At its conclusion came the realisation that a sixth successive year of fourth-tier football beckons.
For a club with the cachet of City, that remains stark and sobering and the bottom line.
Scratch beneath the surface and there was a modicum of encouragement at least, going forward.
The Bantams’ excellent late-season form saw them just miss out on the top seven. Their record in the final 12 games was the fourth best in the division.
Graham Alexander remains nobody’s fool. City may have finished just one point behind the side who occupied the final play-off place – and were ultimately promoted – in Crawley Town, but that is now consigned to the history books.
It has always been like way, according to someone with enormous EFL experience as a manager and player. Alexander went on quite fast.
His adage is astute, particularly in light of the hangover that City experienced—to use the words of CEO Ryan Sparks—last summer and beyond after making it to the play-offs and nearly earning promotion in 2022–2023.Crucially, by mid-autumn, it resulted in Mark Hughes, Alexander’s predecessor, being fired.
An obsessive manager who acknowledges that he seldom takes ten days off in the summer, Alexander focused on 2024–25 shortly after the last ball was kicked in late April.
Ahead of the official opening of the summer window on Friday, four new signings have already been confirmed, with City among the busier League Two clubs.
Players return for pre-season training later this month. City were ultimately close to the top seven last season, but not close enough.
Alexander said: “You always have to look forward. As a coach and manager, I’ve had a couple of promotion-winning teams and I remember 48 hours later talking about recruitment for the next season and unfortunately having to make changes to the players who have won us promotion and stuff like that.
“It has to be that way. You can’t sit back and look back too often.
“Listen, savoring your accomplishment is crucial if you have achieved it. However, I believe both life and games these days are about moving on to the next thing.
“That, in my opinion, is the proper way. It has to do with the upcoming event and advertising.
“Whether it’s a wonderful or unpleasant experience, you may use it as a reference point and learn a lot from it, but holding it heavy won’t help you move forward. You must frequently reset. You have to look forward all the time when playing this sport.”
On the recruitment front, City’s work has been pragmatic and strategic so far under the auspices of head of football operations David Sharpe, who has worked alongside Alexander and head of recruitment Stephen Gent.
The tried and true promotion winners from the lower divisions, Antoni Sarcevic, Aden Baldwin, Niall Byrne, and Callum Johnson, have made their appearance.
While Baldwin was promoted to the EFL with Notts County in 2023, the other three members of the foursome were part in teams that advanced from League Two the previous season.
The departures of Matty Platt, Ash Taylor, and Liam Ridehalgh, three experienced defenders, will be offset by the signing of Baldwin, Byrne, and Johnson.
It suggests that the team is aware of the necessity of laying the groundwork at the back first and foremost in order to prepare for a hard and lengthy season. Think collaboratively is the term.
The experience of the defensive trio is an obvious tick as is that of Sarcevic, who has achieved no less than five promotions from League Two throughout his career, including at each of his last three clubs in Stockport County, Bolton Wanderers and Plymouth Argyle.
The impact of the creative midfielder has been felt at all of the above clubs.
City’s business has yielded early fruit, but Alexander is equally as happy to be patient with other targets.
On the value of early inroads, he added: “I think it’s important. But I also think it’s important you have patience to sign the players who you know will take you forward. There’s a patience here. We have a clear idea of the profile of the player we want to bring in.
“We are happy to be patient if there is a situation where a player, who we believe is our first pick, is still available but is unavailable during the first week of preseason or something similar. In that scenario, we will not give up on him.
“It goes beyond simply ensuring that we have the initial 22 or 23 players locked up and that we have taken a few chances for that reason alone. We need to win games for a duration of ten months.
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