When Graham Alexander took charge of Bradford City, it wasn’t just another job — it was a challenge he actively sought out. After a mixed managerial spell at various clubs across England and Scotland, Alexander made the conscious decision to go after an opportunity he believed could define the next chapter of his career. Here are quotes from the Greatest On Demand Podcast. The youtube video is available below.
“I got the MK Dons job in the summer of 2023. It didn’t go great,” he admitted honestly. “I left after 13 games, which was rubbish really. I had no time to do anything, but that’s how it was.”
That setback could have pushed some managers into the shadows, but not Alexander. With promotions on his CV at Fleetwood Town and Salford City, and top finishes in League One with Scunthorpe United, he had reason to be confident. His achievements at Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership, where he took the club from the foot of the table to a fifth-place finish, were particularly impressive.
“I’ve got promoted with Fleetwood and Salford. Finished 3rd and 5th in League One with Scunthorpe United, and dragged Motherwell from the bottom of the Scottish Premiership to fifth. In my time there, we won the most points behind Celtic and Rangers.”
The Greatest On Demand Podcast host, Paul Donnelly, then asked Alexander on how the Bradford City job came about.
“I rang my agent and said, ‘Can you make contact with Bradford to see if they would speak to me?’”
It wasn’t a job handed to him. Alexander chased it because he saw something in the club — and something in himself that needed to be tested again.
“I had good budgets at both Salford and Fleetwood, and I thought, do people see me as a manager that needs a budget?” he said. “I wanted to prove myself somewhere.”
He reflected on his time at Motherwell as a turning point — a club with no budget and in trouble when he arrived, yet one that he helped thrive against the odds.
“Someone rang me up and said the Motherwell job’s available. They told me they were bottom of the league and had no money. After turning down other opportunities with bigger budgets, I decided to go for the Motherwell job to prove myself. We stayed up by fifteen points and took them into Europe the year after.
“It was similar to here — not regarding the budget, but I wanted to prove myself in front of 20,000 fans, as I’d never done that before. I want that big pressure. I want to prove myself, that’s it. It’s a challenge. It’s a great opportunity. It’s a brilliant club.”
“There was a disconnect in the changing room and between the team and the supporters. How do we, step by step, bring this together?”
But it wasn’t plain sailing. Alexander’s first games at the club saw defeats that could have derailed the momentum before it started.
“First off, you have to try and win. That didn’t happen for me here straight away. We lost our first two games, but then we won our next six. Then it petered out. We struggled until we won six out of our last seven games and finished a point off the playoffs.”
That late-season surge sparked belief — among players, staff, and fans alike.
“That gave everyone a boost and a belief. We thought there could be something here, and we had to tap into that. There could be something next season because of how we finished. And that was massive for us — as a club, a team, and as a manager.”
For Graham Alexander, choosing Bradford City wasn’t about comfort or budget. It was about proving himself again — to others and, perhaps most importantly, to himself.
