Bradford City

Bradford City manager Graham Alexander has bemoaned the timekeeping during his side's 1-1 draw with Mansfield Town on Tuesday.

"When they scored the goal it became a carbon copy of the Wigan game where the opposition sat in and took an age to do anything," Alexander told BBC Radio Leeds.

"We keep getting told that this will be eradicated, that the time will be added on, but this is not what I'm seeing."

The Bantams boss witnessed Mansfield manager Nigel Clough having "a word with the referee before the game about timekeeping. From what I saw in the 90 minutes, I don't know if it [maybe] affected the referee in some capacity".

"We get these directives in the summer about how the game's going to change - it's a load of rubbish," Alexander added.

Despite his issues with the officiating, Alexander acknowledged City dropped two points against a side 15th in League One with just one league win in 12.

"I think we should win the game. I think the goal we concede is a scruffy goal but we lose a couple of duels we shouldn't," he said.

"We lost too many loose-ball duels in the first half. We should be competing better and I thought second half we did."

Alexander made an early attacking change after naming an unchanged side for the second game running, bringing striker Will Swan on for Ethan Wheatley at half-time.

Striker Wheatley is yet to score for Bradford City in 10 appearances.

"I felt that Ethan ran his legs off in the last few games and we wanted to get the press right. I thought we were a bit blunt in the box when balls were coming in," Alexander explained.

"I just don't think we were aggressive enough and I think Swanny has great movement in the box."

Listen to the full interview with Graham Alexander and more Bantams on BBC Sounds.

Image source, Coventry City FC

You might not hear the old terrace refrain of 'you're not fit to wear the shirt' as often as you used to, but it still has a better ring than 'the shirt's not fit for you to wear'.

Championship leaders Coventry City launched a new collection on Friday, proudly taking inspiration from a kit widely dubbed the 'Worst of All Time'.

A take on the club's infamous brown change strip worn away from Highfield Road from 1978 to 1981, the modern reinvention features what the club calls "a deeper chocolate plum colour with sky blue elements".

Many would suggest it sounds tastier than it looks.

But it's got us thinking... what are actually the worst EFL kits of all time? Let us know which of your club's shirts is hiding in the back of the wardrobe, or even if they were too ugly for you to even part money for them.

We'll collate a list of the biggest eyesores and will give you the chance to vote on the ghastliest of all next week.

Click here to let us know your suggestion, and you can even attach a picture if you really want to convey the horror.

Image source, Getty Images

Bradford City manager Graham Alexander says he needs to find a lasting solution to his side's faltering away form if the Bantams are stay in the promotion hunt.

The West Yorkshire side are fourth in League One, level on points with third-placed Bolton and firmly in the play-off picture.

But with just one win in their past seven road trips, the gap between them and automatic promotion has stretched to 10 points with 13 games remaining.

Alexander, who takes his side to seventh-placed Reading this weekend, says he and his backroom staff are leaving no stone unturned as they seek a remedy for their poor away record.

And he insists admitting there is a problem is a first step to turning things around.

"It is important for us to not pretend it isn't happening or that it's just the norm, we have to take it on board," he told BBC Radio Leeds.

"If we can maintain our home form then great but the challenge is to improve our away form and away performance.

"First you have to identify the issue and second, you have to find a solution. We are going through it and we have got some ideas.

"We need to change the mindset of the players but I can assure everybody we haven't just given up on our away form."

Image source, Getty Images

Thursday marks the 15-year anniversary of the death of former Wolves, Southampton and Tottenham defender Dean Richards.

Richards died on 26 February, 2011, aged 36, following a long illness. He had been forced to retire six years earlier because of ill health.

Richards, a cultured centre-back, began his career with his hometown club Bradford City before joining Wolves for a club-record fee in 1995.

After a four-year spell at Molineux, he moved to Southampton in 1999 and then Spurs in 2001.

A week after his death, Wolves and Tottenham met in a Premier League fixture at Molineux.

His widow and two sons, as well as representatives from his four former clubs, were present as the football world paid tribute to a player affectionately known as "Deano".

Image source, Corbis via Getty Images

Image source, EFL

Puma's Rainbow ball will return to the English Football League as part of an on-going campaign against discrimination and homophobia.

The special edition rainbow ball was introduced in 2024 to mark LGBTQ+ History Month and will be used at every EFL game from 20 February until 1 March.

