Bradford City has a busy summer ahead of them as they prepare to return to League One, but Richie Smallwood is not one of their plans.
Bradford were one of the teams to achieve automatic promotion in an interesting League Two season in 2024/25 after finishing third.
That spurred wild celebrations in Bradford, who are gradually but steadily working their way back up the EFL rankings.
However, club captain Richie Smallwood will leave on a free transfer this summer, as we exclusively revealed last week. Multiple clubs are interested in signing the veteran, but it turns out he never wanted to leave Bradford.
What Richie Smallwood said regarding Bradford City’s leaving
Speaking to the Telegraph and Argus about his impending exit, Smallwood claimed that he is surprised by how things have turned out recently and did not expect to leave the club at all.
“I don’t have an answer as to why I am not remaining. I have no idea what happened, why the management changed his mind, or how he arrived at this choice.
We felt we’d done enough to earn another term, but despite some preliminary discussions, I was never offered another contract, which is what we don’t understand. There was no discussion because there was nothing to negotiate, no figures or anything.
“Those initial talks centred upon my present contract and its intricacies, but we decided I deserved another two-year deal. We weren’t dead set on it; we were willing to negotiate a one-year contract, which appeared to be all the manager was willing to provide.”
Unfortunately, that one-year contract offer did not come through. Smallwood went on to add that things changed last week, when his management decided to inform him that he would not be retained.
He added: “Last Thursday, I received a message from Graham requesting me to see him later that day. That was it; I was delivered the news, although we had been waiting for a contract to be provided before that day.
“There were conversations about going to visit the owners about the budget, then about the contract length, with the club only prepared to negotiate a one-year deal, which we agreed to.
“I was waiting to hear back from the manager, since it appeared to be in his hands. But the next time I heard from him was that message and meeting last Thursday, when he told me he’d changed his mind.”
Bradford City prepares for a major return to League One.
In addition to transferring Smallwood, Graham Alexander has made his first summer signing, Salford City defender Curtis Tilt.
Given the club’s size and performance last season, it is not surprising that Bradford will launch a credible campaign for the League One play-offs in 2025/26.
Graham Alexander is certainly not fooling around when it comes to assembling his squad for the next season.
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