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.

Bruce Bannister
Personal information
Full name Bruce Ian Bannister[1]
Date of birth (1947-04-14) 14 April 1947 (age 77)
Place of birth Bradford, England
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
Leeds United
1963–1965 Bradford City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1965–1971 Bradford City 208 (60)
1971–1976 Bristol Rovers 206 (80)
1976–1977 Plymouth Argyle 24 (7)
1977–1980 Hull City 85 (20)
1980–1982 USL Dunkerque
Total 523 (167)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Football career

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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

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Sportsshoes.com logo

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

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  1. ^ a b "Bruce Bannister". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  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. ^ Bruce Bannister at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  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.