Marked for Cameron Dawson
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Cameron Dawson: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bradford City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Rui Patrício and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Port Vale in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match16 Sep 2026
Out, 1‑4 to Burton Albion, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Match19 Sep 2026
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The terraces21 Sep 2026
It finished 1-4. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“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.
Boardroom21 Sep 2026
Nobody left the Bradford City dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Marked 7.49. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Aug 2026
There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
No deal for Hannibal at that price
Bradford City offered $12.5M; Burnley said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Market24 Aug 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Bradford City have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Bradford City asked and Wolverhampton said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer from AFC Wimbledon for Andy Cook was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Match18 Aug 2026
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The formation has left Archie Collins behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Bradford City will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Market24 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Bradford City, another week without a signature from Archie Collins.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Nobody on the pitch touched Tyreik Wright
7.90, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Bradford City had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.