Former Bradford City and current Harrogate Town left-back Matty Foulds has admitted his departure from The Bantams in order to join Simon Weaver’s side came as a shock, speaking in an interview with Telegraph and Argus.
The 25-year-old, who went on to appear 52 times for Bradford in all competitions since signing for his hometown club in 2021, made the move across Yorkshire to sign for Harrogate initially on loan in January 2023, with the defender making his stay with The Sulphurites a permanent one this summer.
Defender Foulds initially made the left-back position his own at Valley Parade for the first half of the 2022/23 season following an injury to fellow left-back Liam Ridehalgh, who would be out of action for the best part of four months.
However, The Bantams completed the loan signing of Tolaji Bola from Championship outfit Rotherham United in January, a transfer that would make Foulds surplus to requirements with The Bantams as he went out on loan to the fellow League Two side.
Speaking in an interview to Telegraph and Argus ahead of Bradford’s League Two encounter against Harrogate on Saturday, the 25-year-old admitted he never wanted to leave the club and that his departure from Valley Parade came as a huge shock to the system.
“I was surprised that they were bringing another left-back in after I’d played 18 games on the bounce,” said Foulds. “I understand that’s football and they are going to bring players in.
“But I had a meeting with the manager (Mark Hughes) at Bradford and came out of that feeling it was just healthy competition. Then later that evening, I got a phone call saying I’m going on loan. It was a shock.
“That’s the way it came about to me. I didn’t push for a move. A lot of people think I wanted to leave. I just thought it was going to be competition with the lad coming in on loan.
“I spoke to the manager who said that he hadn’t played much football. So I felt quite confident after that conversation and then I got the call later on.”
Since making the move to Harrogate in January, Foulds has gone on to make 28 appearances in all competition ever since joining the North Yorkshire outfit, with his loan deal being made a permanent one in the summer despite having one more year left on his deal at Valley Parade.
During his loan spell at Simon Weaver’s side, Foulds had also explained that he never heard anything from Bradford towards the end of his loan spell with the club and that he had a feeling that his time with Bradford, his hometown club, was coming to an end.
Foulds added: “It was a tough one but from the start of my loan spell to the end of the season, I didn’t really hear from anyone at Bradford.
“I took that as a sign that I’m not going to be part of the plans. There was no bad blood between me and the club, but it was a disappointing ending leaving Bradford.
“There were opportunities to go elsewhere in the summer, but it was a no-brainer for me when Harrogate came in. I’d had the loan spell there and they’d welcomed me with open arms.”
Writer’s View
Matty Foulds is a solid and dependable left-back at League Two level and with him being set to face his boyhood club for Harrogate Town this weekend, there certainly doesn’t seem to be any bad blood between the football club and the player.
With the way the 25-year-old has gone on about his departure from Valley Parade, there maybe could be a sense that the whole thing could have been handled better, especially on Mark Hughes’ side who near enough forced him out against his will. That’s what I think anyway.
Nonetheless, what is Bradford’s loss is Harrogate’s gain, and they will be hoping he is on top form coming up against The Bantams this weekend – a side that have had a somewhat slow start to the 2023/24 League Two campaign so far.
