play Championship football.

Doyle played for us the previous season as we finished bottom of League One. He even managed to score ten goals in the process.

So, you'd have thought that a partnership between Doyle and Vaughan would be formidable in League Two. But, he left on loan to Swindon in August, as it became clear it wasn't working with us.

The loan went well for him. So well in fact that he scored 23 goals in 22 games and Swindon won the league on points per game.

Bowyer lost his job in February 2020 after seven winless games over the winter period. This meant we had sacked a manager in February, three years in a row.

McCall came in for his third proper stint as Bradford City manager with his first game a draw against Grimsby Town, as a result of a stoppage-time goal by… Luke Hendrie.

This was a largely forgettable season in the scheme of things. But following it came…

2020/21 – The worst start to a season in memory

Bar a 7-1 victory away at Tonbridge Angels and a bizarre mid-season turnaround, this has to be the most worrying season that I've ever followed the club.

The club had a very real and serious threat of dropping into the National League. There's a highlights reel on the internet with the main bits from this season. It's very, very painful to watch.

To make it clear how bad things were, we only won three games in our opening eighteen – or rather, we had 14 points on the 18th December. We were in the relegation zone at one stage.

There were some big structural changes in the club too.

On November 26th, Ryan Sparks was named chief executive of the club. You can read more that was written about this appointment at the time here.

On the same day that he was hired as CEO, Sparks extended Stuart McCall's existing contract by a further year, despite the fact that:

• the club had lost five of their last seven league games
• the club were 20th in the division
• McCall's deal was set to run out at the end of the season anyway

The team went on to lose four games in a row after this, and McCall was sacked.

So what happened next?

Mark Trueman and Connor Sellars, two reserve team managers, took the helm jointly. And they went on the most remarkable run.

An unbeaten run of eight games. A loss to Exeter. Before then winning five games in a row. They picked up 33 points out of a possible 42 in their first fourteen matches. They were given the job full-time by the end of February.

It was unusual for us to hire, rather than sack a manager in February. But it wouldn't be long until both Trueman and Sellars became the latest on a long-list of managerial casualties.

Because they then went on to only win three of their final 16 games, losing six out of the last seven matches.

There's one thing to be thankful for that year. We brought Andy Cook to the club. And that might be the best decision the club has made in the last few years,

2021/22 – Dealing with Derek

That summer, we hired Derek Adams, kept Mark Trueman as a coach and Conor Sellars left. It was another unpredictable season (no McCall in this one, but we did sign Luke Hendrie).

Adams came to the club with an impressive CV after winning successive promotions with both Plymouth and Morecambe, the latter of whom he had taken up to League One just days before joining us.

To draw on a WOAP article from the time:

"Everyone talked up City in pre-season. Pundits tipped us to win the league, bookies installed us as favourites, fans chanted about getting to 100 points and the club itself came across just as bold. But when you stopped to question just what it was that gave everyone such confidence in City's prospects, the answer was always the same. Derek Adams. And his great track record."

We started the season very well. Our first post-Covid league game at Valley Parade was a happy one courtesy of a 98th minute Lee Angol penalty against Oldham.

This was quickly followed up by an Andy Cook hat-trick against Stevenage on the subsequent Tuesday night.

But the season proved to become a tricky one, despite the strong start. We drew six out of seven games in a run of fixtures between October and December which probably cost Adams later down the line.

The reality was that Adams wasn't a great fit for us. His demeanour and our fan base weren't the best match. He had plenty of spicy interviews, the most notable being the quote:

"If they’re going to get a new manager in, they’re not going to get a manager as successful as myself in the door".

So, you can imagine the shock when suddenly, we'd appointed Mark Hughes as the next manager.

Because it's fair to say that he did have a better record than Adams. Forget his playing days – this was the person in charge of Manchester City when they became rich. He signed Kompany for the club.

There's plenty to talk about when it comes to Hughes. But he deserves some credit for his time in charge.

He elevated Andy Cook to the next level. He got us into the play-offs when nobody else could. And he restored some pride in a badly wounded football club. But there's one question we all have, which is:

2022/23 – Why did he take Scott Banks off?

The 2022/23 season was the best campaign we've had since that 2016/17 season. But it still had its moments.

This piece actually isn't about reviewing the season game-by-game, but rather our approach off the pitch over the last eight years.

I won't dwell on this campaign because I generally think it was actually quite a good one and we're getting to much more recent history.

I will say though, our performance was largely aided by our most coherent approach to a season in some time.

