Graham Alexander approaching a year as Bradford City manager

“They had 17,000 there in the Premier League,” he said to wife Karen. “We had 18,500 at Valley Parade, which is brilliant.”

Another reminder of the size of the challenge that he is relishing at the City helm as he approaches his first anniversary in the job.

Wednesday marks a year for the 53-year-old as Bantams boss. Losing to Doncaster last weekend stung but Alexander’s record in that time stands up well against his predecessors.

He has won 20 out of 44 league matches – a 45 per cent success rate. Mark Hughes, in comparison, was 40 per cent from 70 games, Derek Adams just 27 from 31.

Graham Alexander and Chris Lucketti on the Valley Parade touchline (Image: PA)

Include last season’s run to the Bristol Street Motors Trophy, the best the club have ever managed, and Alexander’s stats improve to 25 wins from 51.

“I can’t believe it’s been a year already, to be honest,” he said. “It’s been great.

“I like to have fun in football. It’s a brilliant job and a brilliant sport.

“But it’s about results and I think we’ve won enough games over that 12 months to give people belief that we can be a successful team.

“We knew it was a difficult moment when we started but it is usually is when you go in.

“We had a lot of challenges and we still do now.

“I think we’ve overcome a lot of them but others have surfaced.

“But if I go back, I wanted us to be competitive in the division and I think we are.

“We also wanted to try and create an atmosphere in Valley Parade that was positive, vocal and together.

“If you look at last Saturday, even though we got beaten, the crowd was still brilliant with us.

“That’s taken a lot of time to build up the belief and connection with each other.”

Cracking the home form has been key for Alexander. Yorkshire derby defeat last week was City’s first at Valley Parade since March, ending a nine-game unbeaten run.

City went so close to reaching Wembley in the EFL Trophy (Image: Thomas Gadd)

“There was a nervousness around the team 12 months ago about playing at Valley Parade and a trepidation.

“I don’t think there was a great faith in the team from the supporters as well.

“The players have made great strides in turning that round. I know they look forward to playing at Valley Parade, I can sense it and hear it when we’re building up to home games.

“We’re gutted we didn’t do better against Doncaster but I could sense the lead-up to the game was much more excitement than concern.

“I think that’s a good thing for us to be.

“As I said before, it took me a while to understand what the challenge was.

“It wasn’t just the expectation of the home support but how opponents came and did different things and how the game was managed.

“I had to learn all that to understand what the players were going into to then hopefully help them.”

The nearly moments have hinted at what’s possible if Alexander can get City going again.

“We’ve been close. If you look back at last season, we were one point off the play-offs and two minutes away from a potential cup final at Wembley.

“That whetted the appetite about what the potential is. You can feel it.

“There’s a lot of work and a lot of weight around the club that you have to manage.

“It’s been a completely different job to others. But that made me really excited about the role, to be honest.

“I love the challenge of managing football teams and trying to win games.

“I love the profile of the club and the support that people around the club have given me and Chris (Lucketti).

“Harrogate last season is a reference point for me for several reasons. But the support I had on that night from Ryan Sparks in particular, that’s when I understood what we had as a group of people behind the team.

City went nine games unbeaten at home before last week (Image: Thomas Gadd)

“It’s all good when things are going well and you’re winning games.

“You find out a lot more when you have the negative times. I found out a lot about what sort of job I had here after that game.”

City switch their attention to the FA Cup this weekend but judgement will be based on their league position. Currently tucked in seventh, five points behind leaders Port Vale, Alexander knows there is much to be done.

“We’re nowhere near the finished article and there’s loads more to come from us.

“But I can look back on this year with a smile on my face for overcoming many challenges with a lot of people helping us do that.

“I think we’ve formed a good bond here between the players, the staff, the supporters and hopefully we can maintain that.”