Brendan Bradley (born 7 June 1949) is an Irish former footballer who played as a forward. He holds the record for the highest number of goals scored by an individual in the League of Ireland with 235. He also scored a club record 181 goals for Finn Harps.
Brendan Bradley was born on 7 June 1949. He grew up on Malin Gardens road in the Creggan, Derry. A street footballer, he played his first organised match at school when a teacher, who had arranged a trial match, asked him to join. At the age of fifteen, Bradley began playing in the Derry and District League. The youngster started out as a defender before being moved into midfield.
Bradley signed for Derry City at the age of sixteen. Although a regular in the club's reserve team he only made a handful of first team appearances during his three seasons with the club; his route to the first team being blocked by the form of regular striker Danny Hale.
He played four matches in the Irish League and scored in the North-West Cup final against Coleraine, but the lack of first team football left Bradley disillusioned at the club.
Despite his limited appearances for Derry, Bradley had impressed Finn Harps manager Patsy McGowan. Harps were in their debut season of the League of Ireland and a fee of ã100 secured Bradley's services. In his first season with Harps, Bradley scored his, and his club's, first hat-trick in senior football in an away fixture against Athlone Town, and his tally of 18 goals was the highest in the league. The following season saw Bradley top the list of leading scorers once more, this time with 20 league goals, whilst the 1971âÂÂ72 season saw his goal help Finn Harps secure their first major honour with a 1âÂÂ0 victory over Cork Hibernians in the Dublin City Cup. He finished his third season with another 18 goals.
In July 1972, Bradley moved to the Football League with Lincoln City manager David Herd paying ã6,000 for his services. He made his league debut for the club in the 1âÂÂ1 away draw with Darlington on 19 August 1972. His first goals for the club came in his third league game, when he netted twice in the 3âÂÂ0 away victory over Workington on 30 August 1972 and he then scored in the following four league fixtures. He went on to score 11 goals in his first 18 league appearances before Herd left as manager following the 3âÂÂ1 defeat at Bradford City on 2 December 1972. Although he found the net in the new manager Graham Taylor's first game in charge, a 2âÂÂ2 draw at Newport County on 16 December 1972, that would prove to be his final goal for the Imps as he failed to score in his final 12 appearances that season.
With Graham Taylor rebuilding the Sincil Bank based club, Bradley returned to Finn Harps for ã4,000 on 22 March 1973. He ended the 1973âÂÂ1974 season by scoring the final two goals as Harps won the FAI Cup with a 3âÂÂ1 victory against St Patrick's Athletic at Dalymount Park. The victory saw Harps qualify for the following season's European Cup Winners Cup where they were drawn against Bursaspor. Bradley scored in the away leg, a 4âÂÂ2 defeat on 18 September 1974; the 0âÂÂ0 home leg on 2 October 1974 seeing the club fall out of the competition. His total of 21 league goals saw him head the league scorers chart for a third time. The 1975âÂÂ76 season saw him head the scoring charts for a fourth time with 29 league goals, which included all six in the 6âÂÂ1 victory over Sligo Rovers at Finn Park. These exploits saw him voted the Soccer Writers' Association of Ireland Personality of the Year for 1976. The close season saw him head for the North American Soccer League where he made a single appearance for Toronto Metros-Croatia.
In 1978, he moved to Athlone Town, before linking once more with his erstwhile Finn Harps manager Patsy McGowan at Sligo Rovers in 1979. Although Bradley would score just 11 in his first season, he notched 19 goals the following season. He followed that up with a further 21 in his final season, netting 44 league goals in total for the club, and collected a FAI Cup runners-up medal from the 1981 final with Dundalk. His total of 51 goals puts him among Rovers top scorers despite only playing three seasons at the Showgrounds. He returned to Harps for the 1982âÂÂ83 season, staying a further four seasons, before re-joining Derry City in the January 1986 season, helping the club capture the League of Ireland First Division Shield. Bradley's total of 235 league goals is a League of Ireland record.
Bradley resides in Derry, relaxing with playing golf and walking. He resisted the urge of management after his playing retirement commenting that "it would never take the place of playing for me" and is an occasional visitor to the Brandywell Stadium. After 13 years at Finn Park, he retains "a soft spot for Harps".
In 2019, Bradley was honoured with a Special Merit Award, at the 2019 FAI International Awards, for his outstanding contributions to domestic club football in Ireland.
Derry City
Finn Harps