Dicky Bond

Dicky Bond

Personal information
Full name	Richard Bond
Date of birth	(1883-12-14)14 December 1883
Place of birth	Garstang, England
Date of death
Place of death	Preston, England
Position(s)	Outside right
Youth career
	Royal Field Artillery
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1902–1909	Preston North End	148	(34)
1909–1922	Bradford City	301	(60)
1922–1923	Blackburn Rovers	24	(2)
1923–1924	Lancaster Town
	Garstang Town
International career
1905–1910	England	8	(2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Richard "Dicky" Bond (14 December 1883 – 25 April 1955) was an English footballer who played outside right. He was capped eight times by England and spend the vast majority of his playing career at Bradford City where he played more than 300 games.

Club playing career

Preston North End

Born in Garstang, England, Bond started his career with the Royal Artillery before he signed professional forms with Preston North End in August 1902. He was part of Preston's Division Two championship winning team in 1903–04. Two years later, he was a regular, as the club were The Football League runners-up.

Bradford City

Bond joined Bradford City in May 1909 for a £950 fee, a record fee for Preston at the time. Bond represented City during the most successful spell in its history. But he missed out on the club's 1911 FA Cup triumph because he was suspended after using improper language at Woolwich Arsenal. He had scored City's only goal in the first round 1–0 victory over New Brompton but did not feature in any other games during the run.

In total he played 301 league games, scoring 60 goals, all in the top flight. He also represented the club in 31 FA Cup games scoring 13 times. He was selected in City's team of the millennium in 1999 by former Telegraph & Argus sports reporter David Markham. He served with the Bradford Pals during the First World War before returning to City in 1919. He was appointed club captain in 1920. But the side were relegated in 1921–22 prompting his transfer to Blackburn Rovers.

Blackburn Rovers

Bond played for Blackburn for one season before his final move to Lancaster Town in August 1923 for one last season. He retired in 1924 but returned to play for Garstang Town two years later. His total league career brought him 96 goals in 473 league appearances. He became a publican before he died in Preston aged 71.

International career

Bond made his first international appearance for England while at Preston on 25 February 1905 against Ireland. He won a total of eight caps, scoring twice, both against Ireland in 1906.

Honours

• English Division Two: 1904 (Preston North End)

First World War

Bond's football career was interrupted by the First World War, during which he was taken prisoner-of-war. He survived the war and more than two years after it had finished, he laid a commemorative wreath at the Cenotaph in London before Bradford City's game with Arsenal on 1 January 1921.

External links

• Dicky Bond career statistics at Soccerbase
• Dicky Bond England profile at Englandstats
• Profile at Spartacus Educational
• Bantams Past profile