Marked for Harry Ibbitson
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Sep 2026
Lamare Bogarde was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market7 Sep 2026
Harry Ibbitson has left for Exeter City in a $720.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Bradford City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stephen Humphrys is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match5 Sep 2026
Plymouth Argyle left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Joe Wright
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Exeter City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces7 Sep 2026
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Harry Ibbitson from Bradford City for $720.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Match5 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market7 Sep 2026
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Exeter City will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Ben Barclay gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market7 Sep 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Exeter City, another week without a signature from Jack Fitzwater.
Squad7 Sep 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Market7 Sep 2026
A season-long audition: Manchester City still own him, but the shirt and the minutes are Exeter City's to give. A loan is a bet both clubs believe they are winning.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Bradford City did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bradford City can pretend not to have heard.
Market24 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Stephen Humphrys again, and this time the name on the line is HJK. Bradford City are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Bradford City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antoni Sarcevic is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Bobby Pointon was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Marked 8.07. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Bradford City.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jenson Metcalfe, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market17 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Bradford City did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad17 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bradford City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Stephen Humphrys falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match15 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Will Swan. 1‑0 against Wigan Athletic, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ibou Touray, and the manager let it.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Will Swan stands above it all
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.77 on the card, and the Bradford City support went home talking about one name.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
No investment in the facilities at Bradford City
Nothing about this will be in a press release. A plan went upstairs, came back rejected, and the version of the club that would have existed in three years' time just quietly stopped being possible.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Max Power and Bradford City agree another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Max Power in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bradford City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Joe Wright falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market3 Aug 2026
The clock runs on Max Power's contract
24 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Market3 Aug 2026
Harry Ibbitson is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Bradford City has been clear about where Harry Ibbitson stands, which is more than many ever get.