 For example:

• Signing a Championship captain (Smallwood) and other promising talent (Lewis, Platt)
• Successful loan signings (Banks, Wright and Crichlow)
• Ruthlessness in letting players who weren't good enough leave
• A proper pre-season
• The pitch was invested in

The only real issues to take from that season are the fact that we never found that gear to hit automatic promotion, and that we haven't learned from it since. Our play-off performance was also poor when it came down to it.

I think that season has since set us up for what's been a fairly turbulent following eighteen months. Which is a shame, because it could have been our chance to hit the next-level.

2023/24 – Managerial merry-go round

If you look at a table, you'll see we were only just short of the play-offs last season, finishing 9th.

Again, we are in more recent history so I won't spend ages here. But the opening day away at Crawley (who were promoted against all odds) was a real crash back down to earth after an previously strong season.

There were plenty of signs that it wasn't going to go well. From Ash Taylor's pre-season through to the seemingly rushed signings of Chisom Afoka and Rayhaan Tulloch on Deadline Day.

But that Mark Hughes was gone by October, was quite something after a strong season beforehand. Then again, a 3-0 loss away at Derek Adams' Morecambe early in the season was never going to go down well.

The real story was the managerial mess-up that saw Mark Hughes replaced by midfielder and summer-signing Kevin McDonald in the dugout, as it became clear that the club had virtually no credible plan to replace Hughes.

The 33 day hunt for a manager was one of the most ridiculous we've ever seen, mainly because the club seemingly lost all control of the process.

It was clear many didn't fancy taking what had become a poisoned chalice. But the worst part was when interim manager McDonald supposedly asked to return to his playing duties after an admirable effort in the dugout. We said yes, clearly in expectation we were about to hire someone – but that never transpired.

There was a suggestion that Danny Cowley was all but sorted, but that he changed his mind at the last minute and Mark Trueman had to take temporary charge again.

Supposedly, plenty of others didn't want the job. But we left the process with Graham Alexander as our manager and he has managed to retain his job since. I've said it many times in recent history, but I truly hope we stick with him.

CEO Ryan Sparks said following Alexander's appointment "I have no doubt in my mind that Graham is the number one candidate for this job" after the hiring process.

We all know how the rest of last season finished up. I've covered the terrible run of results we had in March and the reversal in fortunes, but you get the gist by now.

I think a couple of short mentions about the Kadima Sports trip to Spain and the ultra-stage managed fans forum capture the mood of last season.

A good write up here on coverage of Bradford City during difficult times.

2024/25 – The script continues…

There's a lot of Bradford City history I've just covered and you're probably tired of reading it.

So here's where I think we are.Why am I writing this?

Because I want Bradford City to get promoted and to be successful.

But I think we're at a point now where people need to reflect on where we're at. Especially those in the club. There have been some extremely bad decisions that have been made over the past few years, and it's hard as fans to keep taking them.

There were so many ridiculous stories, that it was almost an impossible challenge covering our recent history, and I left plenty of things out too. For all we've lacked a promotion, we probably have more to talk about than most clubs who have gone up.

Unfortunately, football has been a distraction over the last few years at times. When we have a good run of form, it has sometimes masked over the cracks, the fissures in the club. So when they've been left to rip back open, it's often been much worse than you'd expect.

It's now nine seasons since a change of ownership without a promotion and it is disheartening watching teams consistently surpass us.

In recent years, the changes to our fixture list has been noticeable. We've replaced Coventry with Crawley. Sheffield United with Stevenage. Wolves with Walsall. It's no disrespect to Crawley, Stevenage or Walsall either. The former two are now the league above us and the latter is currently top of the league.

You may remember Derek Adams did a fairly controversial interview around a year ago. He laid some opinions out that are tough to disagree with:

"Bradford City has the biggest supporters base in the league. It's one of the smallest clubs inside in the league.

"It's got no structure, no idea of its way out, doesn't own its stadium, doesn't own its training ground and has no foundation to it.

He's right though to some extent, isn't he? We know that we've done nothing in recent years. There is little to make a player want to join us apart from big crowds. Huge expectation for impossible outcomes.

Over the past few seasons, the offer to players has been:

• the fans will place extreme expectations on you (rightly so!)
• we will probably sack a manager midway through the season and tactics will change for you
• we haven't been to the third round of the FA cup for seven years
• the relationship between the fans and club isn't particularly strong at present
• we train at a school
• the last time we played football at a higher level was six years ago
• there's no real identity or ethos to buy into
• squads are often unsettled and we have no style or ethos

We have to change that. I have said countless times that this club has limitless potential.

But have been poor at harnessing it. Now is the time to make it count, particularly as we move into the year that Bradford is the UK City of Culture.

So what needs to happen?

I'll say it how it is, as a good straight-talking Yorkshireman. The club needs fresh leadership.

Now there are a plethora of ways that this can happen. It doesn't have to be seen as a negative thing either.

