Richie Smallwood disclosed that the decision for him to leave Bradford City was not his; it was made by Graham Alexander and David Sharpe, head of football operations.
The 20224/25 campaign saw the emergence of Valley Parade legends. Thanks to an Antoni Sarcevic deflection/Fleetwood Town own goal in the 96th minute of their last match of the season, the club achieved its first promotion since 2013, securing their move up to League One. The details of this incident are debatable.
In the days after their achievement, they celebrated, but parties can’t last indefinitely, and the urgent issue of next season’s squad soon became the priority. The club declared that six players would be released at the conclusion of their contracts, and that discussions were ongoing with five additional players, Smallwood among them.
Bradford announced on Monday, nearly three weeks after the retained list was revealed, that the captain and Player of the Season, who has been with the club for three years, will depart at the end of his contract.
Richie Smallwood clarifies his departure from Bradford City
The Bantams made a controversial move, and the 34-year-old has now said it wasn’t his decision. According to the Telegraph & Argus, Smallwood aimed to stay with Bradford for the upcoming season and was hopeful of a two-year contract. The manager favored the prospect of keeping the midfielder for one additional season, but ultimately no offer was made to Smallwood.
The former Bantams skipper told T&A, “I don’t have the actual answer as to why I’m not staying.” “I have no clue about what happened, why the manager reversed his decision, or how he arrived at this choice.
„Wir hatten das Gefühl, genug für einen weiteren Vertrag getan zu haben, aber obwohl es einige erste Gespräche gab, wurde mir niemals ein weiterer Vertrag angeboten. Das können wir nicht nachvollziehen.“
Since there were no figures or anything to negotiate, there was no negotiation. The first discussions revolved around my existing contract and its particulars, but we believed I warranted an additional two-year deal.
“We weren’t completely fixed on that option; we were open to discussing a one-year contract, which seemed to be the only thing the manager was prepared to offer. However, that was okay; I could have worked out a one-year contract, but then out of the blue last Thursday, I received a message from Graham requesting a meeting later that day.
That was the moment I received the news, but in the days prior to that day, we had been anticipating a contract offer.
There were discussions regarding visiting the owners to discuss the budget, then about the contract duration, with the club only open to a one-year deal, which we had agreed to.
„Ich habe mich persönlich mit Sharpey unterhalten und ihm gesagt, dass ich bereit sei, über einen Einjahresvertrag zu verhandeln. Danach wartete ich auf eine Rückmeldung vom Manager, da es offenbar in seiner Verantwortung lag.“ The next time I heard from him was through that message and meeting last Thursday, where it was mentioned that he’d had a change of heart.
Bradford made a daring choice regarding Richie Smallwood, who was an essential part of Alexander’s promotion-winning team. Last season, he started the midfielder in 43 out of the club’s 46 league matches.
As it always is with these kinds of negotiations, the details are crucial. It is unclear what kind of income he was making or what he anticipated being offered; this could have significantly influenced Bradford’s decision.
It is always a risky decision to remove one of the key players from a successful team. Now it is Alexander and his inner circle’s responsibility to ensure Smallwood is adequately replaced, both in terms of position and leadership.
To be fair, they have begun to make progress on both fronts with the addition of midfielder Max Power from AGF (Denmark), addressing the positional need, and Curtis Tilt from Salford City, addressing the need for authority. They both signed contracts for two years.
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