Exclusive: Don Goodman urges Bradford City to look at Stockport County and Wrexham as L1 looms | OneFootball

Don Goodman has urged Bradford City to try and emulate Stockport County and Leyton Orient in League One next season.

Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman has sent a message of encouragement to Bradford City following their promotion to League One last season.

The Bantams wrapped up their third tier return in the most dramatic of circumstances on the final day of the 2024/25 season, with a 96th-minute winner from Antoni Sarcevic snatching third place from Walsall's clutches.

Now, the former Premier League side will compete in League One for the first time since 2019, having endured five painful seasons stuck in League Two before finally getting out in 2025.

As proven by some of the previous teams who achieved promotion from the fourth tier in recent years, the gap between League Two and League One isn't astronomical.

With that in mind, Bradford will be hoping they can comfortably avoid the drop next season, and potentially build towards a promotion push in the next few years.

Don Goodman tells Bradford City to take inspiration from recent promotion winners

Following Bradford's promotion, Football League World spoke exclusively to former Sunderland striker turned Sky Sports pundit Goodman, asking him what his message to the Bantams would be ahead of their return to League One.

Goodman said: “I think for Bradford City, they could look at the likes of Stockport County, Wrexham and Leyton Orient, who have all been promoted from League Two to League One over the last couple of seasons and have all gone on to do extremely well.

“Obviously, in Wrexham’s case, [they] have gone on to get promoted to the Championship.

“I’m not suggesting that Bradford City can do that, but I don’t believe the gap between League Two and League One is huge.

“In fact, of the gaps between all of the leagues, I think it’s probably the smallest gap.

“The best advice is to purchase quality rather than quantity and take the feel-good factor into next season, and see where it takes you.”

Bradford will be quietly optimistic heading into League One

As Goodman mentioned, there is plenty of inspiration to be drawn from the likes of Stockport and Leyton Orient, who've managed to push towards the sharp end of League One following their promotion from League Two.

Bradford certainly have the infrastructure of a club that is more than capable of following this trend. It mainly depends on what sort of budget Graham Alexander is given next season.

There's always a great chance for a team to go under the radar, and the Yorkshire outfit will be hopeful that could be them.

With most of the eyes in League One on the likes of Cardiff City, Plymouth Argyle, Luton Town, and Bolton Wanderers, the Bantams could hope to emulate what Orient did this season and spring a surprise.

Whilst it would be bold to suggest they'll be in a promotion fight, Bradford will be keen to achieve at least a solid mid-table finish to really build upon in the future.

The club certainly has the minerals to emulate previous League Two promotion winners, and will hope that their next venture into League One is better than their last.