563 Bruce Bannister

Biography

Experienced striker Bruce Bannister joined the Tigers in the June 1977 as the Tigers sought to break out of a run of mid-table finishes in the Second Division – this goal was achieved but not in the way that the club might have preferred. Bannister went straight into the first team and scored his first goal for the Tigers in the opening day of the league season, a 3-0 defeat of Sunderland. Despite this bright start a run of poor results followed and Bannister’s goals were confined to two strikes in the League Cup against Southport. A brief revival in October saw Bruce net three times in five matches, fuelled in part by the signing of his former Bristol Rovers strike partner Alan Warboys who had joined City the previous month. But as City drifted towards the bottom of the division the goal threat of Bannister and Warboys faded – the partnership termed ‘Smash and Grab’ in the West Country saw precious little smashing and even less grabbing as Bannister ended the season with four league goals and City were relegated to Division Three.

With City consolidating in Division Three Bannister was more effective in the 1978/79 season, netting four times in the opening six league games alongside new strike partner Keith Edwards and ending the season with sixteen goals in all competitions, having played in every League and Cup game. He began the 1979/80 season in the first team but failed to scored in the opening month and from September 1979 onwards he was only used sporadically, manager Ken Houghton preferring the youthful strike presence of Rob McDonald and Paul Moss. Bannister left the Tigers in the 1980 close season and evacuated to French side Union Sportive Dunkerque.

Bradford-born Bannister was a youth team player at Leeds United before moving to Bradford City at 16. He made his Bantams debut in September 1965 against Colchester United and ended the 1965/66 season with a run of three starts that saw him score his first senior goal in May 1966 against Doncaster Rovers. At the start of the 1966/67 season the teenage Bannister won a regular first team place in the Bantams’ Division Four side and ended the season with eight goals. He retained his place for five more seasons, scoring 17 times in the 1967/68 season and bagging a November 1967 hattrick against Wrexham, then assisting the Valley Parade side to promotion out of Division Four in the 1968/69 season. The Bantams had a poor start to the 1971/72 season, which ended in relegation back to the fourth tier, and in November 1971 they decided to cash in on Bannister and receive a £23,000 fee for his transfer – Bruce left Bradford City having scored 69 times in 228 senior appearances.

Bannister joined Bristol Rovers in November 1971 and opened his scoring account for The Gas with a brace against Telford United in the FA Cup. He ended his first season in Bristol with eight goals in 17 starts, a decent return in a side competing at the upper reaches of Division Three. Bruce continued to perform well in the 1972/73 season, scoring 29 times as the Eastville side battled for a promotion spot. In March 1973 things really took off for Bannister when towering forward Alan Warboys signed from Cardiff City – the pair struck up an immediate rapport and Bruce ended the season with ten goals in the last ten games. The “Smash and Grab” partnership had been formed and it powered Bristol Rovers to second place in the Division Three table at the end of the 1973/74 season, with Bannister contributing 20 goals. The partnership endured for two more seasons as Rovers hovered around the lower reaches of the Second Division table until the pair’s wage demands became a sticking point and led the club to sell both strikers midway through the 1976/77 season. Bannister left Bristol Rovers in December 1976 having scored 94 goals in 239 senior appearances.

In December 1976 Second Division strugglers Plymouth Argyle signed Bannister in exchange for a £10,000 and the services of recently acquired Scottish midfielder Jimmy Hamilton. He scored the first of seven goals for the Pilgrims in his second start against Southampton and ended the season with 24 senior appearances. He left the club at the end of the 1976/77 season to join the Tigers for a £15,000 fee.

After a season playing in France for Dunkerque Bannister returned to England and showed interest in taking a role in football administration, having studied management courses in his latter months at Hull City. However in the end he put his skills to good use by founding a mail order sportswear business in 1982 that eventually morphed into an early adopter of internet sales, the highly successful sportsshoes.com. He owned this family run business, based in his native city of Bradford, for many years alongside his son Brett, handing over the reins for good in the late 2000s.

Details

Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 14 April 1947, Bradford
Hull City First Game: 6 August 1977, Notts County A (Anglo Scottish Cup), 30 years, 114 days old
Hull City Final Game: 22 April 1980, Barnsley A (Division Three), 33 years, 8 days old

Clubs

Bradford City (1963-1971), Bristol Rovers (1971-1976), Plymouth Argyle (1976-1977), Hull City (1977-1980), USL Dunkerque (1980-1981)

Hull City Record

Career: 101 apps, 24 goals

Bruce Bannister
SeasonLGE
App
LGE
Gls
FAC
App
FAC
Gls
FLC
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1977/7826 (2)40 (1)04 (0)33 (0)0
1978/7943 (3)152 (0)03 (0)1
1979/8010 (1)11 (0)02 (0)0

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