Bill Bradbury (footballer)

William Bradbury (3 April 1933 – 9 August 1999) was an English professional footballer who scored 102 goals from 257 appearances in the Football League playing for Coventry City, Birmingham City, Hull City, Bury, Workington and Southport.[1] He played as an inside forward.

Bill Bradbury
Personal information
Full name William Bradbury
Date of birth (1933-04-03)3 April 1933
Place of birth Matlock, England
Date of death 9 August 1999(1999-08-09) (aged 66)
Place of death Chesterfield, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Position(s) Inside forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1950–1954 Coventry City 24 (7)
1954–1955 Birmingham City 3 (2)
1955–1960 Hull City 178 (82)
1960 Bury 18 (4)
1960–1961 Workington 23 (5)
1961–1962 Southport 11 (2)
1962–1963 Wigan Athletic 27 (13)
1963–1964 Prescot Cables
1964 Kirkby Town
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Bradbury was born in Matlock, Derbyshire. As a youngster he played for the Rowsley and District Youth League XI,[2] and went on to turn professional with Coventry City.[3] He played 24 league games[1] in four years with Coventry and then spent a short time with Birmingham City, where the number of top-class forwards – all five reached double figures of goals scored in the 1954–55 season[4] – made it hard for him to break through. He joined Hull City in October 1955.[3]

Despite joining halfway through the season, Bradbury finished as Hull's leading scorer, with nine league goals as the club were relegated from the Second Division. For the next three seasons he also finished as leading scorer, with 18, 19 and 30 league goals respectively;[5] the latter total remains (as of 2009) Hull's post-Second World War league record, and made a major contribution to the club's promotion back to the Second Division in the 1958–59 season.[6] Hull teammate Andy Davidson described him thus:

Bill Bradbury should have played at a far higher level with his ability, but he really was such a clown. He had terrific ability, but I sometimes think he'd have been happier being a comedian.[6]

In February 1960, Bradbury joined Bury for a fee of £5,000. He was unable to keep his place in the 1960–61 season, asked for a transfer, and spent the remainder of the season in the Fourth Division with Workington. He then had a season at Southport, another as player-coach with Wigan Athletic, where he scored 13 goals in 27 Cheshire League appearances,[7] and finished his career with Prescot Cables and Kirkby Town.[8]

Bradbury died of a heart attack in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, in 1999 at the age of 66.[8]

Bill Bradbury attended the Ernest Bailey Grammar School in Matlock, Derbyshire from 1944 to 1949. I (Neil Ollerenshaw) was in the same form with Bill throughout those years. He was a reasonable scholar, but not academically minded. His passion was football and he was a leading member of the daily, lunchtime, pickup game of football on the school tennis courts, using a tennis ball of course. I was told that his father, at that time a groundskeeper for the Chairman of Derbyshire Stone Ltd. had been a professional footballer and played for Leyton Orient. Bill's closest friends at school were Roy Griffiths and Lou Finney.

References
  1. "Bill Bradbury". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. Retrieved 3 April 2009.
  2. "Bonsall boy who became 'Mr Lincoln City'". Matlock Mercury. 6 November 2008. Retrieved 3 April 2009.
  3. Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 74. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
  4. Matthews, p. 190.
  5. "Tigers History: Carter's promotion to Waggy and Chillo". Sport Hull. Hull Daily Mail. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  6. "Andy "Jock" Davidson". Sport Hull. Hull Daily Mail. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  7. Hayes, Dean (1996). The Latics: The Official History of Wigan Athletic F.C. Harefield: Yore Publications. ISBN 1-874427-91-7.
  8. "Death of former player". The Mighty Shakers. Bury. 19 August 1999. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  • Bill Bradbury at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database
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