Former MK Dons boss Graham Alexander sees Bradford City side earn dramatic promotion

Former MK Dons boss Graham Alexander saw his Bradford City side win promotion to League One after a late goal in the final game of the season.

Alexander’s Bantams won promotion to the third tier for the first time since 2019 after a dramatic 96th minute winner to beat Fleetwood Town at Valley Parade.

Antoni Sarcevic was the hero for the home side, with a decisive touch enough to send George Lapslie’s shot into the back of Fleetwood’s net and cue major celebrations.

The celebrations included a pitch invasion, which necessitated a 15 minute stoppage while fans were cleared to play out the final stages of the game, and which were duly followed by another pitch invasion followed by further celebrations with the players.

Victory was just enough for Bradford to hold off the challenge of Walsall, who picked up a first win in 14 games by beating Crewe 1-0 and would have taken the final automatic promotion place but for the late Bradford winner.

Walsall will now enter the League 2 play-offs, with the Saddlers facing a two-legged tie against Chesterfield after the Spireites managed to squeak in ahead of Salford to take the final play-off position. AFC Wimbledon and Notts County will square off in the other tie.

The game marked the conclusion of an intriguing race for automatic promotion from League Two, with all of the teams at the top-end dropping points at various stages of the final weeks of the season.

Bradford had failed to win any of their four games before the finale against Fleetwood, and after missing a litany of late chances, it looked like they might come up short only for the late heroics to confirm their place in League One.

Alexander previously managed MK Dons at the start of the 2023/24 season, appointed as a replacement for Mark Jackson after the club’s relegation from League One. He left the Dons after just 16 games in charge, with an 8 match winless run seeing him leave MK Dons in October 2023.

After leaving MK, Alexander would take over as Bradford boss less than a month later. He has won 45 out of 91 games in charge in West Yorkshire.