It is hard to overstate the significance of the Richie Smallwood signing when it comes to our ambitions of promotion this season and how it compares to other marquee signings in the 21st century. Picking up a leader that has almost 250 Championship appearances to his name, 42 of them last season, makes it hard not to think we have in Smallwood, the best player in League Two. It is fairly safe to say that this is the biggest signing in recent Bradford City history.
Signed on a free transfer from Hull City, the capture of Smallwood has to go down as the biggest for Bradford City since the Premier League days. It is hard to think of any examples in the last few decades that have parity in terms of how unlikely a signing this is. He was a player on wages that were affordable to us, so in that respect he was always in reach if we used our budget wisely, but to attract a Championship player to League Two can’t have been straight forward for Mark Hughes and Stephen Gent, considering the competition.
Comparing this to signings of the past is much more difficult than it would seem on the face of it. Feel free to think of names of players that arrived at Valley Parade to the delight of most Bradford City supporters. There’s certainly been a few of them over the years. Whether they turned out to be good for Bradford City or not is purely something we learned in hindsight, so not relevant to the point. And with those players who went on to do well, even though it was expected, you have to ask where they were before they arrived at Bradford City and how important they were to the club they departed.
When we signed James Vaughan he had already dropped into League Two, so it wasn’t a big stretch to him to move to the Bantams. We’ve had a few of those over the years with varying levels of success. Eoin Doyle was another that arrived with high expectations and could have been described as a bit of a coup for City. However, even though he was signed from Preston North End, he had fallen out of favour and had already been loaned out to League Two. Clayton Donaldson had had an horrendous time for Bolton Wanderers before returning to his hometown club. Most other of our marquee signings have joined us in similar circumstances or from clubs in the same position as us.
Take Charlie Wyke for instance. He was free scoring in League Two for Carlisle United, we paid a fee for him and he was expected to do well in League One. But that doesn’t change the fact that this was actually a step-up for Wyke, not a step down, or in the case of Richie Smallwood, two.
To get anywhere near we have to go into the realms of Chris Waddle, but even then, Bradford City were in the Championship and he had joined from Dundee in the twilight of his career. Personally, and many will disagree with me because of hindsight, I would argue that Dan Petrescu is the signing that is most comparable. He was still considered a world-class player to the Chelsea fans he left behind, they didn’t want to see him leave and he had still featured regularly for the blues before we signed him. On paper, he should have been a player we would always remember, unfortunately it didn’t turn out that way. Another close example is probably Benito Carbone, but he had failed to create the same magic at Aston Villa that he did at Sheffield Wednesday.
With Richie Smallwood it is a completely different situation to all those examples, and I suspect for any you may have in mind. Few would doubt that the least he could have got was a team in League One, as the interest from Peterborough United and Derby County show.
Having left the MKM Stadium for pastures and chosen to join Bradford City is in some ways even more impressive considering the fact that Hull City have recently been taken over by the ambitious and wealthy Acun Ilicali. With one eye on promotion to the Premier League there are some big signings coming expected to join them soon. Yet, instead of Smallwood finding himself in the “released” category of their retained list, he was offered a new contract by the Tigers. Smallwood rejected the offer because he was unhappy with the terms, a one year contract was the longest they were prepared to offer him. Which ever way you view it, it certainly didn’t put him into the realms of surplus to requirements.
His most recent season saw him make 42 appearances for Hull City in the EFL Championship, but more than that, he even captained the side. His League One promotion experience with Hull City would be a huge plus on its own, and that is what makes it hard to think of any comparable signings in the 21st century.
Luckily for us, Smallwood was keen to find a club close to his Redcar home, but all the same it doesn’t take much imagination to think of a few clubs that would have fit the bill. Yet it was Bradford City he chose to join, buying into the Hughes Effect and ensuring we will have a player in the heart of our midfield that finally fits the bill of our new Gary Jones. More than likely Mark Hughes will feel he is the natural choice to be the Bradford City team captain and his experience and leadership will be invaluable if we are to be contenders for promotion this season.
In terms of what this means for the budget, the signing of Richie Smallwood takes the playing budget to near its maximum, this means there is unlikely to be room for Elliot Watt as well. But the departure of Watt will mean compensation, and this could be useful for bringing in a few more players yet. So watch this space, the future is looking bright.