Following on from a recent article in WOAP about leadership structures in the club, I think it lays bare some of the gaps we already have. There are many talented people across our region, and some who live outside of it that support our club. Many would probably give their time to support the club. It would no doubt help repair relationships.

But the issue is that the club actually needs to make the effort and ask for the help we know it needs. It's just best for everyone. The current model is not working. A continuous cycle that breeds discontent helps nobody. It is not good for those running the club. It is not good for the players. And it is certainly not good for the fans.

We are looking a bit brighter on the pitch and I sincerely hope we can put a run together now and fly up the league.

But we need a culture where things will be truly different off the pitch. Where the first instinct is not for us to find who is to blame, but is to look for mutual solutions to any problems that arise. To pick each other up when we are feeling down. That extends from the bench, to the boardroom. We also have a role in this as fans.

I do have to be honest, I came close to not renewing my season ticket. Now I'm sure Bradford City can live without me, but the truth is I renewed, because I can't live without it.

I am part of the problem in that sense. It was certainly a poor financial decision based on what's been served up this season so far  – and by that I don't mean the results on the pitch. I mean the culture around the club.

There needs to be a real change in how the club communicates and speaks to fans. Because it is poor at the minute. The club can get away with it when we are performing well. But it's harder when results dip.

Now as I've also said recently, I think we have a pretty decent squad this season. I genuinely think if you put these players in a Walsall, Port Vale or Doncaster kit – they'd be a top seven side by the end of the year.

I certainly think if you put this current team in a Stockport kit last season, the same would be true.

Same with Wrexham.

Or for other examples outside this year’s top three, take Notts County or Chesterfield.

These are all clubs that were in the National League in the last few years. They have all sorted themselves out. Looked into what they are doing and have fixed it.

Yes, some have plenty of money. But that's not a substitute for success, plenty of clubs who have spent and not had it – Salford, Forest Green, Bury.

These clubs all do well because they operate well off the pitch. If we can couple a good squad, with a decent manager and some positive energy off the pitch, we may actually end up having the success we so badly crave.

We get 18,000 a week in League Two and used to be in the Premier League. We're an incredible football club.

I have mentioned in articles before that I take a lot of my friends to watch Bradford casually at away games. They support many different clubs and live all across the country. Many of them follow us as a second club casually.

I just want a club I can be truly proud of to show people. I don't just want us to be a random team for people on a Saturday, I want us to be a club other teams look at and are jealous that we get to support them. I look at teams like Brentford and Bournemouth with envy. They used to be regular fixtures in League One and Two. Now, both are established Premier League sides. That's a world away from where we are.

I'd just like us to be a lower league Championship club. I've never seen us play at that level, as my first season was when we got relegated from League One. I'm probably one of the only football fans in the country who would actually like to go to Stoke on a cold Tuesday night.

To conclude:

I've laid bare what's been a very difficult eight years. We must now work to make sure that never happens again. What we need is a complete culture shift and it has to come from the club, not the fans. We need the club to accept they are better with us, than without. To be seen as custodians, rather than customers.

The problem is that this point has been made too many times and it hasn't changed anything. That's because there is currently no public accountability model beyond season ticket sales. It is unclear how we can work with the leadership of the club to make things better and move forwards together – but I sincerely hope that option opens up.

I just want this club to be successful because it fundamentally means I'll be a lot happier. But it's not happened in eight years and feels unlikely to suddenly come now. Which, like I say, is why we need fresh leadership. A new approach.

The club needs to take us in and listen to us.

While that sounds naive. It will eventually have to happen. Whether it's now – or later.

The ideal situation is that we start to try and build together. I genuinely mean that.

This season isn't over and there's time to make it a successful one. .

But with such naive optimism, I must make the other scenario clear. Because this New Year we are going into is probably the club's last chance.

Fail to get it right the next few months and it is probably game over for Bradford City AFC.

The club will not get the season ticket sales, the backing or the support if we don't deliver on the pitch. Because unfortunately, supporters’ patience is thin – and relying on goodwill after years of failure to succeed is becoming an ever unlikely option.

To the fans, I'm almost sorry I'm writing this piece. It probably feels like I'm being far too nice and naive in the conclusion of this piece after what we've seen over the last eight years.

But I just want to try and galvanise us, and if things fall apart again, at least I'll know I tried my best to pull us all together and create positive change.

As the title makes clear. I think it's very simple, the club has a choice.

And it's all on the club now.

We can either learn from history, or become it.

So, bring on Swindon.

Hopefully a successful festive period.

But above all, hopefully a new chapter between this club and fans.

Because I want the book of the 2024/25 season to be a successful one for us to look back on.