Bradford City vs Bromley preview

It would be fair to say that playing Bradford City away represents Bromley’s sternest test so far this season.

The Ravens travel to a club who were runners-up in the League Cup final in 2013 and were in the Premier League as recently as 2001. But instead of dining out on that success, the Bantams seem perennially moored to a spot in League Two, making them the big fish that everyone wants to land and hold up like a trophy.

A five-year stint in League One ended with relegation back to League Two in 2019. Since then, the best Bradford have mustered is a play-off semi-final appearance two seasons ago under the tutelage of Mark Hughes.

Hughes has since departed Valley Parade, adding another name to Bradford’s managerial merry-go-round. Graham Alexander is their ninth manager since they were relegated in 2019, but his stock is on the rise.

When he arrived at the club in November 2023 in the wake of a underwhelming campaign under Mark Hughes, Alexander guided Bradford to a ninth-place finish, one point off the play-offs. The Bantams’ form during that period was the fifth-best in the league.

Alexander was hired on the strength of his promotion experience with Fleetwood Town and Salford City, and like Bradford, most betting companies are backing him to repeat that success one way or another.

In terms of danger men, Andy Cook is the obvious pick. The former Tranmere Rovers striker has scored 50+ goals in the last two seasons and is as experienced as they come in League Two.

Questions persist among Bantams’ fans as to whether they have enough goals outside of Andy Cook, but if they harbour genuine promotion ambitions, they simply have to find them. 

There is talent elsewhere in the Bradford squad that Bromley should be aware of.

Jamie Walker, if he stays fit, offers a genuine attacking threat from midfield. Similarly, the summer signing of Antoni Sarcevic from Stockport County adds quality and winners’ nous to the midfield.

In defence, Alexander has added National League promotion-winning Aden Baldwin from Notts County, along with Callum Johnson from promotion-winning Mansfield Town and Neill Bryne from Stockport County.

The Bradford City faithful will hope these additions give them a squad that’s deep enough to mount a serious promotion challenge in 24/25. They already seem to have maintained last season’s good form under Graham Alexander. 

Like Bromley, Bradford are unbeaten in their opening league games, with the Bantams beating much-fancied MK Dons on day one before earning a 0-0 draw at home against Salford City.

Bromley will be focused on continuing their maximum-points start to the season, but they will be under no illusion of the scale of the task facing them in Bradford’s 25,000-seater stadium.

That said, the notion of travelling to ‘big clubs’ is no longer the daunting task it once was. Nine seasons among the fallen giants of the National League made sure of that. 

Given Bromley have won two from two with the same starting XI, injuries permitting, it seems certain they will put out the same side.

That side will know exactly who they are and what their mission is. The only people who don’t know are the 13,000-odd Bradford City fans who will take their seats at 3pm on Saturday. They will have a much clearer picture when the final whistle blows.

Probability dictates that the Ravens will get knocked down a peg at some point, but they travel to Bradford with the confidence of a newly-promoted side who have won twice without conceding. To me, this doesn’t feel like the game to dislodge the peg.

Over to you. Would you keep the same starting XI, or would you mix it up a bit? 

Get at me in the comments section below. 

The From Bromley with Love Starting XI

Smith

Grant Webster Reynolds

Imray Charles Arthurs Odutayo

Congreve Whitely

Cheek

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