Bradford City laughed loudest at Sheffield United transfer agreement | OneFootball

Bradford City had the last laugh with Sheffield United over the transfer of James Hanson in January 2017.

Having established himself as a club legend at Bradford City, James Hanson earned a move to Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United but it was not one that went well and, indeed, perhaps only further endeared himself to Bradford supporters.

Having been at Huddersfield Town and Bradford in their respective academy setups, Hanson began his career in non-league with Eccleshill United and then with Guiseley.

After an impressive stint with the latter, he was picked up by Bradford in League Two and, under the management of both Stuart McCall and then Peter Taylor, became a key man for the Bantams.

He made 638 appearances in his professional career and over half of those came while at Bradford and he starred for the Bantams throughout a long period of time.

His move to Sheffield United did not go so well and despite departing Valley Parade in a controversial move, Hanson is still very much loved by Bradford fans.

James Hanson became a legend at Bradford City

The early-to-mid-2010’s of Bradford City were dominated by the management of Phil Parkinson and the magnificent cup runs that the experienced EFL manager got them on.

The Bantams famously reached the League Cup final in 2013 as a League Two club, defeating Arsenal and Aston Villa on the way, and also came from 2-0 down to beat Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea by four goals to two in the fourth round of the FA Cup in January 2015 on their way to being quarter-finalists.

Hanson was key to all of those exploits. He began with a 13-goal season under McCall and then Taylor before joining the rest of the team in struggling to found much form in the 2010/11 season.

In the 2011/12 campaign, coinciding with the mid-season appointment of Parkinson, Hanson once again to prove himself to be a key man for City and finished the campaign as their top scorer.

In the 2012/13 season, Bradford reached the Northern Area semi-finals of the Football League Trophy and played at Wembley in the League Cup but they would return to Wembley in the play-offs, too.

In a team dominated by the goals of striker Nahki Wells, Hanson was the much-needed foil alongside the Bermuda international, proving decisive across all competitions.

He scored an extra-time winner in the first round of the League Cup before scoring the crucial and decisive goal in a 2-1 defeat at Villa Park in the second-leg against Villa, helping Bradford win 4-3 on aggregate.

In the play-offs, Hanson had scored in Bradford’s 3-1 win away at Burton Albion to come from behind and win 5-4 on aggregate, before he opened the scoring in their 3-0 demolition of Northampton Town in the final at Wembley.

Hanson was then crucial to establishing Bradford in League One with two seasons of scoring double figures sandwiching once season in which injury affected him but he still totted up nine for a City side that were inching closer to promotion back to the Championship.

Having finished seventh and then fifth, the 2016/17 season saw Parkinson surprisingly depart Valley Parade for Bolton Wanderers and, despite a brilliant start to the campaign, Hanson would soon follow him out of the door.

James Hanson went on to flop at Sheffield United

The start of that campaign had seen Bradford go unbeaten in their opening 12 games of the campaign and look like serious contenders to challenge for the title, a goal they had been steadily building towards.

Hanson hadn’t been at his best, though, with just four goals in 17 appearances; with all four coming in the space of four games between late-October and mid-November.

Despite that slowing down and signs that his best was beginning to be behind him, Sheffield United opted to bolster their own title credentials by poaching him in the January transfer window.

Hanson went on to badly struggle for the Blades, managing just one goal in 13 appearances for Chris Wilder’s men, albeit United did eventually romp to the League One title while Bradford again lost out in the play-offs.

After notching a brace against Wimbledon earlier in the season for Bradford, Hanson’s one United goal came in a 4-0 rout of the eventually relegated south Londoners on his debut but failed to kick on at all.

He moved on loan to Bury following United’s ascension to the second-tier and never rediscovered his touch, eventually returning to non-league football as a journeyman in the latter stages of his career for Farsley Celtic, Boston United, Worksop Town and Bradford Park Avenue.

Hanson risked tainting his Bradford exploits after scoring 91 goals in 335 appearances for the club, while also being involved in some extraordinarily special moments and memories, but it was Bradford who laughed last over the transfer.