Bradford City decided to remove Mark Hughes from his position after 20 months in charge, following the club’s miserable 18th place finish and one win in their last seven games.
Just five months after suffering a heartbreaking away playoff semi-final loss to Carlisle United, the former manager of Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers was eliminated from the team by defeats at the hands of Tranmere Rovers and Walsall.
Graham Alexander helped the team move forward after being fired by MK Dons. Despite having a rocky beginning, Alexander helped the team finish ninth in League Two and advance to the Trophy semifinal.
Since his dismissal from Valley Parade, Hughes has not been involved in management. In a conversation with The Sun, the sixty-year-old discussed the choice taken in October of 2023. “To be honest, it was absurd to get rid of me,” he remarked. We weren’t having a terrible run, but I was fired after two straight losses.
“I felt like I could have still won because of the players we had even though I had lost back-to-back games about six months prior.”
“Sparky,” a former Premier League champion with Manchester United, had not held a managerial position since departing Southampton in December 2018; however, he joined Glyn Hodges at the Bantams in 2022 to take over as manager after Derek Adams’ tenure.
Hughes finished in sixth place in 2022–23, which was City’s best finish since returning to League Two. However, Hughes’ 42% win percentage during his time at the club did not help them win at Brunton Park, as many fans took issue with his decision to substitute defender Matty Platt for Scott Banks.
The Welshman’s tenure in Yorkshire came to an end when the team finished with 13 points from 11 games, including victories over Crewe Alexandra, Newport County, and Colchester United.
Hughes stated, “I took the Bradford job to see if I still had that enthusiasm, and I found out that I did within a week of going there,” in response to the question of what brought him back to the game after a four-year hiatus.
“I still have it now; I feel rejuvenated and fit.”
