Boy From Brazil Bradford City Hall of Fame
Inductee August 2001
Peter Beagrie
On being the first addition to the Boy From Brazil Bradford City Hall of Fame Peter Beagrie is recognised as one of the finest players in the history of the club.
For the uninitiated Beagrie as a left winger who terrified the best right backs in the land, who's courage to perform was second to none and who's attitude, despite coming to Valley Parade with a cloud of bad temperament rumours around him, was second to none.
The height of Beagrie's career away from Valley Parade was his time at Everton. Beagrie delighted the Goodison faithful with traditional, 'proper' wing ply. His sale to Manchester City was rued. Manchester City, the club Beagrie left to join the Bantams, was a revolving door of managers and mismanagement.
If the two season between 1998 and 2000 were a golden age for City it was in no small part down to Beagrie. Challenged to knuckle down in the summer of 1998 after a disappointing first season which ended with the player farmed out on loan to Everton Beagrie delivered. Stuart McCall was the thrust cajoled and dragged City but Beagrie was the direction. "Being brave on the football field," Beagrie commented in May 99, "is about more than going in where it hurts for me, it's about doing something for the twelfth time when it has not worked for the past eleven".
Peter Beagrie played a key role in promotion and a key role in staying in the Premiership. Manager Paul Jewell's sides lacked creativity without Beagrie, with him, on occasion, City matched illustrious opponents. It was at those times, where Beagrie ghosted past the likes of Gary Neville or Alber Ferrer, that you wondered why the man had never played for England. Surely the post John Barnes England that saw John Salako and Lee Sharpe get caps had room for him. The English Euro 2000 team, so ill equipped on the left hand side, could have done worse.
Two changes in manager in the 2000-2001 season robbed Beagrie of the momentum that he thrived on. Jim Jefferies 532/433 had no room for Beagrie's width on a regular basis. Keeping Peter Beagrie on the bench is like keeping a Hopper or Liechtenstein in your basement.
At 35 Beagrie wanted first team football, he deserved it, and left for Steve Bruce's Wigan Athletic's. Bruce left and Beagrie followed for a player/coach role at Scunthorpe three months later.
The great moments of Bantam Beagrie
- A forty yard one two with Edinho that gave City the chance to beat Town 2-1 and go to the top of the First Division on balmy November night in 1997.
- Late on against Crystal Palace in a game that would put City into the automatic promotion spaces for the first time. 1-1, penalty in injury time and up steps Beagrie to slot it in. How cool was he? "Like the Fonz in claret and amber"
- One down to Wolves in the final game of the season and everyone is visibly drained. Beagrie goes one way, Beagrie turns, Beagrie fires past to show that City's spirit, 45 games into the promotion season, is going to hold.
- Leeds getting away with a 2-0 win they do not deserve, Neville Southall and all, and Beagrie storms though to blast a Match of the Day title sequence goal beating Nigel Martym all ends up. Do not go quietly into that good night...
- His run and shot when 4-0 down at home to Manchester United that left Gary Neville on his arse and saw Mark Bosnich make a superb save. World class play.
- Penalty against Wimbledon, a win needed to have a chance of staying up. Who else?
- Wimbledon again, dibbles and shots us into a 2-0 lead. Hit a divot? If a Brazilian had dipped a shot in front of the keeper like that...
- The whole beating Liverpool thing.
- Sub against Coventry in the wretched 2000-1 season. 1-1 with seven minutes to go and Beagrie piles into the box, ball n string bouncing around before being lashed home. Beagrie's last goal for the Bantams and one of the only ones that he did not celebrate with his custom gymnastic somersault (as opposed to girly hand stand Robbie Keane) as he was mobbed by the girth of Stan Collymore.
Lest we forget
- A penalty to make it 4-1 and assure Premiership football, Beagrie vs Mike Stowell at Wolves. Lynn Beagrie was reported to have buried her head in her hands for the next twelve minutes saying "Peter's cost us Premiership football"
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