Tomorrow afternoon sees Crewe Alexandra travel to Valley Parade to face Bradford City.
The Bantams have beaten Newport County and Hartlepool United, drawn with Doncaster Rovers and lost away at both Barrow and Colchester United as they sit in 11th place while they beat Hull City and lost to Blackburn Rovers in the Carabao Cup.
Last Season:
Last season saw City finish in 14th place in the league with 14 wins, 16 draws and 16 defeats.
They would lose to Exeter City in the FA Cup 1st Round and to Nottingham Forest at the same stage in the Carabao Cup. They would finish bottom in their EFL Trophy group that contained Lincoln City, Sunderland and Manchester United’s Under-21s.
Transfers:
This summer has seen the club make 15 signings, 11 permanent, and 4 season-long loan deals. Goalkeepers Harry Lewis and loanee Joe O’Shaughnessy as well as defenders Timi Odusina, Matthew Platt, Brad Halliday and Romoney Crichlow (on loan). Midfielders Emmanuel Osadebe, Ryan East and Richard Smallwood have also joined while forwards Jake Young, Harry Chapman, Jamie Walker, Vadaine Oliver and loanees Kian Harratt and Scott Banks complete the signings.
They have allowed 12 players to leave the club permanently (including former Alex players Callum Cooke and Academy Alum Gareth Evans) and 2 players to join non-league clubs on loan until January.
Head-to-Head:
Alex Wins: 36
City Wins: 43
Draws: 19
Biggest Alex Win: 7-1 at Gresty Road in September 1965
Biggest City Win: 6-0 at Valley Parade in April 1979
Bradford’s biggest win came in April 1979 at Valley Parade as the game finished 6-0 to the hosts while Crewe’s biggest win came in September 1965 with a 7-1 win at Gresty Road.
Last Meeting
Crewe Alexandra 2-1 Bradford City, 31st August 2019
James Vaughan opened the scoring for the visitors in the 32nd minute before Charlie Kirk levelled 10 minutes later. Tom Lowery would score the winner on the hour-mark.
Alex: Jaaskelainen; Ng, Lancashire, Nolan, Pickering; Green, Wintle, Lowery; Powell (Dale 69), Porter (Anene 83), Kirk
Bradford: O’Donnell; A. O’Connor, P. O’Connor, Richards-Everton; Mellor, Akpan, Devitt (Gibson 81), Palmer (Pritchard 62), Wood (Cooke 62); Donaldson, Vaughan
Played for Both:
The following players have been contracted to both teams:
Goalkeepers: Ademola Bankole, Marlon Beresford, Geoff Crudgington, John Oldfield, Robert Pringle, Neil Ramsbottom, Steve Smith, Ross Turnbull, Ben Williams
Defenders: Fred Halliday, Greg Leigh, Kelvin Mellor, Phil Nicholls, Alan Sheehan, Geoff Hudson, Barry Swallow, Paul Tierney, Ashley Westwood
Midfielders: Chris Atkinson, Peter Cook, Callum Cooke, Gareth Evans, Harry Leese, Matty Lund, Billy McGinley, Ernest Perry, Steven Schumacher, Gareth Whalley
Forwards: Dele Adebola, George Alcock, Jordan Bowery, David Boyle, Bert Brown, Reuben Butler, John Carruthers, Ken Chapman, Jack Connor, Wilf Cooke, Chris Dagnall, Clayton Donaldson, Ron Futcher, Steve Jones, Fred Leech, Mark Leonard, Harry Lovatt, Tommy McCulloch, Mike Newell, Vadaine Oliver, Arthur Rigby, Lee Samuels, Bert Swindells, Michael Symes, Barry Tait, Ashley Ward, Bob Whittingham
Officials:
The officials for this game have been announced here with Sunny Gill the referee, Paul Newhouse and Kevin Mulraine are his assistants with Alex Gray the fourth official. This is the first Crewe game that Gill has refereed.
