History

Bright Young Things

Some football clubs are conveyer belts of talent; bring on the best youngsters in the land, delivering England's finest. Then there are other clubs who produce nothing from the youth team and buy any players they get but most clubs are like Bradford City.

City have had a few decent young players in the past twenty years, even a guy who went to the World Cup, but the hit rate for promising youngsters to useful first teamers is low.

These are the players who are City's. Most because they came through the City youth team, but others because we gave them league debuts and second chances after other clubs had passed on them.

Mark "Mega" Ellis

Back in 1981 Ellis was a bright young winger. As a kid we asked for his autograph but he said he was not a player so ashamed was he that he was only the substitute on that famous day against Hereford United (City's lowest attendance ever). We knew better cause he used to go out with our Auntie though. Could have gone further but a bad injury cost him a couple of vital years.

Stuart McCall

Released by Leeds McCall was given his debut at right back in 1982 before moving into the central midfielder where he established himself as skipper and leader in the team that almost won promotion to the First Division. Left for Everton, then Rangers and the World Cup before returning to City to win promotion and seal legend status.

McCall is the yard stick by which other youngsters at City are judged by.

Don Goodman

Half decent striker who had the flaw of always falling over whenever he kicked the ball. His talent, that took him as far as Sunderland and Motherwell, was mainly seen away from Valley Parade.

Lee Duxbury

Stuart McCall had left, but in his place came Lee Duxbury, an energetic young midfielder who had a reputation. Sure enough in the early 1990s Duxbury was one of the bright sparks in a generally dull few years for City. He lacked the class to play above the middle of the First Division, but was a star in the Second. Duxbury had two spells at City and man fans feel that he was allowed to join Oldham too soon. He is fondly remembered.

Stephen Torpey

His Bradford City career was always overshadowed by the fact that he was signed by John Docherty but there was a time when the young Torpey, who qualifies as one of our own because we gave him his first decent spell in a first team football, was a very exciting prospect. He started his career at City, aged only 19, with an indecent number of goals. Of course he had failings, he could not shoot and had the sharpness of the ball he so desperately tried to keep up with, but perhaps had he not been bred by the Doc as a target man for long balls "Torpedo's" career might have gone up, not down. [Thanks to Stephen Pryke for recalling that fact that Torpey was once half decent]

Michael McHugh

Scored hatfuls of goals for the reserves and the young Irishman got the tag "The Next Frank Stapleton" however, if then manager Frank was lightweight, Michael McHugh was paperweight and could be blown away by a stiff breeze or a defender with corporeal form.

Jeremy Howe

Looked impressive in the youth and reserves teams and looked like he could provide width and flair on the left for Frank Stapleton's me. Played a few friendlies but got a nose bleed when he got to first team level and was never seen again.

Wayne Benn

Looked like a young Stuart McCall, played well enough on his day but his day started to become less and less frequent and somewhere at the start of road from Division 2 to the Premiership Benn was released and ended up as Bradford Park Avenue's midfield marshal. A green and white Stuart McCall.

Dean Richards

Always looked a class act. Speedy and big as a youngster he moved on to Wolves, up to Southampton and finally to Spurs, the big club he always should have been at. It would have been nicer to hold onto Dean for longer, but he always looked like he was headed for the top.

Graeme Tomlinson

It came from Blackpool, 3-1 away and the word amongst the unwashed in Bradford was that goalkeeper Paul must have scored, but the goal was a debut strike for Graeme Tomlinson, City's brightest star of the decade, who burned out.

Wind back a few months and Manchester United's junior side arrived at Appley Bridge to knock Bradford City out of the FA Youth Cup. United's team swaggered, the likes of David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt bubbling around the youth squad but were not regulars, that was the level of quality that Graeme Tomlinson took apart that morning. Tomlinson, Scott Jackson and Des Hamilton ran United ragged and knocked them out.

After about a score of league games and the exit of Frank Stapleton Graeme Tomlinson left City, the Old Trafford scouting network had monitored his progress since that FA Youth Cup tie, and he joined Manchester United for a fee that would have reached £500,000 despite desperate attempts by Geoffrey Richmond to keep him. Tomlinson has horrific injuries during his time at Old Trafford and was freed with only one performance in a Red shirt to his name, a loss in the League Cup away at Newcastle.

Age 26 Tomlinson was released by Exeter City in May 2002 and took a philosophical look at his life saying "Since breaking my leg football has not ruled my life. You see people in the street every day who have real problems. I don't moan about my lot."

