Bradford City CEO Sparks on key to their summer recruitment

The Bantams have been the busiest club in League Two over the summer with Mark Hughes making 14 additions.

Striker Vadaine Oliver, the most recent arrival on a three-year deal, was convinced to drop a division after hearing the Welshman and club officials spell out their promotion plans.

And Sparks explained how they have carefully tailored their pitch for each specific target during the window.

He said: “Some of the signings have never played in League Two and always played higher, others have always played in League Two.

“We have a story to tell about our football club, where we are and what our vision is for Bradford City.

“Players who are taking that step down to League Two, in particular, want to understand what they are getting themselves involved with.

“The positive is that we’ve worked very hard to get to a point where we feel comfortable in attracting players from higher divisions to the club.

“Mark, Glyn (Hodges) and Stephen Gent have been absolutely pivotal in that.

“Players want to come here and play for Bradford City because they can see the ambition of the club and where we want to get to.”

Former Hull captain Richie Smallwood has dropped down from the Championship

Sparks has stressed the importance of getting to know the individual carefully before putting a deal on the table. City’s hit rate in the last couple of months suggests they have got most calls right.

“We’ve met every player we’ve looked to sign this summer and spent a lot of time getting to know them before we’ve gone any further,” added Sparks.

“We haven’t always made any offers before players have met us, which means they are ultimately coming for entirely the right reasons.

“There are a few players we’ve met and not signed for various reasons. But, generally speaking, we’ve been able to bring over the line the players we’ve wanted to sign.”

City learned a painful lesson last season of lacking deep enough back-up when injuries bit. League Two is a long campaign and the club are also eyeing a run in the knock-out competitions.

They host Richie Smallwood’s former team Hull in a televised Carabao Cup first-round tie at Valley Parade early in the season.

Sparks said: “We want to do well in the cups as well and naturally that’s going to extend our need to play more matches.

“The draw against Hull has obviously caught the eye of the broadcasters and there’s some stories there with Richie and Mark.

“I think the Hull game will be a good test for the team to see where we are at.

“It’s quite ironic if you go back to last season when we drew Nottingham Forest.

“They went on to be promoted to the Premier League and I thought for the bulk of that night we were in complete control of the game.

“But what happened after that is that we lost our key players and never truly recovered.

“We can’t allow that to happen this season and we won’t.

“Should we lose a key player, we have another key player to take that person’s spot and ensure that the performance levels aren’t affected. That’s got to be our aim.

“It’s not a case of bringing multiple players to the club and having a rebuild as some people may describe it.

“That’s not what’s going on. It’s more a case of ensuring we have a depth of quality and replacing the players we no longer have.”