Latest news with #GrahamAlexander
BBC News
11-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Bradford defender Richards signs new one-year deal
Bradford City defender Lewis Richards has signed a new one-year deal with the 23-year-old has made 48 league appearances for the Bantams following his arrival from Wolves in August was part of the squad which won promotion to League One last season and scored in successive matches against Barrow and Grimsby Town in January."The ambition of the club is massive and a real driving factor in me extending my stay," Richards told the club website., externalRichards played 29 times in all competitions last season but missed the final two months of the campaign with a shoulder injury that required surgery."Lewis has had a difficult time with injury, but we believe he is a very good player with lots of potential in him," Bantams boss Graham Alexander added."He has shown his quality whenever he has played and we look forward to having him back out on the pitch with us real soon."
BBC News
28-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Bradford sign forward Swan from Crawley
Bradford City have confirmed the arrival of forward Will Swan from Crawley Town, for an undisclosed Nottingham Forest academy product has signed an initial two-year deal which includes the option of a further 12 scored seven times and set up three goals in 37 League One appearances for relegated Crawley last 24-year-old will now remain in the third tier following his move to Bradford after Graham Alexander's side dramatically secured automatic promotion from League Two on the final day of last season. "Everyone in football saw the scenes on the last day of the season, over 24,000 fans, those are the atmospheres you want to play in," Swan said."I have played at Valley Parade before and you can see how brilliant the support is and I am eager to get going."Bantams boss Alexander said: "Adding Will to our attacking options is a real bonus for us. He can play anywhere along the front line, bringing others into play while giving us another goalscoring threat."
The National
27-06-2025
- Sport
- The National
Motherwell fans unfairly in the firing line once again
Sigh. It appears, once more, that Motherwell fans are the big, bad bullies of Scottish football. Shame on you all. I think that we all would admit that your average 'Well fan can be a bit on the moany side when the situation merits it, and sometimes, when it doesn't. But having frequented press boxes for years now up and down the length and breadth of the country, and sat amongst every group of fans, let me tell you, it is hardly a phenomenon unique to Fir Park. There does however seem to be a concerted effort from somewhere to paint the Motherwell support as distinctively demanding, unfair and ungrateful for the work that their managers have put in over the past few seasons, and specifically, that they have chased Graham Alexander and Stuart Kettlewell out the door with flaming torches and pitchforks. Let me say this, I dealt with both managers on multiple occasions and got along well with both. They seem like good men, and I am in no doubt that they gave their all in their attempts to bring success to the club. (Image: Rob Casey - SNS Group) It can't be a coincidence though that the two managers who have both recently voiced their displeasure at the treatment they received at the hands of the Motherwell fans both presided over winless streaks lasting over 10 matches. Read more: Nor that both suffered dispiriting (and borderline humiliating) back-to-back defeats to teams they should have been beating, with the greatest of respect, in Sligo Rovers and a struggling St Johnstone outfit respectively immediately prior to their departures from the club. It seems though that such broadsides aimed at the support omit such piffling details in favour of the accentuation of a top six finish, or the team being in fifth place when Kettlewell walked, for example. These things are also true, and shouldn't be ignored either, but the context of just why the fans were upset is usually downplayed or ignored completely. As always, we have to make clear that personal abuse is unacceptable. And from earwitness reports, Alexander in particular got more than a few mouthfuls of it after his team went down meekly in Ireland. I'm not saying that is what he should have expected, but criticism over his tactics and style of play, and pressure being placed on the board to remove him from his position after such a debacle? Absolutely. And that would have been the same from any fanbase in the country. There seems to be an expectation that as long as Motherwell aren't relegated, the ungrateful serfs among the support have no right to express their dissatisfaction with the fare they are paying their hard-earned cash to be served up every week. It's a strange old phenomenon. (Image: Ross MacDonald - SNS Group) At least this time, thankfully, the club themselves aren't joining in with the pile-on. The Motherwell support isn't a homogenous blob, and shouldn't be painted as such. Among their number will be fans who will be less than angelic, sure. But this notion that the Fir Park faithful are particularly abusive or demanding is getting tiresome, and frankly, is the stuff of fantasy. AND ANOTHER THING… The acquisition of Elliot Watt from Burton Albion may not be the sexiest bit of transfer business ever, but it certainly appears to be a shrewd move. His short stay at St Johnstone on loan last season in a struggling team wasn't a rip-roaring success, with the deep-lying midfielder playing a bit of catch-up with his fitness when he arrived, but the feeling from McDiarmid was that the season probably ended just as he was really hitting his straps. He is a former captain of the Scotland under-21 side, was once named in the team of the year in League Two in England while at Bradford, and most impressively of all, even scored against Motherwell at Fir Park back in April. Looking at his stats from the admittedly small sample size from last term, he scores highly for regaining the ball, interceptions, and in particular for his ability to progress the ball up the pitch. Anecdotally, from someone who watches the Saints every week, he has a real eye for a pass. So, he brings a skillset to that area a little different to what the likes of Andy Halliday or Davor Zdravkovski bring to the table. No doubt some more exotic sounding names will arrive in due course as Jens Berthel Askou puts his stamp on the squad, but this appears to be a solid bit of business.
