Bradford City once signed a supermarket worker – he helped knock Aston Villa out of EFL Cup

James Hanson had an unusual route into the Bradford City first-team but he eventually became a star of Valley Parade.

In the early-to-mid-2010’s, Bradford City enjoyed a rollercoaster time of it in both league and cup football, under Stuart McCall and then Peter Taylor, before the reign of Phil Parkinson took them to new heights.

From famous wins at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup to getting all the way to a League Cup final, as well as eventually earning promotion from League Two and then knocking on the door in League One, too – Bradford experienced a fun few years as the 2000s became and went into the 2010s.

There were plenty of key men and recognisable faces that became cult heroes at Valley Parade outside of Phil Parkinson at the forefront of it all as manager.

One player in particular who became a force for the Bantams up-front and a cult hero was James Hanson – but his route to the EFL was quite different to many.

Work-life balance for James Hanson before Bradford came calling

Action Image

Having been in the academy systems at both Huddersfield Town and Bradford City in West Yorkshire, Bradford-born James Hanson didn’t have the smoothest of rides into eventually becoming a key part of Bradford’s first-team setup.

Released by The Bantams in 2006, Hanson joined non-league outfit Eccleshill United in Keighley before moving to Guiseley in the Northern Premier League Premier Division.

In three seasons with Guiseley, Hanson emerged as a real physical force in non-league football, failing to score in 12 appearances during the 2006-07 campaign but then hitting 20 in 38 in the 2007-08 season before striking 16 in 33 games the year after that as Guiseley succumbed to a play-off semi-final defeat to Nantwich Town.

All the while he was doing that and being the spearhead of Guiseley’s promotion charges, Hanson was balancing his football with a job on the side, too.

He worked as a supermarket worker at a local Co-op in Bradford right up until he eventually returned to City as a player in the summer of 2009 at the age of 21, despite taking a pay cut to move to the club.

James Hanson became a cult hero for Bradford City

Having had success in non-league and caught the eye of his former club once again, Hanson completed a move to Valley Parade for a fee decided by tribunal, believed to be worth £7,500, a sell-on clause and an agreement for Guiseley to face Bradford in a friendly.

In financial strife having fallen all the way from the Premier League to League Two in less than a decade, a couple of years earlier, Bradford needed to polish up some rough diamonds – and that is what happened with Hanson.

Firstly under Stuart McCall and then Peter Taylor in his debut season as Bradford limped to a 14th-place finish in the fourth-tier, Hanson finished as the club’s top scorer and also won their Player of the Year award just a year after that seventh-tier play-off semi-final defeat at Guiseley.

The following season saw injuries begin to have a slight impact on Hanson as Bradford once again underwhelmed in the bottom half of League Two but the summer of 2011 would eventually bring Phil Parkinson into the club.

Previously, interim boss Peter Jackson resigned in late August after a poor start to the season and Parkinson arrived without too much great success in his first campaign, albeit cup exploits began to be shown as City reached the semi-finals of the now EFL Trophy – but Hanson remained as impressive as he previously had been as top scorer once again.

The 2012-13 season is one of the most memorable of any EFL club in recent times as Bradford squeezed into the play-offs on the final day of the season before going on to win them and finally return to League One – a special and momentous occasion but still one that was overshadowed in the grand scheme of things by their League Cup exploits.

Bradford became the first fourth-tier team since 1962 to reach the League Cup final, where they were eventually beaten 4-0 by Swansea City at Wembley Stadium, and it was an incredible journey to get there with Hanson key to it.

Drama came throughout with Hanson scoring an extra-time winner against Notts County in the first round before a late come-from-behind win at Championship side Watford, then another late show to come from 2-0 down at home to Burton Albion and force extra-time where they would win late again.

Then came the first of their top-flight slays as they defeated Wigan Athletic, eventual FA Cup winners that season, on penalties before repeating that trick against giants Arsenal at Valley Parade.

In the semi-finals, Hanson played a crucial role in dominating Aston Villa centre-backs Nathan Baker and Ciaran Clark as the Bantams won 3-1 in the first-leg before managing just a 2-1 loss in Birmingham to progress to the final – with Hanson’s 55th minute header proving to be the winner of the two-legged tie.

James Hanson rose to the Championship - but it was an unsuccessful gamble

Bradford made the step up to League One life quite easily as they achieved a top half finish in their first season back up with Hanson himself again impressing, hitting 12 goals in 35 appearances.

He would continue to be a very awkward handful of a player for League One centre-backs, regularly contributing with goals or in the build-up for Parkinson’s direct style of football as Bradford knocked on the door of promotion with a seventh-placed finish and then a fifth-placed finish, losing in the play-off semi-finals.

They also enjoyed another cup run in the 2014-15 campaign, famously coming from 2-0 down to win 4-2 at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea as they reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with Hanson contributing their opener in a 4-0 defeat of Millwall in a third round replay as well as again being the man that Bradford played off in their famous win against The Blues.

The summer of 2016 saw Parkinson depart for Bolton Wanderers, signalling the return of McCall, the man who brought Hanson into the first-team with his move from Guiseley.

Bradford were very strong and looked set to challenge for automatic promotion under McCall with just one defeat in their opening 17 matches, but a blip around the turn of the year contributed to their fall off to sixth place and an eventual play-off final loss to Millwall – but perhaps even more crucial to their fall was the departure of Hanson to eventual League One winners Sheffield United in January.

Hanson moved to The Blades to compete for one of the two spots up-front in Chris Wilder’s innovative and relentless 3-4-1-2 system, and he didn’t have a poor time of it, scoring four goals in 17 appearances and acting as a good foil for captain Billy Sharp.

Hanson did make an appearance in the Championship for United, too, before being loaned out to Bury and then having stints at AFC Wimbledon and Grimsby Town in the EFL.

Hanson eventually returned to non-league football and after stints with Farsley Celtic, Boston United and Worksop Town, returned to Bradford again, finishing his career at Bradford Park Avenue, once again in the Northern Premier League Premier Division.

A supermarket worker in Bradford after being released as a youngster before going on to star for his hometown club with big moments of magic and seasons of special memories that may never be repeated by a fourth-tier outfit; James Hanson’s story is certainly a unique one.