The 2024/25 season and the building of a winning mentality 

Written by Lee Pasquariello

At the start of the 2024/25 season, I remember the atmosphere around the club was mixed. While many City fans were hopeful for a successful season under a new management team, others were cautious and you couldn’t blame them. After all we’ve seen this story plenty of times over the years, we’d start the season well for the first month or so, then fall off completely, but this season would prove to be different.  

The difference in this season started at the top. Not just by having yet another manager, but with a change in philosophy. Graham Alexander arrived at Bradford City and immediately began to remove the culture of disappointment that many fans had been feeling for years.  

His appointment was not just as a reaction of sacking Hughes, it was a deliberate decision to bring in a leader who had a clear vision & a proven track record of winning promotion from League 2 as Alexander has done before in his career.  

Alexander’s initial challenge was not just tactical, but also psychological. He had to create a winning mentality to a squad and a club that was so used to failure and achieving nothing. This approach was clear for all to see, demanding professionalism, accountability, and a strong work ethic from every single player. In a major contrast to previous times, there was to be no excuse and no hiding place for players, which meant that everyone was on the same page, Bradford City had a job to do.  

This fresh mindset, along with a different style of play, laid the foundations of everything that was to come during the season. The formation was changed part way through the season to a 3-4-2-1 system, and it was brilliant to watch at times. The team were always looking for ways to play direct, counter-attacking football. It was refreshing compared to what we had to watch under previous managers in recent times.

For example over the years we’d had leaky defences, holding on to a point and setting up defensively at home, as well as sideways and backwards passing possession based football, which is not only boring to watch, it is also ineffective in the lower leagues, as lower leagues typically rely on direct play, and there is typically a higher expectation from fans.  

What was also great about this change in tactics and culture, is that Alexander was not afraid to make changes during a game or rotate the squad if needed. The Chesterfield game at Valley Parade in late December was a perfect example of this.

I remember we went a goal down early on. To rectify this, Alexander preceded to take one of the defenders off for a more attacking player, and this changed the game completely as we ended up scoring once late in the first half and then another in the second half to end up winning the match, which shows a manager with a more tactical mind, and not just another stubborn manager we’d been so used to seeing in our dugout. 

It was after this win in my opinion which was the turning point of the season, as we’d had a tough November & December mainly because of injuries, as well as a few postponements along the way meaning we lost momentum a bit. Using this tactic and having this attitude in terms of rotation and making changes, it meant we went to the end of March and only lost twice.  

We also broke records as well, as we won nine games at home in a row, and that’s another thing Alexander has managed to sort. Our home form, because under previous managers we have struggled at home. During this run we’d got ourselves in the top three, and at one point had built up an eight-point gap between the top 3 and the playoffs. There was a real buzz around Valley Parade and to be honest the entire city, it’s happening right? 

The run in 

Then we go into April, which was honestly one of the strangest run-ins I’ve ever seen in all my years watching football. At the top of the table, it was between us, Doncaster, Port Vale and somehow, Walsall, even  though  they’d  only  won once through out all of 2025.

We even thought that we’d win the league at one point as well as we went top of the league in the first game of the month, but like all the other teams, once they went top of the league, inconsistency creeped in.

It almost felt like no one wanted to win the league! And after this win to send us top, 2 losses and 2 draws followed. 2 of these matches were against play off chasing or automatic promotion chasing teams in Notts County and Doncaster as well as a poor draw against Chesterfield where we conceded a late goal and then a last minute equaliser.

After the Doncaster game which we lost, I was convinced we had blown it, but somehow, as we were in the early kick off, we found out later that evening that Walsall had lost once again against Accrington, which meant that City only had to win 1 more game, the last game of the season against Fleetwood. It didn’t feel real at the time, one game left for Bradford City to finally get promoted, surely this must happen? 

I remember reading online in the morning of the Fleetwood match that there were quite a lot of City fans that were nervous, but for me I felt we were going to do it. 

It just felt right, mainly because Alexander managed to sort our home form, as we’d only lost twice at home all season.  

The game itself was quite a nervy one though, we missed a good number of chances, even hitting the post, and then we found out in the second half that Walsall were winning. Surely, we wouldn’t be denied promotion again? As the game went on without us scoring, I was fully convinced we would have to settle for the playoffs instead of automatic promotion, until the 96th minute where we scored the scruffiest of goals.

The scorer that day is still debated about today. Some say technically it was Lapslie, some say it was an own goal and some say that it was from Sarcevic as that is who was actually awarded it!

At the end of the day though, who cares who scored it or how it went in. It meant that Bradford City were promoted at last! And the day was a memorable one for all connected with the club.

I believe overall throughout the season we deserved to go up. It happened because of the foundations that Alexander had put in place, as in the mentality, fitness of the players and having a clear tactical plan, and this is what makes me think we’ll have an exciting future.   

Why Bradford City will have an exciting future 

With the 96^th minute winner in the Fleetwood game, it was more than a dream ending to the season, it was a massive shift in people’s beliefs. Graham Alexander’s work has transformed the club from being a mediocre mid table league two club, to a club that has genuine ambition.

Although the promotion turned him into a modern-day City legend, his next challenge was how we were going to respond to the promotion, and how we could keep the momentum and positive feeling around the club going. Going by our brilliant start to life in League One, it indicates we’re doing just that. We have brought the momentum we built during last season into this one, and we currently sit 2^nd in the league as of today, 6^th November 2025.  

The early success so far this season is once again built on the foundations of last season, but alongside this the recruitment has once again been brilliant. We have great squad depth all over the pitch, and everyone we’ve brought in looks very good quality and fits the type of player that Alexander wants in a team, hardworking and a clear will to win. The intention has been clear since the start of the season with this recruitment and style of play, we are not here to make up the numbers, I genuinely believe we are an exciting force to be considered in this league.  

We’re at a very exciting point in our journey as a club. The early season form gives the fans every reason to believe and be optimistic about what could be achieved this season. With Graham Alexander in charge, he’s had a massive effect on the club. The future isn’t just bright for Bradford City, it’s a new dawn built on solid foundations, and massive ambition with everyone concerned. The journey is very much just starting.