Impact of Bradford City trio on and off the pitch could be difference in 2024/25 promotion push: View | OneFootball

Any promotion success that Bradford City have next season may be down to the contribution of the experienced players in the dressing room.

As a football legend once said that “you will not win anything with kids”, which is one of the many reasons why Bradford City will look to their experienced players this season to help guide them to promotion success.

Manager Graham Alexander has already done a great job during the current transfer window, bringing in a handful of experienced players who have, in recent years, all had a taste of promotion with their former teams. Alexander hopes they will replicate this at Valley Parade.

Names like Neill Byrne and Antoni Sarcevic were promotion winners last season with Stockport County, as did Callum Johnson with Mansfield, showcasing the apparent ploy from the club to bring in players with promotion experience from League Two.

Additionally, another summer recruit, Aden Baldwin, also had a promotion from the National League to League Two with former club Notts County a couple of seasons ago.

However, several current Bradford City players have been at the club for several years and have a lot of experience, which Alexander will look to utilise during the season to help get the Bantams over that promotion line at the end of the season.

Richie Smallwood, Andy Cook, and Alex Gilliead can all use their experience to help the Bantams get promoted next season.

Captain Richie Smallwood can lead Bradford to promotion

Although a divisive player amongst the fanbase, Smallwood is still the captain of the club and has proven throughout his career that he is a leader on the pitch. He previously captained Blackburn Rovers and Hull City to promotion to the Championship from League One.

The hope for next season is that Smallwood will be able to focus more on his defensive responsibilities, which will mean that he can leave the progressive play to more creative players like Bobby Pointon, Jamie Walker, Antoni Sarcevic, and Alex Pattison.

These players can provide the link from midfield to attack, which will allow Smallwood to do more of what he is best at, sitting in front of the defence and being that trustworthy player who retains possession and breaks up opposition attacks.

Alex Gilliead can lead by example

Gilliead is a player who has played in many different positions during his three separate spells at the club, having more recently performed in central midfield or at right wing-back, which is a change from his younger days as a flying winger.

The versatile midfielder recently stated that he is happy to be a mentor, and the younger players, such as Gabe Wadsworth and Bobby Pointon, could improve as players playing alongside Gilliead.

In addition to his versatility, Gilliead also has an impressive engine. The hardworking midfielder always keeps running, something fellow midfielder Jamie Walker also deserves praise for. Both of them give their all to the club, which is a sure way for players to make themselves fan favourites at Valley Parade.

Cook is undoubtedly an important figure at the club. With Jake Young and Calum Kavanagh likely to partner Cook throughout the season, his influence could help these young, talented strikers score more goals.

Since joining Bradford City in 2021, Cook has scored 70 goals in 163 appearances for the club, which the young attackers on the books could learn from. Ultimately, more goals need to come from other players in the squad, as it’s unlikely that Cook’s goals alone will be enough for promotion.

Should Young, Kavanagh, or even Tyler Smith, Vadaine Oliver or Harry Ibbitson form a partner with Cook, two strikers scoring goals consistently should be enough to ensure promotion come May.

Although the club strongly welcome the addition of promotion winners over the summer, there are still many faces in the Bradford squad who have that experience, which could be the difference between promotion or languishing in League Two for another season.

That mix of experience, might just mean that the youngsters within this Bradford side can, indeed, win something - just as Manchester United proved all those years ago to Alan Hansen.