Bradshaw Frank Image 5 Sheffield Wednesday 1908

Description

Sheffield born inside left Frank Bradshaw joined First Division Sheffield Wednesday in 1904 as an amateur from junior football, where he had represented Sheffield Schools,, soon turning professional and making his Football League debut against Everton in April 1906, scoring twice in a 3-1 victory. He won the FA Cup with Wednesday in April 1907 as they beat Everton 2-1 in the Final at The Crystal Palace, Bradshaw being selected thanks to an injury to regular inside left Harry Davis.

In June 1908 he played his only game for England, scoring a hat-trick as England beat Austria 11-1 in Vienna. Although he was once again selected to play Ireland the following February, he was forced to withdraw from the England squad due to injury, and was never selected again. He thus became the fifth and last (to date) player to score three goals on his solitary England appearance. Bradshaw was the first England footballer to only play against foreign opposition. His debut goals were the first debutant goals against friendly opposition since 1883. He also represented The Football League on four occasions and The Southern League once.

He was Sheffield Wednesday’s joint top scorer in 1908-09 with a career best 18 goals during their campaign which saw The Owls finish fifth in the League Championship, after but he lost his place in December 1909 Bradshaw moved to Southern League Northampton Town in the summer of 1910 for a fee of £250, having played 95 games for Wednesday and scored 39 goals. He helped The Cobblers to finish runners up in The Southern League Championship in 1910-11 before he returned to Football League action by joining Everton for £1,250 in November 1911, where he scored 21 goals in 74 appearances over three seasons.

In May 1914 he moved to Woolwich Arsenal, making his debut for The Gunners in a Second Division match against Glossop North End on 1st September 1914 scoring in a 3-0 win, though after a season the onset of the First World War forced peacetime football to be suspended. Bradshaw continued to play for Arsenal, playing in over 125 unofficial wartime matches. By the time League football resumed in 1919 (and with Arsenal promoted to the First Division), Bradshaw had moved from inside forward to full back, initially on the left flank but thereafter mainly at right back. He was a regular for Arsenal over the next four seasons, before retiring in May 1923. In addition to his wartime appearances, he played 142 League and Cup matches for Arsenal, scoring 14 goals.

After his retirement he became manager of Aberdare Athletic from July 1923 to July 1924 as they finished 12th in the Third Division (South). For sometime afterward, he was manager at non league Taunton Town.