Bradford City appoint Duff as new boss

Bradford City have appointed former Wycombe Wanderers boss Michael Duff as their new manager on a three-and-a-half-year deal.

The 48-year-old replaces Graham Alexander at Valley Parade after he left to take over at Championship side Preston North End.

Duff, who has also had spells at Cheltenham Town, Barnsley, Swansea City and Huddersfield Town, was sacked by the Chairboys after a year in charge last month.

The Bantams are second in League One, level on 16 points with leaders Plymouth Argyle who have played a game more.

They travel to League Two Rotherham in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday (19:00 BST) in a tie Duff will have to watch from the stands because of a one-match touchline ban from his time in charge of Wycombe.

His first game in the dugout will be Saturday's home encounter against Leyton Orient in the league (15:00 BST).

"It is exciting to be here. The move has happened quite quickly and with where the club is sitting now and taking over from someone who I know and respect a lot, this is a great opportunity," Duff told the club website., external

"The style of play has already been built here. Continuity is incredibly important, and I do not want to change too much without being a copycat.

"It has been a whirlwind week, but when you see the environment you are going to be working in, it gets the juices flowing.

"You cannot pass opportunities like this up; the chance to join a club as big as Bradford City does not happen very often.

"It did not take much persuading; after the initial conversations, there was a synergy and alignment so it moved quickly from there."

City see Duff as being capable of continuing the high-energy style of play built around a 3-4-3 formation the team played under Alexander, which took them from League Two to the top end of League One.

The former Northern Ireland international, who was a team-mate of Alexander's at Burnley during their playing careers, led Cheltenham to promotion from League Two in his first managerial role.

After guiding them to their highest-ever EFL finish of 15th in League One in 2021-22 he left to take over Barnsley.

The Reds finished fourth in the third tier but lost to South Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Wednesday in the play-off final and Duff was subsequently appointed manager of Championship Swansea.

His spell in South Wales was unsuccessful and he was sacked after just six months in charge in December 2023.

He returned to Yorkshire with Huddersfield Town in May 2024 but was let go in March the following year after four defeats in five games.

Wycombe appointed him as Michael Dodds' successor last September after a winless start to the season and he led them to an 11th-placed finish but was sacked last month after three draws and two defeats in their first five league games of 2026-27.

Duff now takes on a side who finished fourth in League One last season and are pushing for a return to second tier football after 22 years away.