EVERY Bradford City manager in the last decade has been measured against the Phil Parkinson factor.
He’s been a tough act that few have been able to follow.
Parkinson’s trajectory was upward for five seasons – propelling a team that he was initially told to simply keep in the EFL to the top five of League One via two Wembley finals.
Graham Alexander has been City’s longest-serving gaffer since Parkinson left in 2016 – a Valley Parade reign spanning two years and 325 days. The club he is set to leave currently sit proudly at the top of League One – a rise of 39 places from the one he inherited in November 2023.
Alexander didn’t have a Wembley, although two EFL Trophy semi-finals and a play-off got close, but he did have THE moment. The phrase 90+6 will be forever etched in City folklore.
Think of May 3, 2025 and you instantly picture that image of an ecstatic Alexander being chaired by fans in a wave of claret and amber on the pitch.
The only promotion-winner since Parkinson earned his position as a worthy successor.
And supporters are now experiencing the same numbness over Alexander’s departure. For all the talk and the rumours, did anyone seriously expect it to suddenly end like this?
Alexander was the 15th longest-serving manager in the country, bringing a stability to a club who have known their fair share of turbulence.
His numbers speak for themselves: 79 wins in 158 total games – a victory percentage of exactly 50 per cent. That’s the best since Roy McFarland, the last manager to up and leave mid-season when he returned to Derby, his “spiritual home” like Alexander with Preston.
City fans are enjoying home games again after the last two years (Image: Thomas Gadd)
In the league, Alexander won 63 of 129 – just a shade under one in two. And that was after losing his first two.
But it’s transforming the home record that stands out as his proudest legacy.
City had not reached double figures in wins at Valley Parade for four seasons after Covid. In 2022, after the Derek Adams fanfare had failed, they lost more than they won in BD8 with a measly six victories.
Even when Mark Hughes took the Bantams to the League Two play-offs a year later, City’s home form ranked only 10th out of 24 with nine wins.
It too often felt like a chore to trudge down to BD8 more in hope than expectation. Alexander removed all that – clearing the fear from the minds of the players and instilling that belief into supporters.
His debut against Barrow saw City, in typical fashion, concede inside 30 seconds. But that home curse would soon be lifted.
Alexander’s first full season saw City nearly double their previous tally on the way to promotion with 17 home wins and 55 points, including a 10-in-a-row run that set a new club record.
They hit 50 again during the first year in League One with another 15 wins. On and off the pitch, the feeling was that if City scored first, they’d win - and the stats from Opta guru Nathan Evans back that up.
City never lost a league game at home when they got the opening goal – 37 wins from those 39 occasions. Notts County and Barnsley were the only opponents who came back for a point.
Forget the old chant “1-0 to the Arsenal”, 26 of his total wins at the club – that’s virtually a third of them – were secured by a solitary goal. One up usually meant game done.
Alexander built a team that Bradfordians could be proud of; one forged in his image and theirs – no airs and graces, just hard-working, hard-running and always prepared to put a shift in.
Graham Alexander has had a 50 per cent win rate as City boss (Image: Thomas Gadd)
The fans bought into that as much as the team to create that unity that turned City’s home into the fabled fortress. Only recently, he spoke about standing back to savour the interaction between both after every success.
That bond was even stronger after the bitter failure of the play-offs last season. The noise that greeted the gutted players at their lowest moment after Bolton underlined how much the feeling had changed.
“I think everyone that walked into the stadium of a Bradford persuasion came in with the belief that we were going to win,” said an emotional Alexander afterwards.
“They know they're going to see a team that competes to win and goes for it all the time and showcases what Bradford is as a city.
“People like to think of themselves as honest and hard-working. I think they see an honest, hard-working football team and a good one.”
It is a fitting description of the club he has created.
Many predicted the City bubble would burst after going so close in their maiden season back in the third tier.
The dreaded second-season syndrome might still happen because it is early days. But the first couple of months have provided the strongest platform for whoever comes next to build on.
Alexander has made City a self-confident, streetwise outfit that leave everything on the pitch. He has got more bang to the buck out of any Bantams team since Parkinson’s pomp, convincing his players that they are equal to anyone they come up against.
But football can change with one phone call – and when Ryan Sparks picked up to Preston chief executive Peter Risdale on Wednesday, the whole scenario suddenly shifted.
The emotional reaction after the play-off defeat last season showed the connection between the team and support that has built up (Image: Tom Pearson)
The effectiveness of Alexander’s City was that everyone knows their jobs. Change the faces, change the positions but all still know exactly what’s expected of them.
Now that full understanding and trust in the system could be shaken without the man at the helm who painstakingly put it all together.
Consistency, consistency, consistency has been the motto – every day in training a new challenge to keep perfecting the same things. How will that stack up with a different voice, a tweak here or there, a new outlook?
Those are the questions that will worry supporters in the days to come. City’s equilibrium has been rocked but to what extent?
The game never stands still. The prospect of taking over a team in such a good league position is, no doubt, an extremely attractive one.
But the next manager will encounter a very high bar set by a leader who had his team constantly punching above their weight. The job of ensuring City can keep reaching it will be the most demanding of assignments.