Look back at Bradford City leavers and their Bantams careers

Callum Cooke, Richard O'Donnell, Gareth Evans, Theo Robinson, Caolan Lavery and Olivier Sukiennicki are the six men that will depart, and they will all be looking for new clubs for next season now.

We take a look back on their City careers.

CALLUM COOKE

Former Middlesbrough youngster Cooke first arrived at Valley Parade on loan ahead of the 2019/20 season from Peterborough.

Cooke's bright start helped City up to second but under the pragmatic Gary Bowyer, he struggled to flourish in a deeper role as the season progressed, despite boasting the fourth best passing success ratio (84.5 per cent) in the league.

But Stuart McCall obviously felt Cooke had potential after he returned to manage the club in February 2020, and the midfielder soon joined permanently.

Cooke was a regular as City laboured at the start of last term, and though there were flashes of his talent under McCall, he really excelled when Mark Trueman and Conor Sellars took over, in an attacking midfield role.

Cooke was a key figure in a shock promotion push, before injury derailed his and City's season.

Cooke played all but seven minutes of the Bantams' first 13 league games under Derek Adams this term, but was then in and out of the team a little.

Callum Cooke drives forward during City's first home league game of the season, a 2-1 victory over Oldham. Picture: Thomas Gadd.

With a goal and two assists in Mark Hughes' first two away games, things were looking up for the Peterlee native, but he started just one of the last seven games of term and is now gone.

RICHARD O'DONNELL

Until Friday night, O'Donnell had the honour of being City's longest-serving player in the current squad.

He kept 11 clean sheets in 42 League One games in the 2018/19 season, not a bad record for a side who finished bottom, but he was dropped in favour of Ben Wilson for the final four games.

But Bowyer kept faith with O'Donnell going forward and he conceded just 34 times in 33 games in 2019/20.

Despite City's struggles in 2020/21, O'Donnell was the first name on the teamsheet, before a torn thigh allowed Sam Hornby to make an impact between the sticks.

Hornby initially kept his spot until a poor performance in Carlisle allowed O'Donnell to become No.1 again, though the younger man was back in goal for the final five games.

Adams put faith in the veteran when he chose O'Donnell as his first choice before the current campaign.

Richard O'Donnell ahead of the game between Leyton Orient and City in August, at a time when he was Derek Adams' number one. Picture: Tom Pearson.

And though he was eventually usurped by Hornby and then Alex Bass, he remained a hugely popular figure at the club, among his team-mates and the fans, as shown by the outpouring of love for him on social media after his release.

GARETH EVANS

Evans undoubtedly had more success in his first spell, with the 21-year-old, signed from Macclesfield as a striker for just £30,000, netting 11 goals and bagging eight assists in the league in 2009/10.

One more season at City followed, before he came back to Valley Parade as a midfielder in 2020.

After a slow start, he began to get game time under Trueman and Sellars, but he couldn't nail down a slot in their 4-2-3-1, and there were fears his legs were gone a little.

He grabbed a couple of assists at the start of this term, but then found himself frozen out by Adams, a period he described as "torture".

Gareth Evans in action during Mark Hughes' first game, against Mansfield at the end of February. Picture: Thomas Gadd.

He was given a shot under his hero Hughes, and scored on his first start against Swindon, but he was an unused substitute for the final three games, all City wins, and at 34, was always in line to be released.

THEO ROBINSON

Eyebrows were raised when City signed the veteran striker late on deadline day last August, but he hit a mini purple patch, with his goal of the season effort at Swindon and his strikes against Exeter in the FA Cup and Sunderland in the EFL Trophy coming in a two-and-a-half week spell.

Theo Robinson roars with delight after netting against Swindon, one of just two City league goals for him. Picture: Thomas Gadd.

But he only netted once more in a City shirt, and that was against Sutton in December.

He did not play a single minute after Hughes' first two games, and was never expected to be kept on.

CAOLAN LAVERY

Like Robinson, Lavery's goal output across his career has never been eye-catching, and sadly it was no different at City.

He worked hard, but couldn't score, save for one in the same game as Robinson against Swindon.

Caolan Lavery worked hard for City, but netted just one goal all season. Picture: Thomas Gadd.

Hughes obviously liked what he saw to an extent, as Lavery featured in eight of the Welshman's 13 games, but there were only two starts in there, and after being dropped from the squad for the last two games, his departure came as no surprise.

OLIVIER SUKIENNICKI

The Polish youth international was handed a one-year professional deal in August.

But sadly he did not get to go out on loan, like fellow academy graduate Charlie Wood, who spent time at Ossett United this term and has been offered a new deal.

Olivier Sukiennicki during a 2020/21 EFL Trophy clash against Oldham, his only senior appearance for City. Picture: Thomas Gadd.

Sukiennicki's appearances were limited to those for his country in friendlies and U19 Euro qualifiers, and he will now hope to kickstart his career somewhere else.