Joseph Bradford (22 January 1901 – 6 September 1980) was an English professional footballer who played as a

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. Born in Peggs Green, near Coalville,

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

, Bradford made nearly 450 appearances for Birmingham in all competitions, scoring 267 goals. He was capped 12 times for England, scoring seven goals, and played five times for a representative

Football League XI The English Football League XI was a representative side of the Football League. The team regularly played against the Scottish Football League XI and other national league select teams between 1891 and 1976. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

. He is Birmingham's all-time leading goalscorer. He topped the club's scoring charts in all but one First Division season between 1921–22 and 1932–33, and if goals in all competitions are counted, he was top scorer in all twelve of those seasons. Bradford also scored Birmingham's only goal of the

1931 FA Cup Final The 1931 FA Cup Final was a football match between West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham, played on 25 April 1931 at the original Wembley Stadium in London. The showpiece event was the final match of the 1930–31 staging of English football's pri ...

, in which they were beaten by West Bromwich Albion. He died in Birmingham aged 79.

Honours

Birmingham * FA Cup finalist: 1930–31

References

1901 births 1980 deaths People from Coalville English footballers England international footballers Association football forwards Coalville Town F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players English Football League players English Football League representative players People from North West Leicestershire District Footballers from Leicestershire FA Cup Final players {{England-footy-forward-1900s-stub