Manufacturers Puma will make a donation to Football v Homophobia for every goal scored with their rainbow ball across the Championship, League One and League Two.

The donations will help support education against homophobia and promote inclusion across the season.

The EFL have released a video, external to coincide with the campaign which features a Preston North End fan who was charged with a hate crime following homophobic chanting during an FA Cup fixture against Chelsea.

The rainbow ball will also feature in EFL partner EA Sports' FC 26 video game.

"The rainbow ball is a powerful symbol of the values we uphold across the EFL all season long," EFL chief executive officer Trevor Birch said.

"It not only reflects our longstanding commitment to ensuring the League is representative of all its diverse communities, but also reminds us that we all have a role to play in creating an environment in which everyone feels they truly belong."

Image source, Getty Images

Bradford City loanee Paul Mullin says the recent lack of opportunity at parent club Wrexham has been difficult to take.

Mullin was Wrexham's leading man during the first two promotions under the ownership of Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac, but the 31-year-old found himself on the sidelines for much of last season as they went up to the second tier.

He spent the first half of this campaign on loan at Wigan Athletic before signing for Bradford in the January transfer window.

"It's something I've found quite challenging over the last 18 months. It was sort out of the blue, after everything that I've done and then getting surgery," Mullin said.

"I'm never going to accept it, what happened, because it's something that I find quite tough, but that's football and you move on.

"I've got an opportunity now at a massive club to be successful here and write another chapter in my career.

"I just want to play games and be successful. I don't really feel like I've got anything to prove."

Mullin started up front in Saturday's 2-1 defeat at fellow League One promotion hopefuls Luton Town.

Jamie Raynor
BBC Radio Leeds' Bradford City commentator

Image source, Shutterstock

It's been seven years since Bradford City last went into a January window as a League One team. The new-found novelty would always prove a conundrum.

Positioned third on New Year's Day, would the division's overachievers stick and consolidate their brilliant return to the English third tier, or ambitiously twist and flex their financial weight to keep pace with the automatic promotion race? Now at the conclusion, their position is most probably somewhere in the middle.

Pragmatism partnered with shrewd activity has long been the football club's approach to recruitment, the centrepin of last season's promotion and this season's impressive start.

Last summer, owner Stefan Rupp made it clear to BBC Radio Leeds he had the financial firepower to make Bradford City a Championship outfit and did not require further investment to reach such a level. That statement would be put to its first real test this window.

Stalwarts such as Andy Cook, Brad Halliday and Alex Pattison were all moved on, with fellow promotion winners Calum Kavanagh, Neill Byrne and Lewis Richards also leaving for pastures new. Their departures a timely reminder that evolution has no room for sentiment, but to lose such experience from the changing room could also pose potential risk.

Eight players departed in total, with Tommy Leigh joining League Two Bristol Rovers on loan and Tom McIntyre's loan from Portsmouth cut short early.

Replacing them, a flurry of loan additions - another consistent trend in manager Graham Alexander's pragmatic approach to mid-season squad bolstering.

Oxford United's Louie Sibley was the first to promptly arrive, with the versatile midfielder bringing a wealth of League One and Championship experience at still only 24 years of age. Newcastle United duo Joe White and Harrison Ashby shortly followed, offering competition to the forward line and right wing-back roles respectively.

However, in perfect storm-like conditions, injuries to forwards Will Swan and Antoni Sarcevic, along with a season-worst three straight defeats, saw supporter calls to bring in more striking reinforcements grow louder.

To the club's credit, they certainly responded. Out-of-favour Wrexham forward Paul Mullin was quickly whisked in on loan, with Bradford-born Kayden Jackson 'returning home' from Derby County on a two-and-a-half-year deal shortly after. Both made impactful performances on their debuts.

Deadline day delivered two more additions, with the much-anticipated loan move for young Manchester United forward Ethan Wheatley and then – deal sheets at the ready – the late addition of returning midfielder Lee Evans from Blackpool on a six-month contract.

January has certainly shown how far Bradford City has come in a short space of time, and their play-off position in the League One table has most likely accelerated their evolution from a once routine League Two club.

Only time will tell if this January's recruitment will keep them in the race for back-to-back promotion, against some of the division's financial heavyweights, but it certainly hasn't harmed their chances.