Danny Cowley has moved to quash the talk of him not taking the Bradford City job for family reasons.
The former Lincoln City manager spoke to the Bantams last month, prior to them appointing Graham Alexander. It was widely reported he had turned down the opportunity for family reasons, something that he denied in an interview with Live Score.
“For us, we’ve always travelled in terms of football,” said Cowley, referring to him and his brother, Nicky. “We love the game, so location is not an issue for us. My daughter is only 14, but she’s already had six schools. We decided as a family that we would move with the jobs, and that hasn’t scared us in the past.”
Previously, Danny has relocated his family from Essex, following his stints at Braintree and Concord Rangers, to Lincolnshire, where he managed Lincoln City. After leading the Imps to three trophies in as many seasons, they upped sticks again, firstly to Huddersfield Town and then to the south coast to manage Portsmouth.
Each included significant moves not only for the brothers but also for their families, and that wasn’t the reason they chose not to go to Valley Parade.
“We just didn’t think Bradford was the right opportunity at this moment,” added the 45-year-old, although he was quick to defend their appointment of former Scunthorpe boss Alexander.“It’s great that they’ve now hired Graham Alexander. I think it’s a really shrewd appointment.
“I was at his second game on Saturday (against Notts County) and though they had a tough start, he got a real response from his players in the second half, which gives him something to build on.
“They have some really good people behind the scenes who have the club’s best interests at heart, and I wish Graham and Bradford nothing but success moving forward.”
Cowley is often listed as a favourite for vacant jobs in League One and Two. He was linked with a return to his former club, Lincoln City before they moved to appoint Michael Skubala last week. Having taken them from the National League to the top end of League One, winning two titles and the Checkatrade Trophy whilst doing so, they’re held in high regard in Lincoln.
A disappointing spell at Portsmouth has seen their stock drop a little, but they did well to keep Huddersfield in the Championship in 2019/20.
Writer’s View
Cowley is a shrew operator and a man who will not make the same mistakes of the past. They left Lincoln prematurely in search of a fast track to the Championship, and whilst their record at Huddersfield doesn’t get the credit it deserves, they perhaps didn’t have the same rapport with the owners as they had with Clive Nates at Lincoln City.
One also wonders if the availability of the Lincoln job was a factor in them not moving to Bradford. At the time, they were still being linked with a return to the LNER Stadium, and perhaps they decided to sit it out and see if there was a homecoming in the offing.
Now there isn’t a big homecoming on the cards, it could be we see the enigmatic, charismatic brothers back in a dugout fairly soon.
