Michael Duff has been confirmed as Bradford City's new manager on a three-and-a-half-year deal.
The announcement comes following the departure of Graham Alexander to Preston North End, leaving the Bantams second in League One on goal difference and with a game in hand.
Duff will be in attendance for the EFL Trophy game away at Rotherham on Tuesday evening, though he will be watching from the stands due to a one-match touchline ban received while in charge of Wycombe Wanderers.
His first game on the touchline will be against Leyton Orient at Valley Parade in the league.
Duff is a former team mate of Graham Alexander and will look to build on some strong foundations left by the former Burnley right-back.
Those in charge at Valley Parade see him as the ideal candidate to carry on with the 3-4-3 set-up comprising of energetic, busy energy that took them from the fourth tier to the top end of League One.
The ex-Northern Ireland international first took the reigns as a manager at Cheltenham Town, guiding them to promotion from League Two before being poached by Barnsley.
More success followed with the Tykes in the third tier as they finished fourth and reached the play-off final, only to suffer heartbreak at the hands of South Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Wednesday.
An ill-fated spell at Championship side Swansea City came next -- Duff was sacked after six months and found himself back in Yorkshire with Huddersfield Town in 2024, where he also flattered to deceive and was dismissed in March the following year after a run of four defeats in five.
His most recent job was Wycombe, who he guided from 20th to an eleventh-placed finish following Michael Dodds' sacking in September 2025 after a winless start to the season.
Duff suffered the same fate though, and was sacked last month when he could only muster three draws and two losses at the beginning of the 2026/27 season.
While it is easy to look at his last three jobs as failures, there were plenty of positives to be taken, as outlined by EFL expert Gab Sutton below:
READ: Gab Sutton on why Michael Duff will make an excellent Bradford City manager.
The culture and squad set-up at Bradford looks primed for a manager of Michael Duff's ilk, and there is still every chance the Bantams will be in the mix to end a 22-year wait to return to the second tier of English Football.
Bradford City League One odds
To be Relegated:
- Bradford City - 50/1
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