The Herald Scotland
27-06-2025
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Motherwell fans unfairly in the firing line once again
Sigh. It appears, once more, that Motherwell fans are the big, bad bullies of Scottish football. Shame on you all. I think that we all would admit that your average 'Well fan can be a bit on the moany side when the situation merits it, and sometimes, when it doesn't. But having frequented press boxes for years now up and down the length and breadth of the country, and sat amongst every group of fans, let me tell you, it is hardly a phenomenon unique to Fir Park. There does however seem to be a concerted effort from somewhere to paint the Motherwell support as distinctively demanding, unfair and ungrateful for the work that their managers have put in over the past few seasons, and specifically, that they have chased Graham Alexander and Stuart Kettlewell out the door with flaming torches and pitchforks. Let me say this, I dealt with both managers on multiple occasions and got along well with both. They seem like good men, and I am in no doubt that they gave their all in their attempts to bring success to the club. (Image: Rob Casey - SNS Group) It can't be a coincidence though that the two managers who have both recently voiced their displeasure at the treatment they received at the hands of the Motherwell fans both presided over winless streaks lasting over 10 matches. Read more: Nor that both suffered dispiriting (and borderline humiliating) back-to-back defeats to teams they should have been beating, with the greatest of respect, in Sligo Rovers and a struggling St Johnstone outfit respectively immediately prior to their departures from the club. It seems though that such broadsides aimed at the support omit such piffling details in favour of the accentuation of a top six finish, or the team being in fifth place when Kettlewell walked, for example. These things are also true, and shouldn't be ignored either, but the context of just why the fans were upset is usually downplayed or ignored completely. As always, we have to make clear that personal abuse is unacceptable. And from earwitness reports, Alexander in particular got more than a few mouthfuls of it after his team went down meekly in Ireland. I'm not saying that is what he should have expected, but criticism over his tactics and style of play, and pressure being placed on the board to remove him from his position after such a debacle? Absolutely. And that would have been the same from any fanbase in the country. There seems to be an expectation that as long as Motherwell aren't relegated, the ungrateful serfs among the support have no right to express their dissatisfaction with the fare they are paying their hard-earned cash to be served up every week. It's a strange old phenomenon. (Image: Ross MacDonald - SNS Group) At least this time, thankfully, the club themselves aren't joining in with the pile-on. The Motherwell support isn't a homogenous blob, and shouldn't be painted as such. Among their number will be fans who will be less than angelic, sure. But this notion that the Fir Park faithful are particularly abusive or demanding is getting tiresome, and frankly, is the stuff of fantasy. AND ANOTHER THING… The acquisition of Elliot Watt from Burton Albion may not be the sexiest bit of transfer business ever, but it certainly appears to be a shrewd move. His short stay at St Johnstone on loan last season in a struggling team wasn't a rip-roaring success, with the deep-lying midfielder playing a bit of catch-up with his fitness when he arrived, but the feeling from McDiarmid was that the season probably ended just as he was really hitting his straps. He is a former captain of the Scotland under-21 side, was once named in the team of the year in League Two in England while at Bradford, and most impressively of all, even scored against Motherwell at Fir Park back in April. Looking at his stats from the admittedly small sample size from last term, he scores highly for regaining the ball, interceptions, and in particular for his ability to progress the ball up the pitch. Anecdotally, from someone who watches the Saints every week, he has a real eye for a pass. So, he brings a skillset to that area a little different to what the likes of Andy Halliday or Davor Zdravkovski bring to the table. No doubt some more exotic sounding names will arrive in due course as Jens Berthel Askou puts his stamp on the squad, but this appears to be a solid bit of business.
BBC News
25-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Pennington becomes seventh Bradford signing
Bradford City have completed their seventh signing of the summer with the capture of Matthew defender has signed a two-year contract after his previous deal with Blackpool leaves Bloomfield Road, having played 67 games for the Seasiders across two seasons, scoring four goals."We feel Matt will fit in with our way of playing really well, with his attributes and experience, whilst also having a great attitude and team ethic," manager Graham Alexander told the Bradford website, Bantams are preparing for their first season in League One since 2019 following last season's promotion.
