Bruce Bannister
FullnameBruce Ian Bannister[1]
Birth date14 April 1947 (age 79)
Birth placeBradford, England
PositionStriker
Youthclubs 1Leeds United
Youthyears 21963–1965
Youthclubs 2Bradford City
Years 11965–1971
Clubs 1Bradford City
Caps 1208
Goals 160
Years 21971–1976
Clubs 2Bristol Rovers
Caps 2206
Goals 280
Years 31976–1977
Clubs 3Plymouth Argyle
Caps 324
Goals 37
Years 41977–1980
Clubs 4Hull City
Caps 485
Goals 420
Years 51980–1982
Clubs 5USL Dunkerque
Totalcaps523
Totalgoals167

Bruce Ian Bannister (born 14 April 1947) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a striker, and is also a businessperson in sports shoe and apparel sales and distribution.

Football career

Born in Bradford, Bannister played for Leeds United, Bradford City, Bristol Rovers, Plymouth Argyle, Hull City and USL Dunkerque.[1][2][3][4]

At Bradford City, he was known for scoring a "wonder goal" in 1968, an overhead kick.[5]

While at Bristol Rovers, Bannister and teammate Alan Warboys developed the 'Smash and Grab' method of football.[6]

Business career

Bannister founded Sportsshoes in 1982. In 1985, Sportsshoes launched its mail order service, and later became one of the first retailers to launch an e-commerce website.[7] The business was later taken over by Bannister's son Brett, and became an exclusively online and mail order operation.[8]

References

  1. ^
  2. ^ "Bruce Bannister". Post War English & Scottish Football League A - Z Player's Transfer Database. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  3. ^ "Bruce Bannister". Greens on Screen. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  4. ^
  5. ^ "Garnacho goal stirs memories of Bannister beauty for Bantams". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. 27 November 2023.
  6. ^ Honeyball, Lee (5 March 2006). "Smash and Grab". The Observer. Retrieved 31 October 2007.
  7. ^ "Profile: Brett Bannister". Yorkshire Post. 17 September 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  8. ^ "Bradford Sportsshoes shop to close after rent rise (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)". Thetelegraphandargus.co.uk. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2014.