Patrick Bamford committed football’s cardinal sin to receive the first red card of his career | OneFootball

Former Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford might just be football’s unlikeliest sh*thouse.

Listen to the striker give an interview. Very few footballers conjure the same impression as the foppish, privately educated but ultimately harmless guy you once lived with in halls.

And yet he’s got this hilarious tendency to rub opposition fans up the wrong way, with a knack for the sneaky.

Bamford, 32, has over 400 senior appearances under his belt. The first red card of his career is spectacularly on-brand.

You might recall him getting served a two-match ban back in 2019, charged with the FA for ‘deception’, for his part in getting Anwar El Ghazi sent off during an unforgettably ill-tempered clash with Aston Villa back in 2019.

In the aftermath of Mateusz Klich controversially opening the scoring for Leeds, an almighty scrap ensued. Bamford went down clutching his face in the midst of it all, but replays showed contact from El Ghazi was borderline non-existent.

“Once I’ve put that in people’s minds it’s going to be hard to change that,” Bamford reflected at the time.

“But it’s something I’ve got to do over the next few years. Looking back, I regret it. I maintain he touched me but I milked it and made a stupid deal of it.

“I wouldn’t do it again and it’s something I have to learn from.”

You never know if Bamford’s reputation went before him, making the referee’s mind up when he was shown a second yellow for diving in Sheffield United’s 3-1 victory over Ipswich Town. It’s possible.

It’s also possible that he was dished a second yellow because he’s absolutely rubbish at diving, and it was a no-brainer.

Oh, Paddy.

It was all going so well.

Bamford’s enjoyed something of a renaissance after joining Sheffield United, having scored six goals in 11 appearances.

He effectively sealed the three points against a resurgent Ipswich with the third goal, fresh from penning a contract extension after shining on his initial short-term deal.

But after picking up a first yellow for dissent, kicking the advertising hoardings, he went one better for the second. Now he’ll miss next weekend’s tricky trip to Millwall.

We can only salute him for picking up his first red card in the most Bamford way possible.