Then as football twists and turns go City an Tomlinson took one of the stranger. Tomlinson was spotted playing non league football for Kingstonian by the City staff and recommended for a trial. He played in a 3-1 reserve loss against Leeds scoring the City goal and by the weekend had been drafted onto the bench at Nottingham Forest.

Des Hamilton

The rumour was out, there was another. Graeme Tomlinson had breathed life into the season for Frank Stapleton's Bradford City and behind him came another dazzling youngster from the team that perplexed Manchester United's Beckhams. Hamilton scored on his debut, wrote his name in history with the mazy dribble and shot that was Bradford City's first goal at Wembley and left for Newcastle with a glittering career ahead of him.

Quite when or why the wheels fell off the Des Hamilton bandwagon is anyone's guess. Frequent changes of manager at St James' did him no favours but a handful of appearance before a free transfer to sit on Cardiff's bench after a few loan deals tells it's own story. Seemingly a sad waste of talent.

Andrew O'Brien

Andy OB never looked good in the First Division, too light, too easily harried by burly strikers. Once City hit the Premiership though, OB hit his stride marking out Gascoigne in the first Premiership game and going from strength to strength from there. Signed for Newcastle United and went to the World Cup in Japan with Eire.

Gareth Grant

Skills of a Brazilian was what they (OK, I) called Gareth Grant when he emerged under Chris Kamara. Half a decade and almost as many managers as years later and Grant is still a promising prospect only now he is not so young.

Scott Kerr

The new Stuart McCall, according to Stuart McCall. On the same wave length as Benito Carbone according to Benito Carbone, but allowed to leave for Hull by Jim Jefferies without even a sniff of a first team appearance in the Premiership. Not pulled up any trees at Boothferry Park and given a free transfer to Scarborough.

Lewis Emanuel

Young left back who looks like he may be able to hold down a place in the first team squad. Given a debut by Jim Jefferies, favoured by Nicky Law, Lewis is reported to have turned down Manchester United's youth set up to join City.

Ben Jones

Much was heard about the young striker who's goals got City to the final of the Youth League Cup but just as things looked like they would be opening up for Jones, he was sacked by the club after bullying the younger players at the training ground. What a very odd young chap he must be.

Danny Forrest

Jim Jefferies teased City fans with the idea of fielding a young striker, every young striker being a potential Michael Owen, but in the end the bench was the closest Forrest came to playing under Jefferies before the manager left.

Nicky Law seemed to go off Forrest after giving him sixty minutes in the league cup but Danny's day came at home to Ipswich on his debut. Now considered the Bantam Rooney.

Mark Bower

When he was drafted in by Nicky Law following four seasons doing naff all in the reserves and two loans at York no one expected anything but a string of errors and mistakes from Mark Bower. Five impressive and solid games later and the man least likely signed a new contract at Valley Parade. Rocky patches in the following season but looks like getting and keeping a first team place.

Tom Kearney

Someone at Everton must have got something wrong. Tom Kearney turned up for trial at City having been dumped the Toffee men in favour of aging French can't-be-arsed David Ginola. Kearney looks tidy and talented and by the time he had a contract at Valley Parade Everton had changed manager and Ginola was out of the door. Kearney, on the other hand, looks like a decent player and was doing wonderful things until he injured his knee and was ruled out for nine months. Damn shame.

Michael Standing

His Gran thinks he is a good player, John Gregory did not agree. Nicky Law does not seem sure. He likes the skills young standing brings to the game but would clearly like him to be stronger. Nevertheless an injury to Tom Kearney left Standing as the man for the season and big things are expected.

Simon Francis

Picked up by the City staff after being released by Notts County and being seen playing in a Nottingham schools game. Represented England u18 within a month of joining City then made his credible first team debut against Nottingham Forest two weeks after that. Very well thought of at Valley Parade.

Kevin Sanasy

Danny Forrest broke into the first team and the whisper went around. In the reserves they have got one better.

Daniel Ekoku

Built like the brick outhouse so often talked about, not surprising when you look at his family line, at 17 Ekoku phyically looks better than Gareth Grant ever did. In 2003 while powering down the right wing of the juniors he got called into the senior squad.

Tom Penford

He came on at Preston in the tail end of the 2002-2003 season and did a turn in the box that put Peter Beagrie to shame. Lightweight at the moment but skilful and like the rest of the young guns that Nicky Law brought through, raring to go.

What about...?

Who have we forgotten? If your favourite bright young thing has been missed off the list mail us with a couple of lines about the player who would have, could have been the next big thing.